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Only three Pac-12 teams make Sports Illustrated's preseason Top 25, but the more surprising development is Stanford's No. 2 ranking. The Cardinal join Oregon (No. 5) and UCLA (No. 21) on the list.

Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov is featured on one of SI's six regional covers as part of a “Revenge of the Nerd” package about strong academic schools such as Stanford, Vanderbilt and Northwestern that have made a resurgence in foo...

USC coach Lane Kiffin needed one week of practice to reduce the Trojans' quarterback competition from three to two.

Third-year sophomores Max Wittek and Cody Kessler remain in the derby, with freshman Max Browne lacking the ability to handle "the speed of the game" as well as the others at this point in his development, Kiffin said.

Browne's third-string status does not necessarily mean that he'll redshirt, Kiffin said. Browne, a highly regarded recruit from the Seattle area, led his high school team to a 57-25 win over Cottonwood in a nationally televised game in Salt Lake City last September.

Wittek, meanwhile, has an edge in experience over Kessler. He...

Among the many remarkable distinctions of Utah co-offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson's career is the fact that he has gone against every opponent on the Utes' 2013 schedule - as a head coach.

I'm certain that no other assistant coach in the country can make such a claim.

That sequence of events dates to 1982, when Erickson became Idaho's head coach and faced Weber State. In another twist, he met Utah State (the Utes' season-opening opponent) in 2006, when he returned to Idaho for one season. As Miami's coach in 1990, Erickson and the Hurricanes launched their defense of a national championship with a loss to BYU and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.

My 2013 ballot, submitted to the Pac-12 Football Media Poll, to be released next week:

North Division

1. Stanford

2. Oregon

3. Washington

4. Oregon State

5. California

6. Washington State

South Division

1. Arizona State

2. USC

3. UCLA

4. Utah

5. Arizona

1. Colorado

Explanations: The North was much easier to pick, with the deciding factor being that Stanford hosts Oregon in November. The South was a tough choice between the top three teams. And once again, I'm probably overestimating USC and underestimat...

Ever since he became the commissioner of what's now the Pac-12 Conference, Larry Scott has sought to expand the league's brand.

That's not restricted to America. Scott is endorsing visits to China by various all-star teams and school-affiliated programs, to the extent of proposing a regular-season men's basketball game in 2014-15.

Part of his motivation is to create a television presence in Asia for the Pac-12. It's a bold move, with effects beyond athletics.

It is important to remember that Scott works for the presidents of the conference's member schools. They like the ideas of collaborating in research and attracting students from China. That's why the...

Anyone hoping that the NCAA would place Oregon at a competitive disadvantage and give the rest of the Pac-12 a better chance to deal with the Ducks undoubtedly is disappointed today.

The NCAA's sanctions of Oregon were minor: three years of probation and the loss of a few scholarships. The Ducks remain eligible for bowl invitations and the Pac-12 championship game - unlike USC in 2011.

Former coach Chip Kelly also received a relatively meaningless penalty, basically preventing him from coaching college football for 18 months. Kelly, of course, intends to be employed by the Philaelphia Eagles during that period.

So the ultimate result is that schools such as...

As a pitcher for the independent Salt Lake Trappers in 1987, John Savage was part of a team that compiled a pro baseball-record streak of 29 victories.

His UCLA baseball team is on quite a run of its own.

The Bruins are 8-0 in NCAA Tournament play, advancing to the finals of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The best-of-three series with Mississippi State starts Monday at 6 p.m. MDT.

UCLA (47-17) is doing it with great pitching, including a 4-1 win over North Carolina to win its bracket. The Bruins finished second to Oregon State in the Pac-12, but have shut down their postseason opponents.

Savage is in his ninth season at UCLA, following thr...

Having launched the Pac-12 Networks last year, Gary Stevenson is joining Major League Soccer as president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures, commissioner Don Garber announced Wednesday.

Stevenson recently left his position as the presidents of Pac-12 Enterprises, with responsibility for managing a media company that includes the Pac-12 Networks, the Pac-12 Digital Network and Pac-12 Properties.

"Gary's vast experience in the sports and entertainment world, along with his deep understanding of the media landscape, will play a pivotal role in growing key areas of our business and forming new partnerships," Garber said in a statement. "I've known Gary ...

