NCAA football

Appointed in the aftermath of collapse, Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould spent two-and-a-half years rebuilding the conference with new members and a new media rights contract in advance of its anticipated July 1 launch.

Smack in the middle of a roiling month for college football comes a week unlike any the sport has experienced — a week jammed with three tectonic events that will shape the future for all 138 teams and, perhaps, the entirety of collegiate athletics.

PULLMAN – Jack Fanning, a member of Washington State’s Athletics Hall of Fame and one of the best wide receivers in the football program’s history, died last week in Spokane.

PULLMAN – Washington State has added a pair of defenders to its future.

PULLMAN – Washington State’s recent influx of recruiting visits have begun to bear fruit.

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould’s flight landed Monday night at Washington’s Dulles Airport, followed by a lengthy ride to her hotel. Early the next morning, Gould was on Capitol Hill to discuss perhaps the most significant congressional legislation in college sports history.

PULLMAN – Washington State can chalk up one of its biggest recruiting wins lately.

Ryan Leaf will be USA Network's lead Pac-12 college football analyst and will do a select number of games as a college basketball analyst, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told the Athletic.

PULLMAN – Washington State is adding some versatility to its next recruiting class.

Jackie Sherrill, the former Bear Bryant assistant whose career includes stints at Wazzu, Pitt and Texas A&M, might have an even better case to be inducted than Leach.

PULLMAN – Washington State is adding some size to its next prep class.

PULLMAN – Mike Leach, one of the greatest coaches in Washington State football history, is eligible to get his due.

The Protect College Sports Act, co-authored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), is a more thoughtful version of the SCORE Act that died in the House recently. It has merit on multiple levels, including the provisions that allow athletes five years to play five seasons and prohibit professionals from returning to college. Eventually, it could become the law of the land.

Mike Leach, the mercurial coach and one of the godfathers of the Air Raid offense, is on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame for the first time.

PULLMAN – Richard “Dick” Fry, a member of Washington State’s Athletics Hall of Fame and a longtime sports information director, died Wednesday in Pullman.

The spring headlines across college football have been jammed with off-field issues. Playoff expansion, federal legislation, NIL confusion, breakaway threats, eligibility rulings – it’s enough to make fans long for endless replay reviews and controversial targeting calls.

Idaho's football team will be featured twice on ESPN in 2026, according to a release from the network Wednesday. Previously, only one Vandals regular-season game in program history had aired on ESPN's main channel.

PULLMAN – Washington State’s next football season will start on a Sunday.

Veteran Spokane-area broadcaster Larry Weir doesn’t remember anything about the events of May 18.