John Canzano ponders whether or not Oregon fans should hate Stanford because the Cardinal ruined the Ducks’ chances at a national championship in 2001, 2012 and 2013. I’ll take exception to the line that “Stanford grads often like to casually slip in that they’re Stanford grads.” We’re not like that at all.

Longtime UCLA women’s gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field will retire after the 2019 season, she announced Thursday morning (Pac-12.com). The legendary “Coach Val” has been with the program for 37 years, leading the Bruins to seven NCAA titles.

Former Cal star and 2017 WNBA All-Star Layshia Clarendon has been named to Team USA for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, it was announced Wednesday. Clarendon becomes the first Golden Bear to play for the U.S. senior national team at the FIBA World Cup and will be joined on the squad by fellow Pac-12ers Nneka Ogwumike (Stanford) and Kelsey Plum (Washington).

USC women’s volleyball swept UCLA Wednesday night to open conference play thanks to 15 kills from Trojan opposite Emily Baptista and a double-double (28 assists, 11 digs) from setter Raquel Lazaro (highlights courtesy of Pac-12.com).

With assistance from Molly Knight of ESPN, former Stanford star and current San Francisco 49ers defensive end Solomon Thomas shares his story of dealing with his sister’s suicide in January. A tough but important read.

This happened on Saturday but started making the internet rounds in earnest Wednesday – University of Colorado mascot Chip the Buffalo shot itself in the groin with a t-shirt cannon after pointing the gun the wrong way (The Denver Post).

Hot take alert – Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune thinks Utah should try to hire BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes away from Provo (or at least take some pointers from him and how BYU has had success on offense).

Forget the Turnover Chain, Oregon State football players covet the Turnover Chainsaw. Nick Daschel goes into the backstory of the latest turnover prop that’s all the rage.

Adam Jude sits down with former Washington quarterback Brock Huard on the latest Husky Headlines podcast to discuss the criticism Jake Browning is facing and other matters.

Theo Lawson looks at Washington State football’s ties with Cathedral High School in Los Angeles in advance of the Cougs’ game at USC Friday night. The Cougs have three guys on their current roster from Cathedral – slot receivers Renard Bell and Jamire Calvin and safety Halid Djibril.

The Arizona Republic gives us a survey of predictions for the Arizona-Oregon State game Saturday in Corvallis. Looks like the pundits are pretty split down the middle on this one. Should be an intriguing game.

Read Arizona State quarterback Manny Wilkins’ comments from his media session Wednesday thanks to Greg Moore of the Arizona Republic. He clarified some comments he made about San Diego State’s secondary.