I was accused in the comments of this blog yesterday of being a BYU supporter and being resentful that it was the Utes, not the Cougars, who were invited to the Pac-12 in 2010. I was perplexed, because that didn't sound like me at all. Then hours later, I actually did begin to wish the Cougars were in the Pac-12 — so I could criticize Bronco Mendenhall's decision to go for two late in the fourth quarter of his team's 7-6 loss at Boise State. Alas, we talk about the Pac-12 here, so on to that conference (where no coach this week could possibly do something so boneheaded, indefensible and costly as that... right?).
The links:
— Folks in Tempe remember Utah quarterback Jon Hays, so they expect the Sun Devils to win on Saturday.
— There's been a lot of talk about injury reports in this conference, and Mike Leach gets taken to task for lecturing on journalism, saying his players don't get hurt and his inability to count to three.
— Bud Withers doesn't want to hear from Pac-12 Networks or DirecTV again until they have something nice to say.
— Cal running back Brendan Bigelow became a star against Ohio State and start getting reps over former Cottonwood star Isi Sofele.
— It's quaint how folks in Boulder continue to talk about the small things, as if improvement in the ground game would extinguish this grease fire. Cyclist Taylor Phinney says folks in his hometown Boulder would be better off cheering for him.
— Matt Barkley is falling on draft boards. Here's why. USC has had a rough last week, and the cure is winning.
— With only a small sample size to lean on, how concerned should Oregon State be with its kicking game?
— Oregon coach Chip Kelly dislikes all these late starts (and I bet the reporters who cover his team do, too).
— So, it's not North and South in the historical sense, but the boys over at ESPN take a stab at determining which division is stronger.
— The OC Register picks USC over Cal and UCLA over Oregon State.
— The Beavers will face on Saturday a former coveted recruit and they've never seen an offense quite like this.
— Oregon opens Pac-12 play against Arizona, and the Heisman Trophy is Sports Illustrated cover boy De'Anthony Thomas' to lose, says one columnist.
— Bill Oram
