When Dakoda Fields of Serra High School committed to USC in June, I wrote that he wanted to go to Oregon. Well, Fields flipped his commitment to the Ducks tonight. He’s a tall (6-2), athletic cornerback and I wrote back in June he was the biggest commitment of the month for USC. Some Pac-12 schools thought he was better than Serra’s prized corner, Rodrick Pleasant. … Continue reading Big-Time Recruit Flips To Oregon

Remember at Pac-12 media day when George Kliavkoff said, “The longer we wait for our media deal, the better our options are.” Well, Sports Business Journal has the details of the finals options for the Pac-12. “Fox’s bid was for a package of just 13 football games, for which it said it would pay around $35-$40 million per year. Fox’s bid, essentially, was for what … Continue reading Shocking: Looks Like George Kliavkoff Gave False Impression

The USA Today coaches’ poll is out and USC is ranked No. 6. That’s pretty high but not high enough to make the College Football Playoff. The Trojans are above Washington (No. 11), Utah (No. 14) and Oregon (No. 15). The part that interests me is who votes in this poll. And here is the full poll: Rank Team Record PTS 1st Prev Chg Hi/Lo … Continue reading Too High Or Just Right? USC Ranked No. 6 In Coaches’ Poll

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff told the San Jose Mercury-News he had no intention to resign. “I’m loyal to a fault (and probably to my personal detriment). Had plenty of chances to leave over the past two years when the breadth of the challenges were already obvious and decided to stick it out and try to do the best I could. We still have a lot … Continue reading George Kliavkoff Said He Will Not Resign

The first week of training camp usually favors the defense. So it’s not surprising a USC coach told me this weekend two standouts were linebackers Mason Cobb and Eric Gentry. “They can both give problems to an offensive line,” the coach said. “That will help our defense this fall.” This is a position of strength for USC with Shane Lee, who started last year, also … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: A Couple Camp Standouts

Back in the early 1960’s, the Pac-12 survived with just a small second-floor office on Geary St. in San Francisco that consisted of the commissioner (Tom Hamilton), the public-relations representative (Tom Hansen) and a secretary. It was low overhead. In those days, the Pac-12 was known as the Athletic Association of Western Universities and consisted of USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford and Washington. Washington State joined … Continue reading History Repeats Itself