FUTURE PAC-12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES ANNOUNCED

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--The Pac-10 announced today the 2011 Pac-12 football schedule and the eight-year rotation model used for future scheduling.

The 2011 season begins on Saturday, September 3 and culminates Saturday, December 3, with the first-ever Pac-12 Championship game. That game will be played at the home site of the division champion with the best overall conference record.

The 2012 schedule will include the same set of opponents as the 2011 schedule, with games played at opposite sites. Dates of those games are to be determined.

“We are pleased to follow the announcement of the Pac-12 North-South divisional alignment with the release of our 2011 football schedule, and a future conference football scheduling model that maintains important traditional rivalries, and will create some very exciting match-ups in our new 12-team conference,” stated Commissioner Larry Scott.

2011 Pac-12 Football Schedule
Thurs., Sept. 1
Montana State at Utah

Sat., Sept. 3
Northern Arizona at Arizona
UC Davis at Arizona State
Minnesota at USC
UCLA at Houston
California (game to be scheduled)
San Jose State at Stanford
Oregon vs. LSU
Oregon State (game to be scheduled)
Eastern Washington at Washington
Idaho State at Washington State
Colorado at Hawaii

Sat., Sept. 10
Utah at USC
Arizona at Oklahoma State
Missouri at Arizona State
San Jose State at UCLA
California (game to be scheduled)
Stanford at Duke
Nevada at Oregon
Oregon State at Wisconsin
Hawaii at Washington
UNLV at Washington State
Colorado (game to be scheduled)

Sat., Sept. 17
Stanford at Arizona
Arizona State at Illinois
Syracuse at USC
Texas at UCLA
California (game to be scheduled)
Oregon (game to be scheduled)
Washington at Nebraska
Washington State at San Diego State
Colorado vs. Colorado State
Utah at BYU

Sat., Sept. 24
Oregon at Arizona
USC at Arizona State
UCLA at Oregon State
California at Washington
Colorado at Ohio State

Sat., Oct. 1
Arizona at USC
Oregon State at Arizona State
UCLA at Stanford
Washington at Utah
Washington State at Colorado

Thurs., Oct. 6
California at Oregon

Sat., Oct. 8
Arizona at Oregon State
Arizona State at Utah
Washington State at UCLA
Colorado at Stanford

Thurs., Oct. 13
USC at California

Sat., Oct. 15
Arizona State at Oregon
Stanford at Washington State
Colorado at Washington
BYU at Oregon State
Utah at Pittsburgh

Thurs., Oct. 20
UCLA at Arizona

Sat., Oct. 22
Utah at California
Washington at Stanford
Oregon at Colorado
Oregon State at Washington State
USC at Notre Dame

Sat., Oct. 29
Arizona at Washington
Colorado at Arizona State
Stanford at USC
California at UCLA
Washington State at Oregon
Oregon State at Utah

Sat., Nov. 5
Utah at Arizona
Arizona State at UCLA
USC at Colorado
Washington State at California
Stanford at Oregon State
Oregon at Washington

Sat., Nov. 12
Arizona at Colorado
Arizona State at Washington State
Washington at USC
UCLA at Utah
Oregon State at California
Oregon at Stanford

Sat., Nov. 19
Arizona at Arizona State
USC at Oregon
Colorado at UCLA
California at Stanford
Washington at Oregon State
Utah at Washington State

Sat., Nov. 26
California at Arizona State
UCLA at USC
Oregon State at Oregon
Washington State at Washington
Colorado at Utah
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona
Notre Dame at Stanford

Sat., Dec. 3
Pac-12 Championship Game

PAC 12 Announces Conference Division Alignments

--New Policies Established for Revenue Sharing, Football Divisional Structure, Football Championship Game and Schedules for all other Sports--

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 21, 2010) - The Pac-12 Conference took major steps to transform itself into a dynamic new enterprise by forming two football divisions that maintain traditional rivalries, creating the first-ever Pac-12 football championship game, establishing schedule models for all other sports and agreeing to move to an equal revenue sharing plan for the !rst time in conference history, it was announced today.

The Chancellors and Presidents of the 12 member institutions voted to create a new North-South division structure that allows the conference to continue to play its traditional rivalry games, including the long-standing annual games among the California schools, delivers a football championship game to the home !eld of the top team in the conference standings and is easy for fans to follow.

“Our key objective was to transform the Pac-10 to a modern 12-team conference that has long term strength, increased value, competitive balance and is fan friendly and we have done that with these monumental decisions today,” Commissioner Larry Scott said. “By unanimously adopting a plan for equal revenue sharing we have created a conference with a strong foundation for long term success. It’s an exciting day for the Pac-12 and all of our fans.”

“This has been a very thorough process that created a lot of discussion and has delivered results that we are all very excited about,” said Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University and Chairman of the Pac-10 CEO Group. “The engagement we have received from all 12 member institutions and their Presidents and Chancellors has been tremendous. We have an ambitious plan for the future of our conference and all of that input was vital in allowing us to take these transformational steps.”

The new divisions will feature California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington and Washington
State in the North and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah in the South. Each school will play !ve divisional games, and four cross-divisional games each year. To preserve all of the historic rivalries, including those among the California schools, the new scheduling format locks in annual inter-divisional games between the Northern and Southern California teams, that date back to the 1930s.

