Roundup: Mel Tucker is "here to win big" in Boulder
Introductory press conference in the bag, new Colorado football head coach Mel Tucker told fans and media that “we’re here to win big.” Sean Keeler of The Denver Post has the story.
Good stuff – Cal football head coach Justin Wilcox signed a five-year contract extension through the 2023 season, Cal announced Thursday. Good ball coach right here.
When you see David Kiefer on the byline for a gostanford.com story, you know it’s a must-read. With Stanford women’s volleyball set to take on Washington State in the Sweet 16 Friday night at Maples Pavilion (5:30 p.m. PT or thereabouts, ESPN3), be sure to check out this feature story on Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Tami Alade and her journey from Nigeria to Canada to The Farm.
Monster game Friday night in men’s basketballville with Arizona State facing No. 6 Nevada at 10 p.m. MT/9 p.m. PT at the Staples Center, so Michelle Gardner of The Arizona Republic gives us an Arizona State-Nevada game preview. Oregon’s win over Syracuse was cool and all (as was Arizona downing Iowa State and U-Dub taking care of Texas A&M in Vancouver), but the Pac-12 could use another marquee non-con triumph (or five).
Like conference, like media – Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew II and coach Mike Leach were named Pac-12 Player and Coach of the Year by the Associated Press. Theo Lawson has the deets.
Hard-fought loss to No. 1 Gonzaga Wednesday night, but Matt Calkins of The Seattle Times tells us to not count out Washington men’s basketball. You always wanna win, but playing the top-ranked team in the country to within a basket is pretty good stuff.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times features UCLA men’s basketball guard Chris Smith, who has really made a nice jump as a sophomore, bumping his numbers up to 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 24 minutes per game.
Check out the recap of Arizona men’s basketball’s 80-69 win over Utah Valley, getting a team-high 16 points from Brandon Randolph to extend the Wildcats’ non-conference home winning streak to 55 games.
Lya Wodraska of The Salt Lake Tribune gives us a Utah gymnastics season primer. The Red Rocks are back with the Red Rocks preview Friday night at 7 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT (catch it on Pac-12 Networks).
Les Carpenter of The Washington Post features Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Sanchez, the former USC signal-caller who finds himself in a starting role again after a slew of injuries to Washington QBs. It wasn’t too long ago that this dude’s nickname was “Sanchize” when he led the New York Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship Games, but then the butt fumble (and a lot of losing) happened.
Nick Daschel looks at the implications for Oregon State men’s basketball in its Sunday game at Saint Louis, which gives the Beavs another opportunity to beat a good Bilikens club that is ranked 88th by the Net rankings.
James Crepea of The Oregonian/OregonLive gives us a statistical comparison between Oregon and Michigan State football as the Ducks and Spartans gear up for the Redbox Bowl later in the month. On paper, this looks like an Oregon victory.