We gave you our takes on the big Pac-12 announcements yesterday; here's the best of what's out there from others.
First, Vince Grippi of The Spokesman-Review caught up with Paul Wulff to get his take. From a football coach's point of view, he likes it:
"I think it's a perfect fit for Washington State," Wulff said. "[Recruiting the Bay Area is] a huge part of this program. The players from there just indentify with this place a lot.
"I felt all along the best situation would be for the Northwest schools and the Northern California schools to be together. I felt that was best for Washington State."
Grippi notes that there are no fewer than 20 players from the Bay Area on WSU's current roster -- many of them recruited by Wulff.
"If you've paid attention to Cougar football for a number of years and you go back and you look at all the quality players that have been in this program, they've predominately been from Northern California and the state of Washington," said Wulff, who came to WSU as a player from the Sacramento area.
"We now are just going back into Northern California with the vigor that we should be."
Here are some of the other links out there of Pac-12 interest today:
Larry Scott Lays Out Plans For The Pac-12 - SB Nation Seattle
The Pac-10 conference became the Pac-12 conference over the summer. We've got the details of the newly-expanded conference and what it means for Washington and Washington State. The Pac-12 will have two divisions, the North and South, equal revenue sharing, with USC and UCLA receiving a payoff, and scheduling concessions to allow the California schools to continue their rivalries.
Bud Withers | Commissioner Larry Scott manages to pull Pac-10 together on issues of realignment and revenue sharing | Seattle Times Newspaper
"If you had told me a year ago," said Scott, 15 months the commissioner, "that this conference would have expanded by two, that we'd have a championship football game, and have the level of commitment and support throughout this conference, and the level of optimism, I'd have been thrilled."
Who's already a winner in new Pac-12? - Pac-10 Blog - ESPN
Conventional wisdom isn't always correct. And unintended consequences often produce more powerful ramifications. For one, there might be a benefit to not playing USC and UCLA every year, just as it was a benefit before the nine-game, round-robin conference schedule was adopted to miss USC during the early Pete Carroll era.
Pac-10 expansion: Thoughts on the divisions, revenue projections, CEO dynamic and more | College Hotline
It’s also hard to call anyone a “loser” from realignment because everyone’s going to end up with more money once the new media deal is signed. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Oregon State and Washington State have the most to lose over the long haul.
Pac-10 football timeline | Seattle Times Newspaper
Answers to your Pac-12 questions | Seattle Times Newspaper
On to the rest of the regular links!
WSU Football News
WSU and the new Pac-12 - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 21, 2010
Wulff thinks Fullington is doing fine. OK, as well as could be expected would be more accurate. But he also had high expectations about Fullington from the time WSU started recruiting him. So he expects a lot from the freshman.
Scout.com: Seen & Heard on Planet Coug
Checking in on the Cardinal - WSU Football Blog
Other WSU News
Scout.com: PHOTO GALLERY: Bone's boys up close
PULLMAN - Washington State point guard Andre ('Dre) Winston may be only 6-1 but he gets to the rim with the ease of a big man. The freshman from Tacoma wasn't the only Coug who came close to banging his head on the backboard last week, however. The Cougs were dunking up a storm as they kicked off the season with a little Midnight Mayhem. CF.C was there with the camera to catch the action.
Rowing Heads North to Take on Gonzaga - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
After a successful opening to the fall season at the Head of the Oklahoma, the Washington State women's rowing team will head to Spokane, Saturday, Oct. 23 to take on Gonzaga at the Head of the Spokane Regatta.
Cougar Soccer Hosts Oregon Schools for Wear Pink Weekend - WASHINGTON STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The Washington State soccer team (6-9-0, 1-3-0 Pacific-10) hosts Oregon State and Oregon during Wear Pink Weekend on the Pullman campus.
Other Stuff We Like
Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl has gotten himself in some hot bleeping water. You will not believe this until you read it. Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press has been out in front of this thing from the beginning. Here is his story:
Pearl works without contract for now | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl has worked without a formal contract for more than a month, but his boss said both sides are "in the process of finalizing" a new contract.
Now, after you've read that, read the letter Tennessee sent to Pearl upon terminating his formal contract and ask yourself why he's still employed at all:
UT's Letter Of Termination To Bruce Pearl
Bizarre. Especially when you consider that Pearl was essentially blackballed for a bit for being an NCAA whistleblower. So weird.