With help from a former Alta High School player, Oregon State is headed to the College World Series.

The Beavers will join Pac-12 rival UCLA in Omaha, after beating Kansas State 4-3 in Monday's deciding game of a best-of-three Suer Regional series at Corvallis, Ore.

OSU third baseman Kavin Keyes, a junior who graduated early from Alta to play for the Beavers in 2011, will make his first CWS appearance. Keyes, who recorded four hits in OSU's 12-4 win in Game 2, is batting .318 and has started 53 of the Beavers' 61 games.

The Beavers are going to Omaha for the first time since 2007, when they won their second consecutive NCAA championship. They will meet Mi...

After sending four teams to the NCAA Tournament, the Pac-12 is represented by UCLA and Oregon State in Super Regional baseball competition this weekend, as the Bruins and Beavers try to advance to the College World Series.

UCLA (42-17) visits Cal State Fullerton in a best-of-three series that begins Friday afternoon, while Pac-12 champion OSU (48-10) hosts Kansas State with Game 1 set for Saturday afternoon.

The Bruins have reached the Super Regionals in consecutive years for the first time. Coach John Savage, a former Salt Lake Trappers pitcher, is 25-14 in postseason play, one victory shy of the school record.

OSU won three straight Super Regional serie...

Pac-12 football coaches support formal standards that would govern the amount of contact in practice, commissioner Larry Scott said Monday.

The restrictions would be "more evolved" than current NCAA limits, as part of the Pac-12's student-athlete initiative that emphasizes reducing head trauma in football and other sports, Scott said during a media teleconference.

Scott's report followed meetings of the conference's athletic directors, faculty representatives and presidents in Park City. The football coaches met last month in suburban Phoenix. The league will explain the football practice changes during the Pac-12 media day July 26 in Los Angeles.

Other u...

Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez had no prior association with offensive line coach Robert Anae when took the Wildcats' job in December 2011. Yet he decided to retain Anae from the previous staff and was glad he did. Anae since has returned to BYU as offensive coordinator, the position he held from 2005-10 before spending two seasons at Arizona.

Rodriguez liked the chemistry of his offensive staff last season. "Robert fit right in with the rest of the guys," he said during the Pac-12 media teleconference, wrapping up spring football.

Anae also succeeded in developing the Wildcats' linemen. "He was very patient with the young guys," Rodriguez said. "I needed that, beca...

Washington State coach Mike Leach famously questioned the toughness of his offensive linemen after a loss at Utah last November, while forcing each of them to attend a postgame news conference. Leach now is pointing to previous recruiting deficiencies as the issue, as he said this week during the Pac-12's media teleconference wrapping up spring football.

"We're still thin and we're still small," Leach said, observing that four of the five projected starters were originally walk-ons.

In Leach's second season at WSU, the Cougars will host Utah on Nov. 23.

After beating BYU and Utah in consecutive weeks last October as a fill-in quarterback, Oregon State's Cody Vaz subsequently lost his job to original starter Sean Mannion, because of ineffectiveness.

The battle for the 2013 position will continue into August, OSU coach Mike Riley said this week, during the Pac-12's media teleconference wrapping up spring football.

"Neither one of those guys really surprised us in the spring, as far as being behind," said Riley, who described the competition as "real good for the Beavers."

Oregon State's first Pac-12 game comes earlier than usual this season. The Beavers will visit Utah on Sept. 14, after opening the season...

Football coaches continually speak of worrying only about what they can control. Yet it became clear Monday that the Pac-12's coaches care a lot about something that's outside of their domain.

Pac-12 schools play nine conference games annually, plus a championship game for the division winners. The coaches want teams in other leagues to do the same, in the interest of having consistent standards for picking the four playoff teams.

Judging by Monday's media teleconference that wrapped up spring football, that was a big topic during the coaches' recent meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is committed to staging nine league games, a...

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The recent NFL draft was rather shocking to those of us who believed USC's 2012 football team was loaded with talent.

The Trojans had one player taken in the first two rounds and two in the first three rounds. That hardly speaks of them as one of the best teams ever to appear at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as I was billing them last October.