The traditional rivalries like Oregon-Oregon State (113 meetings), Cal-Stanford (112), Washington-
Washington State (102), Arizona-Arizona State (83) and UCLA-USC (79) will continue to be played at the end of each season. Not to be lost, USC has played Stanford (98 times) and Cal (89) more than it has faced cross town rival UCLA (79). Meanwhile USC, Cal and Stanford tie as UCLA’s most frequent opponent at 79 meetings apiece. The divisions were formed based on the combination of rivalries, location and competitive balance.

“Not only did we achieve a competitive balance in our divisions, but we were also able to preserve our traditional rivalries as cornerstones of our conference,” Scott said. “These great annual battles have produced some of the most memorable moments in sports history. It was imperative that we kept them in tact.”

The inaugural Pac-12 Championship game will be played in December 2011 at the home stadium of the team with the best overall conference record, ensuring a full stadium and an electric collegiate atmosphere be!tting of a major conference championship game.

There will not be divisions for Pac-12 basketball or any other sports. In men’s and women’s basketball, the teams will play an 18-game conference schedule that will include home and home games with traditional rivals, six rotating home and homes and single play games against the remaining four teams in the Conference.

UCLA Will Wear New Jersey At Oregon On Oct. 21

UCLA and adidas unveiled their new TECHFIT compression football jerseys Monday. Featuring a ground-breaking compression fit and weighing 30 percent lighter than standard football jerseys, the adidas TECHFIT jersey will help players be lighter and faster on the field.

The UCLA Bruins will wear the new adidas TECHFIT jerseys on Thursday, Oct. 21 as they visit Oregon at 6 pm PT on ESPN.

"adidas and UCLA have had a great relationship for over a decade and we are excited about this new, cutting-edge product adidas has produced for our players," said UCLA Head Coach Rick Neuheisel. "The new jersey has a compression fit and is harder for our opponents to grab. It will also keep our players cool, thanks to the material and ventilation system, and it has a great look to it. Some of the players had a chance to sample it and we are excited to wear them for the first time at Oregon on Oct. 21."

UCLA, adidas Announce New Football Jersey

PAC-10 REPRIMANDS OREGON FOOTBALL COACH

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--University of Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly has been reprimanded by the Pac-10 Conference for comments he made about the officiating at last Saturday’s game against Stanford, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today. Kelly’s comments were aired on ABC as part of a half-time interview conducted by Erin Andrews.

“The Pac-10 has specific rules that prohibit our coaches from making public comments about officiating, and this prohibition specifically includes comments that create doubts about the credibility of the Conference’s officiating program,” stated Scott. “The Conference expects each Pac-10 coach to adhere to our standards of conduct and to conduct himself or herself in a manner which will reflect credit on the institution and the Conference.”

The College Experiment: Oregon Cheerleaders

Ever wonder why the University of Oregon cheerleaders always rank among the hottest in collegiate sports?  Foxsports.com's Bob Oschack wondered the same thing.

Kevin O'Neill Fires Student Manager For Running His Mouth

Technical fouls for criticizing officials are about as common in college basketball as alley-oop dunks.  They happen all the time.

However, they are only supposed to be handed out to coaches, although players are often guilty of loose lips as well.  But under no circumstances whatsoever, should a student manager receive a technical foul for criticizing or yelling obscenities at referees.  I guess it's a little too late to tell that to USC graduate student Stan Holt, who not only got hit with a tech in the Trojans loss at Oregon, but may have cost USC a victory.

Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill, who can curse out an officiall as well as anyone, took the necessary immediate action by firing Holt after the game.

"The referee told me he was screaming obscenities at him," O'Neill said. "That's on me and that will be rectified. It already has been. He's gone. If somebody's getting a technical foul, it's going to be me."

I applaud O'Neill for wasting no time in doing the right thing.  Albeit, coaches are still given a little slack on the decorum tip, the behavior of fans at sporting events has been getting worse and worse the last several years... foxsportswest.com:  Zip The Lip 

Oregon CB Thurmond done for season

You may not find a stronger proponent for higher education than yours truly. I believe the college experience--from both the educational to the social aspects--is invaluable to young people, especially today. Those who believe it's a waste a time and/or money have no idea what they are missing.

However, I am also a realist. College is not for everyone, or perhaps more accurately, a college degree is not for everyone.

The number one goal of going to college is to develop skills to help you ensure a successful and productive life once your school days are done. I often use that argument when today's student-athletes are faced with the decision to leave school early for the professional ranks or to stay in college for another season or two.

Granted, every case is different, but for the upper echelon of uber talented athletes, staying in school sometimes has its consequences, and Oregon's Walter Thurmond III is the latest example.

Thurmond, who came extremely close to entering the 2009 NFL Draft, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's win over Cal. Instead of rehabbing that knee with a professional team, who would be paying him while doing so, Thurmond must now try to get back to a level of strength and conditioning by January so he can work out for NFL teams with hopes of someone taking a chance on him.

Once a guaranteed lock for a high draft pick, Thurmond is now viewed as damaged goods by professional scouts and talent evaluators. Instead of determining where he should be picked in the draft, some teams will soon determine whether he should be drafted at all.

Here's hoping that Thurmond's work ethic and desire will help him prove to NFL general managers, coaches and scouts that he is still worthy of a chance.