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Cougars to meet the media in Los Angeles

WSU linebacker Jeremiah Allison, right, knows things are a little edgy when it comes to the Apple Cup rivalry.  (Tyler Tjomsland)
WSU linebacker Jeremiah Allison, right, knows things are a little edgy when it comes to the Apple Cup rivalry. (Tyler Tjomsland)

The Pac-12 media will gather in L.A. this week to herald the onset of college football season on Thursday and Friday.

The annual gathering gives the media a chance to preview the season with coaches and players from each conference team in one place, as well as get updates from commissioner Larry Scott (Yes, the Pac-12 Networks are likely to finally be available on DirecTV thanks to AT&T's impending takeover. But, there is a good chance it won't happen in time for the start of football season.)

On Thursday morning the Pac-12 preseason media poll will also be revealed. Spoiler alert: I'm picking USC to win the conference.

From 9:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. the Pac-12 Networks will cover the event, with Mike Yam hosting a rotating panel of analysts including Nick Aliotti, Curtis Conway, Matt Leinart and Yogi Roth.

Ashley Adamson will host a Centennial Kick-Off Party nearby so expect lots of pictures and vines of coaches and athletes donning funny hats, playing mini-golf, knocking piñatas and doing other activities in order to create "shareable social content." For the children.

The head coach, one offensive player and a defensive player will represent each team. On offense the Cougars have chosen to send left tackle Joe Dahl, which makes sense because he's arguably the offense's best player and he has a lot of media appearances under his belt with no hiccups.

The defensive attendee for WSU will be linebacker Jeremiah Allison, the classic likable do-gooder with good enough stats to plausibly speak for the team selection.

And of course there will be a lunch because it's a group of sportswriters putting in a hard afternoon's work and if they didn't feed us we'd show Los Angeles what a real riot looks like.

Here is the schedule:

Thursday, July 30

9 a.m. - Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott

9:30 a.m. - ARIZONA STATE - Head Coach Todd Graham, Mike Bercovici (QB), Jordan Simone (S)

10:10 a.m. - OREGON STATE - Head Coach Gary Andersen, Storm Barrs-Woods (RB), Larry Scott (CB)

10:50 a.m. - UCLA - Head Coach Jim Mora, Jake Brendel (C), Fabian Moreau (DB)

11:30 a.m. - WASHINGTON - Head Coach Chris Petersen, Deontae Cooper (RB),  Travis Feeney (LB)

12:10 p.m. - STANFORD - Head Coach David Shaw, Kyle Murphy (LT), Blake Martinez (LB)

12:50 p.m. - COLORADO - Head Coach Mike MacIntyre, Stephane Nembot (OT), Kenneth Olugbode ILB

Friday, July 31

8:30 a.m. - Football Officiating Session – David Coleman, Pac-12 VP of Officiating

9 a.m. - Pac-12 Networks presentation - Lydia Murphy-Stephans, Pac-12 Networks President

9:30 a.m. - ARIZONA - Head Coach Rich Rodriguez, TBD

10:10 a.m. - CALIFORNIA - Head Coach Sonny Dykes, Jared Goff (QB), Hardy Nickerson (LB)

10:50 a.m. - USC - Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, Cody Kessler (QB), Su’a Cravens (LB-S)

11:30 a.m. - OREGON - Head Coach Mark Helfrich, Royce Freeman (RB), Rodney Hardrick (LB)

12:10 p.m. - WASHINGTON STATE - Head Coach Mike Leach, Joe Dahl (OT), Jeremiah Allison (LB)

12:50 p.m. - UTAH - Head Coach Kyle Whittingham, Devontae Booker (RB), Jared Norris (LB)



Jacob Thorpe
Jacob Thorpe joined The Spokesman-Review in 2013. He currently is a reporter for the Sports Desk covering Washington State University athletics.

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