As it turned out, USC failed to live up to such advertising, on the field and in the NFL's eyes. Quarterback Matt Barkley's shoulder injury contributed to both the Trojans' 7-6 record and his fourth-round status, but the draft results were still stunning. USC receiver Robert Woods went in the second round, s...

During and after spring football practice, Colorado's quarterback competition quickly dissolved from three players to one.

The Buffaloes are left with Connor Wood as the presumptive starter, following Jordan Webb's season-ending knee injury and Nick Hirschman's announcement that he's transferring.

Colorado also will have redshirt freshman Shane Dillon and incoming freshman Seto Liufau at the position.

Hirschman intends to transfer and play in 2013 as a graduate student, possibly at an Ivy league school, coach Mike MacIntyre said.

So Hirschman's final appearance as a Buff was the 2012 season finale against Utah. He completed 30 of 51 passes for 306 ...

During spring football practice, Colorado’s quarterback competition quickly dissolved from three players to one.

The Buffaloes are left with Connor Wood as the presumptive starter, following Jordan Webb’s season-ending knee injury and Nick Hirschman’s announcement that he’s transferring.

Colorado also will have redshirt freshman Shane Dillon and incoming freshman Seto Liufau at the position.

Hirschman intends to transfer and play in 2013 as a graduate student, possibly at an Ivy league school, coach Mike MacIntyre said.

The Pac-12 South's outlook changed markedly last weekend when Arizona receiver Austin Hill's knee injury was disclosed.

Hill, who caught 81 passes for 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, was injured in practice Wednesday, three days before the Wildcats concluded spring drills. He'll likely miss the 2013 season, although a comeback this year is not out of the question.

After improving dramatically in coach Rich Rodriguez's first season, Arizona was positioned to challenge for the South title. But the loss of the Wildcats' dynamic receiver will hurt them, considering how much he would have helped quarterback B.J. Denker in the transition from Matt Scott, a ...

University of Utah football fans can get a glimpse of at least four of the Utes' 2013 conference opponents Saturday. The Pac-12 Networks will televise the spring football games of Colorado, Arizona State, USC, Arizona and Stanford.

The USC and Arizona games are scheduled for the time slot (2 p.m. MDT) with regional coverage. The other starting times are 10:30 a.m. for Colorado, noon for ASU and 4 p.m. for Stanford.

Utah's spring game is part of the April 20 schedule on the Pac-12 Networks. Oregon State, Utah's first conference opponent of the season (Sept. 14), will appear on Friday, April 26.

Ed Rush, the Pac-12's coordinator of basketball officials, resigned Thursday in the wake of reports that he spoke of a bounty for a technical foul or other methods of reining in Arizona coach Sean Miller.

As reported by CBSSports.com, the subject came up in an officials meeting preceded the Wildcats' 66-64 loss to UCLA in the semifinals of the conference men's basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

Whether the resignation was forced or strictly Rush's idea, the move saved the Pac-12 from some embarrassment after commissioner Larry Scott seemed to brush aside the incident in a news release earlier this week.

By retaining Rush, formerly a longtime NBA referee,...

The Pac-12 Conference has a bigger problem than a mildly worded news release could brush aside.

Conference commissioner Larry Scott needs to discipline Ed Rush, his coordinator of basketball officials, beyond merely saying everybody knows Rush was joking in a meeting when he spoke of a $5,000 bounty for a technical foul or other methods of reining in Arizona coach Sean Miller.

As reported by CBSSports.com, the meeting preceded the Wildcats' 66-64 loss to UCLA in the semifinals of the conference men's basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

Sure enough, Miller drew a technical at a critical point in the game, with less than five minutes remaining.

In th...

In New Mexico, the big issue is how Steve Alford's 10-year contract agreement lasted about 10 days. In the Pac-12, meanwhile, the story moved quickly to how Alford's hiring will affect UCLA and the conference.

UCLA athletic Dan Guerrero made a great observation about Alford. If anybody can live up to the pressure and expectations of UCLA basketball, it should be Alford. He played for Indiana, so he's accustomed to tradition and high standards.

New Mexico's coaching job is highly scrutinized as well, given what Lobo basketball means in Albuquerque. So Alford is a good fit, and he's a good coach - even if Harvard's Tommy Amaker makes him look bad in the NCAA Tourn...

