WSU gearing up for Oregon State
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- Washington State is back to its normal-but-not-really schedule of playing on Wednesday and Saturday this week, which means the Cougars' game against Oregon State is now a mere 36-ish hours away. Ken Bone and WSU players will meet with the media later today, and we'll be there, as usual. For now, we have links, so read on (and sorry for the abrupt, non-sensical ending to this paragraph earlier. Stopped mid-thought while writing it and forgot to finish).
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With WSU possessing a 2-9 conference record in the fourth year of Bone's contract, talk has surfaced that the coach's job may be in jeopardy. Howie Stalwick spoke with athletic director Bill Moos about that subject in Spokane yesterday and wrote this story. Moos essentially said what you'd expect -- that those kind of decisions are made at the end of the season, which has been his stance on all coaching decisions since he took over. He added that the amount of money remaining on Bone's contract wouldn't be the sole factor in his decision, though it is worth noting that Bone would be owed $2.55 million if he were terminated at the end of this season. ... CougCenter takes a look at what to expect from Mike Leach's recruiting class going forward. ... Looking inside the numbers with Oregon State. ... Bud Withers has some thoughts on Dennis Erickson's hiring at Utah.
Around the Pac-12 ... Arizona's zone-busting senior is trying to redeem himself after a rough loss for the Wildcats. ... Doug Haller examines whether Arizona State is an NCAA tournament team. ... After a big scoring night in an upset win over Arizona, California guard Allen Crabbe won Pac-12 Player of the Week. ... A football link: Stanford is getting an old running back to return. ... USC's Ari Stewart will miss some time with a broken thumb. ... A Colorado freshman has been playing well on both ends of the court (although, it is technically possible to just play offense and still play well on both ends of the court, because you switch baskets at halftime). ... Utah nearly beat Arizona and Arizona State early in the season, and the Utes will get another shot at those teams this week.
We'll be back later with more from Bone's press conference.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple