Weekly Six Pac: More Conference Conferring

1. Conference alignment remains the buzziest topic in the college football offseason and media rights are at the center of the storm. Write For California put together a good status update of where the Pac-12 stands with media rights and what could come next. One of the key details is the belief that UW, Oregon, Cal, and Stanford will tie their approval of a new Pac-12 deal to the right to leave if the B1G comes calling. The piece also points out the interesting conflict of interest that ESPN has created by bidding on TV rights while also reporting on how little leverage the conference has.

2. We have heard a lot about the impacts of potential realignment on UW and teams with similar profiles as the Huskies. Coug Center gives some thoughts from one of the programs who could be in an even more difficult position in the conference game of musical chairs. I’m not going to say anything mean about the Cougs today, but I will note that the piece repeatedly professes its love for the show Blue Bloods.

3. The sporting even of the weekend in the conference was ASU’s improbable upset of the Wildcats in Tucson. The Sun Devils sunk a three-quarter court shot as time expired to upset their in-state rivals 87-86. ASU improved to 20-9 on the season and 11-7 in conference to keep their postseason hopes alive. With USC and UCLA over the weekend, they have a chance to either lose the ground they made up against Arizona or pad their resume even further.

4. The other game of the week happened between the top two women’s basketball teams in the conference. #8 Utah has been closing in on #3 Stanford in the second half of the year and pulled off a big win to match the Cardinal for the Pac-12 regular season championship. Stanford chipped away at a double-digit lead throughout the second half, but Utah locked down defensively and made their free throws to seal the victory.

5. Oregon State has built a baseball dynasty of sorts in Corvallis. Despite not being ranked in most of the preseason polls, the Beavers have surged into the top-25 behind a 4-1 start. The walloped Coppin State 11-1 to win their home opener this weekend. Trent Sellers dominated on the mount with 12 strikeouts of the 22 batters he faced.

6. It’s not sports news, but it made it into a USC Blog: Catherine O’Hara received the Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Masters of Comedy Award at the USC Comedy Festival. O’Hara has rightly received plaudits for her work in Schitt’s Creek, but let’s not forget her brilliance in Christopher Guest movies like A Mighty Wind and Best in Show.