A traveling Friday post

COUGARS

FROM SAN FRANCISCO — It’s on to Salt Lake City this afternoon, but not before passing along plenty of reading material about a couple different sports this morning. Read on.

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In today’s newspaper, we had this story from yesterday’s media day at the Pac-12 Studios, and on the football side, we also had a story detailing the strong play recently of WSU’s defense. On the blog, you’ll find our live chat with quotes from throughout media day, our wrap-up of Ken Bone and Brock Motum’s time on the podium, a post with results of the preseason media poll and a short post with an update on Brett Kingma. The Pac-12’s site has video and transcripts of all the other interview sessions . … Percy Allen has an item on WSU, among other teams. … The AP has this WSU basketball story . … The Cougars picked up a verbal commitment from an in-state offensive lineman (fixed). … From Utah: Saturday will be coach Kyle Whittingham’s 100th career game . The Utes’ secondary has been improving .

Around the Pac-12 … There is a football game tonight, with Washington visiting California in a pretty critical game for both teams . Cal will be without its best player . … Stanford is trying to avoid a letdown this week against Colorado. … UCLA wants to slow Arizona’s “frantic” offense. … USC knows it has to take care of the ball to have a chance against Oregon. … Oregon State is banged up as it prepares for Arizona State. … A look into the life of Oregon running back Kenjon Barner. … Arizona State will likely have its star defensive tackle back this week. … Colorado thinks its offensive line is getting stronger . … An Arizona safety is getting healthier and healthier each week.

On the basketball front … Arizona State wants to play more up-tempo this season. … Colorado is picked to finish in the middle of the Pac-12 standings, but the Buffaloes don’t care. … Defending conference champion Washington is picked to finish fifth. … UCLA has some options at point guard. … USC’s point guard wants to come back strong from an ACL injury. … Arizona, picked to win the Pac-12, is loaded with potential. … California might have to rely heavily on a freshman this season. … Stanford has raised its expectations. … The expectations for Utah, however, are about the same as they were last year. … Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said this is the best team he’s had. … Oregon needs a pair of freshmen to contribute right away.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com . Twitter: @ChristianCaple