Tag: pac12blast

Breaking: Pac-12 to mutually part ways with commissioner George Kliavkoff

George Kliavkoff is officially out as of the end of the month.

In a not-so-shocking development, the Pac-12 Board of Directors announced on Friday that the conference and commissioner George Kliavkoff have mutually agreed to part ways. According to the release, Kliavkoff will officially end his run as commissioner on Feb. 29, 2024.

Kliavkoff joined the conference to succeed outgoing commissioner Larry Scott on May 13, 2021, and officially took over on Jul. 1, 2021. He was tasked with finding a new media rights deal for the conference, which ultimately led to his undoing. Ten of the remaining 12 members decided to leave for the ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten starting on Jul. 1, 2024.

This left the conference with just two schools, Oregon State and Washington State University.

As the release indicated, the Pac-12 will announce more details about the new leadership the following week.

The Pac-12 has been involved in legal battles over the financials with the two remaining schools fighting to maintain control of the assets despite the 10 other teams leaving for greener pastures. Kliavkoff sealed his fate when he sat idle as the college football world were busy making moves to strengthen their conferences, while the Pac-12 imploded.

College Sports Wire will continue to provide updates as they are made available in regards to the Pac-12 and its future.

College football’s top performers in the Pac-12 during Week 5

College Sports Wire takes a look at the Pac-12’s top peformers in Week 5

It was a small slate of games in Week 5 of the 2023 college football season for the Pac-12 with just five games on the docket.

In those five games, there was only one “upset” on the weekend as Oregon State defeated Utah 21-7 on Friday night. However, that was upset by ranking only with the Beavers entering the game as a field-goal favorite.

The Washington Huskies had their first scare close game of the season in a 31-24 win over Arizona. USC’s offense was able to save the day in a 48-41 win over Colorado while Oregon dominated Stanford 42-6. Finally, Cal defeated Arizona State 24-21.

Below, College Sports Wire looks at some of the top performers from this weekend’s matchups.

Pac-12 Football: Utah – Oregon State set for Friday night showdown in small Week 5 slate

College Sports Wire looks at the top games in the Pac-12 for week 5?

After a fun week of action in Week 4 of the college football season for the Pac-12, it is shaping up to be a bit of a quieter week in Week Five.

Only five games are being played in the Pac-12 this week in college football. The slate starts strong with the Utah Utes traveling to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers on Friday night.

On Saturday, it’s an early start for the Pac-12 with Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley, and the USC Trojans traveling to Boulder to take on Deion Sanders’s Colorado Buffaloes. Throughout the rest of Saturday, Arizona State will take on California, Oregon will hit the road to face Stanford, and Washington will travel to Tuscon for a matchup against Arizona.

Below, College Sports Wire ranks each of the Pac-12’s five games this weekend.

College football’s top performers in the Pac-12 during Week 4

Who was the Pac-12’s top standouts in week 4?

Week 4 of the 2023 college football season brought the first week full of conference action in the Pac-12.

It was a week full of non-stop action with quite a few close, thrilling games in the process.

The only blowouts of the week came courtesy of the Washington Huskies defeating the Cal Golden Bears 59-32 while the Oregon Ducks derailed the Colorado Buffaloes hype train in Eugene 42-6.

But outside those two matchups, USC survived a potential upset scare from Arizona State 42-28, Utah outlasted UCLA 14-7, Washington State pulled out a narrow victory over Oregon State 38-35 and Arizona State defeated Stanford 21-20.

Here are the top performers out of the Pac-12 in Week 4.

College Football’s top performers in the Pac-12 during Week 3

Who was the Pac-12’s top standouts in week 3?

It was another strong weekend for the Pac-12 in week three. With no conference matchups this past weekend, the conference saw its programs go 9-2. The lone losses of the weekend came from Arizona State and Stanford.

Notable wins over the weekend included Washington dominating Michigan State 41-7 on the road in East Lansing and Colorado erasing a fourth-quarter deficit to defeat rival Colorado State 43-35.

After three weeks of action, the Pac-12’s 12 teams are now a combined 30-6, by far the best combined record for any conference this season. No other conference in the country has less than 11 combined losses this season.

Below, College Sports Wire looks at the top performances in week three across the Pac-12.

College football’s top performers in the Pac-12 during Week 2

Who was the Pac-12’s top performers in week two?

It was another strong showing out of the Pac-12 in week two of the 2023 college football season.

Headlining the week two results across the conference included Colorado, leaving little doubt that their week one win over TCU was a fluke by dominating Nebraska 36-14. Washington State upset No. 19 Wisconsin for a second straight season, while Oregon and Utah traveled to Big 12 country and defeated Baylor and Texas Tech, respectively, in thrilling matchups.