Arizona was as impressive as any team in the NCAA Tournament's first weekend, winning two games by a total of 40 points. The qualifier is that the No. 6-seeded Wildcats were facing Nos. 11 (Belmont) and 14 (Harvard) seeds, but the way they played still said a lot about this team.

I like their chances Thursday against No. 2 seed Ohio State in the West Region semifinals in Los Angeles. The key player is guard Mark Lyons, who was brilliant in Salt Lake City last week. If Lyons is taking good shots and scoring consistently, Arizona becomes a multidimensional team that's tough to defend.

Even with Arizona and Oregon advancing to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, the biggest news in Pac-12 basketball this past weekend was UCLA's firing of coach Ben Howland.

The move drove home the point that failing to reach the Sweet 16 for five straight years trumps playing in three consecutive Final Fours. Howland, a former Weber State player, was dismissed after the Bruins lost badly to Minnesota in the round of 64.

It's a bold move by UCLA's administration, and what comes next will be very interesting. This coaching search will serve as a gauge of what UCLA - "those four letters," to use one of Howland's expressions - mean in the marketplace these days. It's a...

It may have helped to face a No. 14 seed in the round of 32, but the Arizona Wildcats have been as impressive as any team in the NCAA Tournament.

Arizona blitzed Harvard 74-51 on Saturday in Salt Lake City, so the No. 6-seeded Wildcats have won their two games by a total of 40 points.

The 'Cats advance to the West Region semifinals in Los Angeles, where they likely will meet No. 2 Ohio State.

Arizona shot 55 percent from the field to Harvard's 27 percent. Mark Lyons led the Wildcats with 27 points. Solomon Hill added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Arizona guard Mark Lyons played for the Xavier team that lost 101-96 to Kansas State in double overtime in the Sweet 16 at Salt Lake City's EnergySolutions Arena in 2010. He's back in the building with the Wildcats, facing Belmont on Thursday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I just remember the intensity of the game, seems like every shot was a big shot and every possession meant the game," said Lyons, who had two points and two assists in 11 minutes.

Arizona coach Sean Miller also is familiar with Salt Lake City as a tournament venue. In 2006, his No. 14-seeded Xavier team lost 79-75 to Gonzaga at the Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus...

Arizona coach Sean Miller and a bunch of Wildcat fans left Las Vegas in disgust last weekend, but just about anyone else would have to say the Pac-12's initial venture to the MGM Grand Garden Arena was a success.

Attendance increased significantly from last year's Pac-12 men's basketball tournament in Los Angeles. The numbers would have been even bigger if Arizona had advanced to Saturday's championship game. But the Wildcats lost to UCLA by two points in the semifinals, triggering an outburst from Miller, whose technical foul proved to be critical. According to the Pac-12 news release announcing a $25,000 fine, Miller confronted a referee on the court and a conferenc...

UCLA guard Jordan Adams' broken foot obviously will affect tonight's championship game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament in Las Vegas. The bigger issue is how the Bruins will deal with Adams' absence in the NCAA Tournament.

Adams had scored 24 points before being injured on the final defensive sequence of Friday's 66-64 semifinal victory over Arizona. For the season, the freshman is UCLA's No. 2 scorer with a 15.3 average.

Another question is whether Adams' injury will hurt the Bruins in the NCAA seeding process. In that sense, how they play without him tonight may have a lot to say about their immediate future after they won the conference's regular-season ti...

To make a point about how much the level of Pac-12 basketball competition has increased, Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said he wishes his current team could have played against last year's opponents.

Of course, the Utes are not the only ones who have improved. The conference is almost universally expected to send five teams to the NCAA Tournament, with potential for a sixth bid.

That's where today's Arizona State-UCLA quarterfinal game in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas becomes intriguing. If the Sun Devils win, they'll enhance their credentials as that possible sixth entrant.

ASU beat UCLA 78-60 at home and lost 79-74 in Los Angeles in the regular seas...

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Having determined his future after four spring practices, quarterback Allan Bridgford will transfer from California as a fifth-year senior.

Bridgford, by far the Bears' most experienced QB, said Monday in a school news release that he was recruited to play in former coach Jeff Tedford's pro-style offense and did not fit into the spread scheme of new coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin.

