Morning links: ESPN keeps WSU College Gameday tradition alive

For a while yesterday, it seemed likely that for the first time since 2003 there would be no Washington State flag in the background of ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast.

BREAKING: The Washington State flag is lost in transit. 166-consecutive College GameDay streak is in jeopardy. pic.twitter.com/abFOrF1ke6

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 25, 2015

The tradition was started by Tom Pounds as part of a campaign to get the weekly ESPN pregame show to come to Pullman. That hasn’t happened yet, although a producer hinted that WSU is his hit list, but the Ol’ Crimson Booster Club has made sure that a flag flew at edition of GameDay since, sending them around the country each week during football season.

It was eventually determined that the flag was stuck in Mississippi, and unlikely to make it to Tucson, Arizona in time for tomorrow’s matchup between Arizona and UCLA.

But ESPN happened to have its own WSU flag on hand and sent it express to Arizona. Actually, I’ll just let ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt tell you how it happened.

Now that the crisis has been averted, let’s get to the links:

— So far, so good on my picks. Kevin Hogan started for Stanford and the Cardinal made easy work of Oregon State.

— Washington’s defense is about to face its toughest test yet against California. But UW is going to be a new challenge for the Golden Bears, too.

— Colorado can beat last year’s win total with a victory over winless Nicholls State. But the Buffaloes can’t take any teams lightly .

— Beating the Wildcats today would be huge for UCLA’s chances to win the Pac-12 South. Arizona should be pretty tough, though, not just because Scooby Wright is expected to return .

— Expect the Utes to hold onto the football for an extra couple seconds during any scores in today’s game against Oregon.

— Arizona State broke USC’s heart last year. Can the Sun Devils do it again ?

— Today’s bonus link is a great profile of two contemporary entertainers , Key and Peele, written by Zadie Smith for the New Yorker.