Here is the latest Pac-12 Conference sports news from The Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — The Pac-12 has two teams in No. 5 Washington and No. 6 Oregon that are in the hunt for a College Football Playoff spot. The league also has two programs in Washington State and Oregon State that are about to be left behind when schools scatter from the conference after the season. For 10 Pac-12 programs, it’s off to the promise of greener pastures in mega-conferences. The question that remains is how big is too big for a league. The Big 12 expands to 16 with the incoming Pac-12 arrivals, while the Big Ten balloons to 18 and the ACC to 17. Some programs may end up getting lost in the reshuffle.
SEATTLE (AP) — The messages flooding the inbox and social media accounts of Washington’s Zion Tupuola-Fetui in recent days will slow down. They have been filled with love and support, less about what he accomplished as a football player and more about providing support for a son who lost his father. On the way to No. 5 Washington improving to 9-0 with a win over Southern California, it was Tupuola-Fetui making one of the biggest plays of the game with his strip-sack of USC QB Caleb Williams. The game came a week after Tupuola-Fetui’s father passed away at age 58.
UNDATED (AP) — It was a wild and historic opening day in women’s college basketball with a monumental upset and stellar debuts. Seven months after LSU won the national championship, the Tigers became the first No. 1 team to lose their season opener in 28 years when they were stunned by No. 20 Colorado 92-78. UConn was the last team to do it according to ESPN when the Huskies were No. 1 to start the 1995-96 season and fell to Louisiana Tech. They were also the defending NCAA champions. A bunch of freshmen had stellar debuts. Juju Watkins scored 32 points to help No. 21 Southern Cal shock seventh-ranked Ohio State.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Dartmouth opened its men’s basketball season with Monday night’s loss at No. 2 Duke. That comes roughly two months after players began an attempt to unionize. Captains Romeo Myrthil and Robert McRae III said the team has kept basketball as its focus with the unionization effort to the side. College conferences and schools have opposed efforts to pursue unionization for college athletes, arguing it would fundamentally change the way college sports operate if athletes are considered employees. Myrthil and McRae spoke after the Duke loss. Previously the team had released a statement to Dartmouth’s student newspaper.