Bridgford, who started three games for Cal, intends to graduate from the school this summer. He also hopes ...

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Washington's Steve Sarkisian has a mediocre 26-25 record in his four years in Seattle with three consecutive 7-6 seasons, but he's the Pac-12's highest-paid football coach.

Sarkisian's $2.55 million salary ranks slightly ahead of USC's Lane Kiffin and UCLA's Jim Mora, according to a list compiled by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

My primary observation about this list is that there's clearly a conference-wide market for these coaches. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, for example, is right in the middle of t...

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Washington's Steve Sarkisian has a mediocre 26-25 record in his four years in Seattle with three consecutive 7-6 seasons, but he's the Pac-12's highest-paid football coach.

Sarkisian's $2.55 million salary ranks slightly ahead of USC's Lane Kiffin and UCLA's Jim Mora, according to a list compiled by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

My primary observation about this list is that there's clearly a ...

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Washington's Steve Sarkisian has a mediocre 26-25 record in his four years in Seattle with three consecutive 7-6 seasons, but he's the Pac-12's highest-paid football coach.

Sarkisian's $2.55 million salary ranks slightly ahead of USC's Lane Kiffin and UCLA's Jim Mora, according to a list compiled by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

My primary observation about this list is that there's clearly a conference-wide market for these coaches. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, for example, is right in the middle of t...

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Like most Pac-12 schools, Utah will face a Football Championship Subdivision opponent (Weber State) in 2013.

That will mark three seasons in a row that the Utes have played Big Sky Conference teams – with a fourth such foe to come – but the scheduling trend could change. The Big Ten is discussing no longer booking FCS teams and Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott intends to raise that subject with the conference's coaches and athletic directo...

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Dennis Erickson wanted to make a good impression when he reported to his new job.

“I am not going to the University of Utah with a cane,” he told his wife.

So the Utes' co-offensive coordinator waited until he had sufficiently recovered from his Feb. 6 hip replacement surgery to come to Salt Lake City. That rehabilitation process and a coaching shelf life that he guesses is two to four years – “Probably not 10 years,” he said – are his only concessions to age, as he approaches his 66^th birthday next mo...

While variables such as injuries come into play, one way to judge the talent level of a college football team is by the number of players invited to this month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

The 2013 list of invitees suggests that a couple of Pac-12 teams really underachieved in 2012. The obvious one is USC, which is sending six players to Indianapolis after a 7-6 season. The other is California, with five entrants – lending support to the notion that former coach Jeff Tedford's firing was justified.

Another theory is that the fewer players a school sends to the combine, the more talent it is returning.

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For a couple of reasons, UCLA's status as the two-time defending champion of the Pac-12 South in football tends to be overlooked.

The Bruins claimed the title in 2011 because of USC's ineligibility. While UCLA genuinely earned the championship in 2012, the bigger story in the South was USC's underachieving performance. But the fact is, UCLA is the division's top program at the moment, and the Bruins' momentum continued on signing day.

Recruiting analysts gave UCLA a consensus top-10 ranking. That's impressive in ...

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Stanford coach David Shaw responded to the loss of his offensive coordinator with a series of in-house moves.

Pep Hamilton took a job with the Indianapolis Colts, reuniting with former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. In turn, Shaw made offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren the Cardinal's new offensive coordinator. He also moved Mike Sanford Jr. from running backs to quarterbacks and receivers and moved former Stanford QB Tavita Pritchard from defense to offense, working with the running backs.

Stanford visits Uta...

Thanks largely to Utah and Oregon, the Pac-12 is fairly well represented in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. However, none of the four ex-Utes on the rosters actually competed in the school’s Pac-12 era.

The Utes have San Francisco backup quarterback Alex Smith and three Baltimore players, defensive lineman Ma’ake Kemoeatu, linebacker Paul Kruger and receiver David Reed. Oregon’s alumni include Baltimore tight end Ed Dickson and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and San Francisco defensive tackle Will Tukuafu and running back LaMichael James. Arizona State claims Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs and San Francisco tigh...

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The natural response to Chip Kelly's leaving Oregon to become the Philadelphia Eagles' coach is that this move gives the rest of the Pac-12 a better chance to beat the Ducks.

