2018 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Media Day is in the books, and Nick Daschel of The Oregonian/OregonLive wonders if Oregon State women’s basketball can be an elite team this year. They certainly have the size and talent to be a Final Four contender.

A lot of great stuff to come out of the women’s media day, but one of the most unexpected nuggets to come out of Wednesday’s festivities was that Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer is an avid water skier, hitting the water pretty much every day in August to go water skiing in the morning.

What else did we learn from Wednesday? That Cal women’s basketball has a chip on its shoulder after losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, per Rusty Simmons.

Christopher Kamrani of The Salt Lake Tribune writes about Utah women’s basketball’s quest to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Lynne Roberts and the first time as a member of the Pac-12.

Meanwhile, Washington women’s basketball is hoping to exceed expectations in the second year of the Jody Wynn era, notes Percy Allen of The Seattle Times. The Dawgs were picked to finish last in the Pac-12.

Now it’s time for 2018 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day, and Oregon was picked to win the Pac-12 by the media. It’s the first time in conference history that the women’s and men’s teams from the same school are picked to finish first in the league.

Here’s a Washington State primer on the event from a Cougar perspective. Robert Franks and Viont’e Daniels will join head coach Ernie Kent in San Francisco.

Brian Howell writes that Colorado wide receiver Laviska Shenault isn’t affected by all the attention he’s getting for his stellar play through the first five games of the season. “I’m just going to keep doing me,” Shenault told Howell.

Speaking of the Colorado wide receiver, Joey Kaufman writes that Laviska Shenault will be a tough test for the USC secondary. HUGE game in the Coliseum on Saturday.

Barton Simmons of CBS Sports believes that UCLA football will “heat up” in the second half of the season after an 0-5 start to the Chip Kelly era (also some love for Nebraska and Arkansas here).

Arizona State quarterback Manny Wilkins is confident the Sun Devils will break through in the second half of the season, writes Michelle Gardner of the Arizona Republic.

In Michael Lev’s latest dive into Arizona football stats, he notes that the Wildcats are progressing on defense.