Kibbles and Bits

Terrence Jones insists that he is still committed to Washington but he still hasn't signed his LOI. Yesterday Jones told The Oregonian: "I'm still committed to Washington, but I'm not willing to sign anything at this point."

What it simply means is that Jones isn't 100% sure yet and wasn't when he sat down to make his choice at a school assembly. Most of the insiders around Jones feel that he will ultimately sign with Washington.

In the meantime fans need to be patient because Jones is a good kid who is just requesting a little more time to make the biggest decision of his young life.

Football Recruiting

Former WSU commit Bishop Sankey from Gonzaga HS was at the UW spring game last Friday. Sankey has a UW offer and has reopened his recruitment. Minnesota is another school that has piqued his interest. Gonzaga HS TE Charlie Hopkins was also at the spring game and he will likely pick between UW and Stanford. Hopkins is rated as the #8 TE in the nation by Scout.

Kearney Passes

Dr. Joe Kearney who was athletic director at Washington from 1969-76 passed away yesterday at the age of 83 from pancreatic cancer. Kearney hired Marv Harshman and Don James who went on to become two of the most decorated coaches in Washington history.

The James hiring was interesting because he had his sights set on Don Devine who took the Notre Dame job instead. He then turned to Cal's Mike White who chose Illinois and SJSU's Daryl Rodgers who took the Michigan State job instead.

The Harshman hiring was a big coup. Marv had been at WSU for 13 years and it looked like he was going to retire there until Keaney came calling. There are a lot of old time Coug's out there that have never forgiven Harshman and that is just fine with Marvelous Marv.

Kearney left Washington in 1976 to become AD at Michigan State where he hired Jud Heathcoate as basketball coach who won a national championship with a team led by Magic Johnson. He then left for a short stint at ASU before becoming commisioner of the Western Athletic Conference.

Kearney is remembered at Washington for providing a steady hand during the turmoil of the late 60's when he took over as AD from former football coach Jim Owens. Kearney left Washington in excellent shape for Mike Lude who became AD when he left.

Doctor Joe will be missed.

Expansion Talk

The coaches and AD's are talking about it right now at the league meetings but the coaches really aren't expanding the discussion into the media. Stanford's Jim Harbaugh frankly said they were not supposed to discuss any of the possible scenario's. Steve Sarkisian was a little more open without getting into specifics. He feels that the conference is doing a great job with their due dilligence and he is happy with anything they decide.

One thing that is very clear on the expansion front is that everyone is waiting to see what the Big Ten is going to do and that includes the SEC. If the Big Ten adds five teams to get to 16 you can bet that the SEC will add four to counter it.

Out West the options are not as clear since Colorado, Utah, and BYU are the only real candidates the Pac 10 would have interest in this side of the Rocky Mountains. the conference could add Colorado and Utah who are very receptive but would that increase revenues enough for the original ten teams to make sense?

USC defense takes a hit

Christian Tupou will miss the 2010 season with knee injury. Tupou, who started 21 games over the past two seasons, tore a ligament in his left knee during the spring game on Saturday.

In other news the USC athletic department should receive word from the NCAA any day now concerning probation, penalties, and sanctions. USC got a huge break when Bush settled his lawsuit with his former agent so he did not have to be deposed in the case.

Boise State Rewards Petersen

Chris Petersen signed a new five year deal with the school worth $8 million. That is a pretty big deal for a non BCS school to make with it's coach but it would still put him near the bottom of the pay scale in the Pac 10.

Nebraska's Spring Game

Washington was pretty excited to see more than 15,000 fans in the stands for the spring game on Friday but over at Nebraska they get a little more excited locally. 77,670 Big Red fans showed up in Lincoln which makes sense because there simply isn't anything else to do in Lincoln or Omaha.

Nebraska heads into 2010 with a team that should rate among the top three in the Big 12. It's hard to believe but Cornhusker fans are predicting that the defense will be even better next season despite the key loss of DT Ndamukong Suh to the NFL.

One big area of concern for the Cornhuskers in 2010 is on offense because they will be breaking in a new QB. Bo Pellini has done a great job rebuilding the program but he is still missing the pieces on offense that will make his team a title contender.