That may or may not be true.

Kelly sure seems to be one of those exceptional coaching talents, but a lot of observers thought Stanford's run of success would end when Jim Harbaugh joined the San Francisco 49ers, and that hardly has proven to be the case. It's unreasonable to think that just because Kelly is gone, Oregon's offense will sudden...

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The only mystery regarding Thursday's release of the 2013 Pac-12 football schedule was when the games would be played, because everybody's nonconference games and the rotation of conference opponents were already set.

Even so, there's some news here, and having the full context in front of us opens the way for some observations:

-- The Pac-12 is not afraid to use Thursday for showcase games. The prime example is Oregon at Stanford, Nov. 7.

-- The way the calendar falls this year...

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Oregon's football coaching succession plan is in place. The question is whether the Ducks will need it anytime soon.

For the second year in a row, coach Chip Kelly appeared headed to the NFL, only to turn down such an opportunity and stay in Eugene. By all accounts, offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich is line to replace Kelly, but their positions remain unchanged for now.

That's bad news for the rest of the Pac-12, with opponents holding onto hope that Kelly's departure might derail the Ducks, who have played in ...

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The Pac-12 is down to its final bowl opportunity of 2012, with much at stake. A victory for Oregon over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl would make the league 4-4 – but more important, 2-0 in BCS games.

This postseason has been largely a disappointment for the conference, and there's obviously no Pac-12 representative in the BCS title game Monday. But winning the Rose and Fiesta Bowls would be nice achievements for the league.

Stanford, the Rose Bowl champion, remains the only team that has remotely slowed down Or...

Thanks to Oregon State's late fade against Texas in the Alamo Bowl and USC's embarrassing loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl, the Pac-12 is now 2-4 in the postseason. Now come the games that really matter.

The league's New Year's Day opportunity for redemption comes in the Rose Bowl, with Stanford meeting Wisconsin.

This has been a season of credibility for the Cardinal, having lost quarterback Andrew Luck. Coach David Shaw has done a terrific job of maintaining the level of performance that Luck and former coach Jim Harbaugh helped establish. Stanford would love to add a Rose Bowl victory to its Pac-12 championship.<...

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After the Pac-12 South champion UCLA Bruins produced a major letdown for the conference in the Holiday Bowl, two more Pac-12 teams will make bowl appearances Saturday.

The league stands 1-2 in the postseason after UCLA's 49-26 loss to Baylor.

Arizona State vs. Navy, Fight Hunger Bowl, San Francisco

The Sun Devils seemingly have the Pac-12's easiest avenue to a bowl victory, facing an undistinguished Navy team. The variable is dealing with Navy's option scheme, which often create...

In last week's Poinsettia Bowl, BYU and San Diego State produced one offensive touchdown between them, and that came via a one-play, 14-yard drive after a fumble recovery.

San Diego's other bowl game should be a much different story. UCLA and Baylor are likely to deliver close to a combined 100 points on Thursday's Holiday Bowl. Now, this game won't quite turn into the offensive production – or defensive joke – of Baylor's 67-56 win over Washington in last December's Alamo Bowl, but it certainly should be entertaining.

UCLA quarterback Bret Hundley and running back Johnathan Franklin should h...

Thanks to Arizona's scoring two touchdowns in the last minute to beat Nevada, the Pac-12 is 1-0 bowl games.

The competition actually gets tougher Saturday.

Washington will meet Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl, trying to finish the season with better feelings than last month, when the Huskies crumbled in the fourth quarter of a loss to Washington State.

Boise State crushed Utah (then playing its final Mountain West game) and Arizona State in the last two Las Vegas Bowls. The current Broncos are not nearly as powerful offensively as those teams were, but the...

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The first of the eight bowl games involving Pac-12 teams matches Arizona and Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday in Albuquerque.
The conference was unable to fill this slot last season, but produced a sufficient number of qualifying teams in 2012.
The bowl that launches the entire 35-game postseason schedule in the Football Bowl Subdivision is not especially glamorous, but this should be an entertaining game. It's meaningful to Arizona, with the Wildcats having becoming bowl-eligible in coach Rich Rodriguez's first season.
With quarterback Matt Scott and runn...