Pac Ten Alley

It's that time of the week to take a walk down the coast to see what the other Pac Ten schools are doing. One thing for sure is that we are at the end of the academic year, and the blogs have started to take a bit of a rest as football related news is in hibernation, and Spring Sports are starting to wrap up.

We however are going to have Husky, and Pac Ten related information every week during the summer.

There is always going to be some news, and I will start pulling it out of local newspapers during the Summer until the blogs heat back up in late July.

At USC the talent pool is deeper than ever, so deep that it is scary.

Look, there's one of the 10 prep All-American running backs. That is not a misprint. With the addition of at least three all-world freshmen, USC has perhaps more good running backs than the rest of the Pac-10 combined. "They have so much energy out there, sometimes I'm thinking, why can't we have 10 quarterbacks?" Booty says with a laugh. Look, over there, nine star defensive backs, and six star linebackers, and five defensive linemen who could start for anyone in the country.

Ex WSU, and Fresno St coach Jim Sweeney's grandson Beau has verbaled to attend California.

Beau Sweeney's welcome to Cal's football program was a little different than most. Sweeney, a junior quarterback at Clovis West High School in Fresno, gave Cal coach Jeff Tedford an oral commitment last week. Sweeney's father, Kevin, was Tedford's teammate at Fresno State, when they both played for Sweeney's grandfather, Jim. When Tedford later became Fresno State's offensive coordinator, he lived just around the corner from the Sweeneys. So after Sweeney committed, Tedford sent him some old photos that featured his kids and Sweeney at various birthday parties and holiday functions. "I was a little kid, so I don't remember it too much," Sweeney said. "There were quite a few pictures. It was a good laugh."

Oregon State had a Pac Ten baseball season below expectations, but they still have a chance to defend their national title and get back to the World Series.

The OSU Baseball Team came into the 2007 with high hopes after winning a National Championship in June of 2006. However, they lost guys off that Championship team like Cole Gillespie, Bill Rowe, Tyler Graham, Chris Kunda, Shea McFeely, Dallas Buck, Jonah Nikerson, and Kevin Gunderson. This created holes at three infield positions; third, second, and first, as well as pitcher. The departures basically left all three outfield positions up for grabs.

Tacoma's Ahmad Rashad joins the College Football Hall of Fame.

Ahmad Rashad, who had an outstanding career as a wide receiver and running back at the University of Oregon under the name Bobby Moore, has been elected to the 2007 class of the College Football Hall of Fame. Rashad, 57, joins a 13-member class that includes Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, former Notre Dame defensive tackle Chris Zorich and former Indiana running back Anthony Thompson.

UCLA looks to increase academic performance in basketball.

NCAA officials announced Tuesday the formation of a group that includes coaches, athletic directors, college presidents and others to investigate issues that may be hindering academic achievement. Dan Guerrero, UCLA's athletic director, will be chairman of the group, which is expected to submit recommendations to the Division I Board of Directors by the end of 2008."Nothing will be off the table,'' NCAA President Myles Brand said. If not for an adjustment allowed for squad size, up to 45 percent of Division I men's basketball teams could face penalties for poor academic performance, Brand said during a conference call with other officials and reporters.

Over at WSU Coach Daugherty is leaving the hospital after suffering from a heart attack. A full recovery is expected.

"June is doing very well," said Mike Daugherty, her husband and associate head coach at WSU, in a statement released through the school. "She would like to thank everybody for all of their good wishes, and she will be back soon."

Arizona heads off to compete for a berth in the World Series

The University of Arizona baseball team should be upset it didn’t host a regional, but delighted at the draw it got this week in NCAA regional action. The Wildcats have to go to Wichita, Kan., which is probably as exciting as Tucson, but in terms of what their future has in store it should be the promised land. No game is going to be easy, but having to knock off Wichita State, Oral Roberts and New Orleans sure beats having to play in some other pods.

Stanford and Cal fend off the NFL.

That was close. The big, bad NFL has dropped its pursuit of getting the trademark rights to the title “The Big Game” and “Big Game.” In other words, the Cal-Stanford football game can keep its name. No need to think about a new title — like the “Cal stomps Stanford” game, or the “Can Stanford finally beat Cal?” game.

ASU wins the Pac Ten Baseball Crown.

ASU whipped UA 8-5 last night at Packard Stadium to win the Pac-10 title outright, and the win ought to secure a home slot in both the regional and super regional in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The only thing left on the line is pride, and one more win against the Cats will give the Sun Devils the season advantage against the hated ferals of the south. The Diamondbacks must be doing really poorly right now, because the local media is all over this series. Both papers even sent photographers *gasp!* to Wednesday's victory!