Ahead of the Cougs’ Saturday night affair against Arizona (7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT, ESPN), Ian Boyd of SB Nation features Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew II , referring to the ECU transfer as “Mike Leach’s star import.”

Arizona State will look to keep control of the Pac-12 South when it travels up to Eugene to face Oregon Saturday night (7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network), and Michelle Gardner of The Arizona Republic writes that Arizona State’s young defense will have a tall task containing the Oregon attack.

Meanwhile, James Crepea of The Oregonian/OregonLive writes about the Oregon defense having to deal with Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry.

Heading into the Utes’ game at Colorado (11:30 a.m. MT/10:30 a.m. PT, Pac-12 Network), Kurt Kragthorpe wonders if Utah will have just as good of a chance to win the Pac-12 South in 2019 as it does this year.

Listen to the latest BuffZone Podcast to get the scoop on the Buffs’ game against Utah and the hoops season, among other topics. As always, Brian Howell and Pat Rooney guide you through the proceedings.

Stanford running back Bryce Love reflects on his Cardinal career in this San Francisco Chronicle piece written by Tom FitzGerald.

Get a look at the scene earlier this week when the Cal Band marched around San Francisco's Ghiradelli Square.

JT Daniels will start at quarterback for USC against UCLA (12:30 p.m. PT, FOX), head coach Clay Helton reaffirmed on Thursday (Los Angeles Times). He might have had a tough second half against Cal, but you can certainly see why this guy won the starting job this year. He’s got a bright future.

On the other sideline, Thuc Nhi Nguyen gives us the UCLA scouting report and prediction for the USC game. She’s got the Bruins winning 28-24 at the Rose Bowl.

Leading into Oregon State’s game at Washington (1:30 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network), Ken Goe is of the opinion that Washington would still love to have Jonathan Smith on its sideline as offensive coordinator considering the Huskies’ issues on offense at times this season.

Washington men’s soccer lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night on penalties to Lipscomb after playing to a goalless draw for 110 minutes (Pac-12 Networks recap).

Writing for the Arizona Daily Star, Haille Saal gives us a preview of Arizona women’s soccer’s second-round NCAA Tournament match against Tennessee. The action is going down at 3 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT in Knoxville, and you can watch the live stream on WatchESPN.com.