#oregon-state

#oregon-state

The Washington Commanders have many needs to fill via free agency and the NFL draft during this critical offseason.The draft process is going to be front and center with several all-star games on the near horizon.Welcome to the first offseason edition of these mock drafts.The Washington Commanders have multiple positions that need upgrades and an obvious infusion of young talent.

As the 2022 NFL regular season winds down for the Washington Commanders, they will quickly turn their focus to the offseason and what awaits them in free agency and the draft.As the weather turns colder and the NFL playoffs begin to take shape, teams will soon be turning their attention to roster re-shaping through the two main tools of the offseason - free agency and the draft.

What has changed since USC's loss to Utah?

Kartje: The Trojans' lone defeat under Lincoln Riley happened just last month, but it feels like a lifetime ago considering the confidence USC is playing with right now.Players have said that loss - and the heart-wrenching scene after - changed them as a team, and it's hard to dispute that given what we've seen since.

The College Football Playoff dream died with the stumble against Arizona.Returning to the Rose Bowl game for the first time since 1999 was out after the heartbreaker against USC.Back-to-back losses have left UCLA to ponder something a lot less fun than a path to the Pac-12 championship game.Now it's all about which mid-tier bowl game the Bruins might find themselves in next month.

The UCLA women's basketball team will look to continue its promising season when the fourth-seeded Bruins play No. 13 Sacramento State in the first round of the Greenville 1 Regional of the NCAA tournament Saturday.After its stunning win over Stanford, the 17th-ranked Bruins fell to Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament final March 5, dashing its hopes of an automatic bid.

With two Pac-12 football heavyweights falling off its schedule, UCLA's slate of conference games in 2023 seems favorable ... or does it?The Bruins won't have to play Oregon or Washington, who combined for a 21-5 record last season, but they will have to face three presumed contenders on the road as part of their farewell season in the Pac-12.

Two hours before the Pac-12 championship matchup would be settled, Eric Gentry considered his options carefully when asked of whether he wanted a rematch against the team that spoiled USC's perfect season.After a two-second pause, the middle linebacker smiled wide."Happy to be in the Pac-12 championship," Gentry said with a toothy grin after USC's 38-27 win over No. 15 Notre Dame on Saturday at the Coliseum.

The Times will highlight the top college football games worth watching each week.Here's a rundown of six games in Week 13 of the 2022 season that should be worth your viewing time.All times are Pacific.No. 3 Michigan (11-0) at No. 2 Ohio State (11-0)

To say there is a lot at stake in this game at Ohio Stadium is an understatement - the winner clinches the Big Ten East Division title, a trip to the conference championship in Indianapolis and most likely a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

(Nell Redmond / Associated Press)

For UCLA, the saying is true.Practice does make perfect.After a string of heartbreaking late-game collapses, coach Cori Close changed UCLA's training regimen to finish practice two or three times a week with a must-win scrimmage.Two minutes and 30 seconds on the clock.

Lindsay Gottlieb knew her defense was good.But she didn't realize how good.Allowing just 54.8 points per game, USC is on pace to have the best scoring defense in the program's NCAA history.Gottlieb, the team's second-year coach, raised her eyebrows and nodded in modest approval when she heard the fact.

Before the chaos of March descended on Pauley Pavilion this week, Cori Close gathered her team at center court at the end of practice.During this time of the year, teams that remember and embrace their identity find the most success, the UCLA head coach reminded her players.That foundation helps overcome inevitable NCAA tournament adversity.

It wasn't always the smoothest ride, all the way down to the long wait on Selection Sunday.But for the third straight season, USC is on its way to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, punching its ticket as a No. 10 seed.The Trojans will face Michigan State, the No. 7 seed in the East region, on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

Mick Cronin rarely goes easy on his players.Known for ripping his team in good times (a recent home win over USC, albeit a hideous one) and bad (a November loss to Illinois after holding a 15-point lead in the second half), UCLA 's volatile coach took a softer approach Thursday night.He praised USC.

