Morning links: Preparing for OSU

It’s a week for the Cougars as Washington State begins preparing for the first game of its second-season, a three-game sprint to the finish with Luke Falk at quarterback. The Cougars can’t make a bowl game but they can increase still increase the optimism around the program and send the seniors out on a good note with a couple more wins. And Falk has a chance to make an early case that he should be the starting WSU quarterback for the next three years or so.

That’s the gist of the first story we’ll pass along but we’ve got plenty more after the jump.

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— Bud Withers puts the Pac-12 in perspective .

— Oregon State fans are finding better things to do on Saturdays than head to Reser Stadium.

— Washington can’t afford not to keep Shaq Thompson at running back.

— Arizona’s running game isn’t what it used to be .

— Once again the defense is Arizona State’s strength.

— California didn’t care how it moved the ball against Oregon State.

— Why did Colorado stop giving Michael Adkins the ball on Saturday?

— Oregon doesn’t have time to bask in its big win with Utah on the horizon.

— Delving into the details of Stanford’s loss to Oregon.

— UCLA’s Brett Hundley is rededicating himself to the run .

— USC’s Su’a Cravens was injured at WSU, but thankfully it doesn’t appear to be serious .

—  Utah is pretty good this season. With a better passing game, it could have been great.