While Arizona, Arizona State, California, and Stanford all walked away with their first losses of the season. The conference has established itself early this season as one of the better conferences in the sport this season, with USC, Washington, Utah, Oregon, Oregon State, and Colorado all ranked in both the AP and US LBM Coaches Polls, while Washington State is ranked in the AP Poll. Unfortunately, the conference’s best season in the playoff era may be coming in its last season of existence.

Nonetheless, College Sports Wire looks at the top performers in week two across the Pac-12.

Ranking the best Pac-12 wide receivers ahead of the 2023 season

A look at the top wide receivers in the Pac-12 ahead of the 2023 season. Washington and USC are leading the way.

All eyes will be on the passing offenses in the Pac-12 for the upcoming season. The [autotag]USC Trojans[/autotag] and [autotag]Washington Huskies[/autotag] are among the elite offenses so it should come as no surprise that they will be well-represented on our wide receiver power rankings.

Our quarterback list featured Caleb Williams (USC) and Michael Penix Jr (Washington) at the top. Their pass catchers will be key for another successful season. The Huskies have the edge with Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan both coming off 1,000-yard seasons. The Trojans added Dorian Singer, who transferred from Arizona, to replace the loss of Jordan Addison to the NFL.

Don’t sleep on the Oregon Ducks or Colorado Buffaloes this season as they have stocked up through the transfer portal. Troy Franklin returns for the Ducks and should be the top pass catcher in Eugene, Oregon, again this year.

Here are our preliminary rankings for the Pac-12 wide receivers:

BRACKET BUSTER: Twitter reacts to No. 15 Princeton upsetting No. 2 Arizona

Welcome to March Sadness. The No. 15 Princeton Tigers busted everybody’s March Madness brackets by upsetting the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 13 Furman beating No. 4 Virginia wasn’t enough madness for Thursday’s opening day of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 15 Princeton Tigers out of the Ivy League upset the No. 2 ranked Arizona Wildcats 59-55.

Coming into the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats were coming off a Pac-12 championship and were among the popular picks to make a deep run in the tournament to the Final Four and potentially even a National Championship winning run. Now, like most brackets, that idea has been busted.

Princeton came in with a fantastic defensive game plan, not allowing Arizona to get any strong looks from beyond the arc, and played suffocating defense within the perimeter. The Wildcats shot 42.1% from the floor in the game but were just 3-for-16 from three-point range. After averaging over 80 points per game this season, the Wildcats’ 55 points on Thursday was their season low.

The Princeton Tigers will now move on to the Round of 32 to take on the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Missouri moved on earlier on Thursday with a 76-65 win over the Utah State Aggies.

This of course isn’t the first time that Princeton has found itself in the NCAA Tournament spotlight. The Tigers back in 1996 as a No. 13 seed upset the No. 4 seeded UCLA Bruins in the Round of 64 by a final score of 43-41. The Bruins were at the time the defending national champions.

Notably, current Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson was a starting guard on that 1995-1996 Princeton team.

Could Apple TV land the Pac-12’s college football rights?

One report states that Apple TV+ is the favorite to land the media rights to Pac-12 football. But is it enough?

The Pac-12’s current TV deal with ESPN and Fox Sports is set to expire following the 2023 season. So where does commissioner George Kliavkoff turn to next?

According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Apple TV+ could end up as the new landing spot for the Pac-12’s college football rights. Apple TV recently landed a deal with the MLS, and perhaps they want to sink their teeth in college football.

The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC all have long-term deals. The last remaining conference without a long-term deal might need to pull a rabbit out of their hats to keep their 10 remaining schools happy.

Per Marchand:

With ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Fox Sports lukewarm on the league, Apple could end up being the platform for the Pac-12, according to sources.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff could present Apple as a possibility to his schools soon, according to sources. If the universities will be interested in a potential all-streaming deal and if the terms will end up being good enough to prevent schools departing to other conferences are yet to be determined.

The heat is on for the Pac-12. Currently, the Big 12 has been reported as interested in the four corner schools. Would landing Apple keep Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah from joining? That remains to be seen and it is unlikely that an all-streaming service would keep everyone happy.

The longer that the Pac-12 goes without a long-term deal, the more likely that we could see schools entertain other conferences.

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Ranking returning Pac-12 quarterbacks by production

A look at the most productive passers in the Pac-12 that return for 2023.

There is a lot of firepower at quarterback returning to the Pac-12 for the 2023 college football season. This includes three Heisman Trophy contenders and the defending Heisman winner.

It all starts in the Pacific Northwest with Michael Penix Jr returning for another season with the Washington Huskies. He barely edged out Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans in terms of passing yardage. However, Williams accumulated more throws that led to touchdowns.

Other returning gunslingers that will have a say in Pac-12 supremacy include Bo Nix of the Oregon Ducks and Cameron Rising of the Utah Utes. Pound for pound, the Pac-12 quarterbacks stack up with just about any other group in the country.

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Here is a look at each school’s leading passer returning to the Pac-12 in 2023.