Wednesday Dots: Remember the Defender

Johnny’s in the basement

Mixing up the medicine

I’m on the pavement

Thinking about the Dots

• If you want to get the synapses firing in the nostalgic lobe of your brain, check out the great Bill Connelly’s ranking of the top-80 CFB defenders since 2000 (behind ESPN+ paywall). The Huskies are represented by Hau’oli Kikaha, though a disproportionate segment of the Pac-12’s entries come from the mid-00s USC juggernaut. I was a bit surprised that none of UW’s excellent DBs or DTs made the list, but it might come down to longevity.

• Just one season after he arrived from Wichita State, Erik Stevenson is back in the NCAA basketball transfer portal. On one hand, you could argue that the basketball team needs all the help it can get, especially from someone like Stevenson who flashed solid wing play at times. On the other hand, I would not be excited to watch a team that looked much like last year’s squad come back in the winter. For more on Stevenson, check out Max’s report card on his season.

• Jon Wilner looks at the men’s NCAA tournament through a wide-angle lens and sees great success for the Pac-12. The narrative will change quickly if every remaining team bombs out in the Sweet 16, but the wins so far have helped restore the prestige that wore off in the last few seasons.

• In sadder basketball news, former Husky Bob Fronk passed away last week. Fronk helped lead a successful NIT run in 1980, when that tournament still meant quite a bit.

• Yesterday, Gabey implored you to send questions to Christian Caple for his mailbag. Today, Christian’s mailbag is live. He focuses on incoming transfers, the QB battle, and Heisman contenders.

• Dawgman looks at Pac-12 schedules and picks one game that every team has circled on its calendar.

While we’re on the subject of Subterranean Homesick Blues, enjoy Allen Ginsberg and one of the first great music videos.