As the clouds cleared Saturday morning, letting the sun come through for the opening day of high school baseball, Calabasas pitcher Jordan Kingston stood on the mound perhaps asking himself where he could hide after two hit batters and an error in the first inning left him with the bases loaded and none out against El Camino Real.

Today's chat guest, Tim Kissner, has 22 years of experience as an MLB scout.Tim was born in Homer, Alaska, and grew up in Juneau.He played baseball at Mendocino Community College and Oregon State and has a masters degree from Eastern Oregon State College.Kissner began his MLB career as a part-time scout with the Phillies in 1999.

His back still ached, the tightness building over the second half of a long season, down the homestretch of a long college career.Drew Peterson was not his usually limber self.That much was certain Saturday night.The senior's stiff back had slowed him Thursday and nearly sidelined him for USC 's regular-season finale.

The Nittany Lions boast a strong 10-2 record, but they somehow accomplished it without beating a team currently ranked in the top 25.Their two losses, to College Football Playoff semifinal teams Michigan and Ohio State, were both by double digits.Certainly, Penn State has a lot to prove for a team privileged enough to be playing in the "Granddaddy of Them All."

It wasn't over.It was time to refocus.Time to go for a state title.So after a weekend jubilation on the heels of last Friday's Southern Section Division 4 championship win over Cypress, the Downey Vikings laced their cleats, took the field for Monday practice, and got back to competition.Sort of.Coach Jack Williams called it "Finish the Lyric" - offense vs. defense, a boombox brought to the middle of the field, Viking players hearing hip-hop and R&B and '70s hits and having to recite the proper words.

A look at some of the top high school regional football bowl games this week.Friday
Chula Vista Mater Dei (9-4) at Downey (12-2), 7 p.m.In 2-AA, Downey's offensive firepower could prove decisive.Oregon State commit Aidan Chiles has passed for 3,096 yards and 36 touchdowns, and run for 905 yards and nine touchdowns.

David Berding/Getty Images New York Giants receiver Isaiah Hodgins said he would "love" a long-term deal to remain with the team and "wants to be here," according to Art Stapleton of the Record.In the meantime, Hodgins is hopeful to return as an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA).

As you know, Nick Madrigal had an injury-filled 2022 season with the Cubs that resulted in him playing just 59 games and batting .249/.305/.282(52-for-209) with seven extra-base hits, all doubles.This, obviously, wasn't what anyone would have wanted from Madrigal, who was the first-round pick (fourth overall) of the White Sox in 2018 from Oregon State.

SAN FRANCISCO  Friday marked the official end of a chapter for Gary Payton II.A key rotation player on last season's championship team, Payton returned to Chase Center with his new team, the Portland Trail Blazers, and was given his championship ring.A brief video montage highlighting some of his brightest moments in a Warriors uniform played on the video board before Draymond Green presented Payton with his championship ring.

UCLA fans watching the Pac-12 Conference championship football game Friday might be tempted to utter two appalling words: fight on.A USC victory over Utah at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas would enhance the Bruins ' chances of being selected for the Alamo Bowl, the best possible postseason outcome for a team that finished in a tie for fifth place in the Pac-12 alongside Oregon State.

The nation's focus will be on Las Vegas on Friday night when USC and Utah play for the Pac-12 championship."That's the only drama left," ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said Tuesday night after the College Football Playoff rankings reveal.Based on the CFP selection committee's ranking of the Trojans as No. 4, USC is in the playoff with a win over the Utes.

In another life, another time, Cypress quarterback Aidan Houston's favorite receiver was Aidan Chiles, the Aidan-to-Aidan connection running wild across Pop Warner fields."I liked him," Houston said, smiling.He might like him a little less between the lines on Friday night, when Cypress takes on Downey in the Southern Section Division 4 championship game.