Semi-pro/college football has shuffled some conferences again; here is our first Pac-8 preview since 2023.
— There are eight teams in the new “Pac-12”
— Five of the eight teams came over from the Mountain West
— Oregon State/Washington State finally have some league rivals again.
— Texas State is in the league; Texas, obviously, s nowhere near the Pacific Ocean.
Boise State
Last ten years, Boise is 94-35 SU.
Broncos lost their last three bowls, giving up 35-31-38 points.
Boise has 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Broncos have 130 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Madsen has 25 career starts.
Coach Danielson is 24-8 SU as a head coach.
Last three years, Boise is 14-4-1 ATS as a favorite.
Last three years, Boise was 20-12-3 ATS in conference games.
Boise is 14-4-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Broncos open this season with a game at Oregon.
Colorado State
Jim Mora comes to Ft Collins, after four years at UConn
Mora is 73-53 SU as a college coach (UCLA/UConn)
Colorado State has 1 starter back on offense, 6 on defense.
Rams have only 8 returning starts on the offensive line.
QB’s have transferred in from Oklahoma State/UConn.
Colorado State has been to one bowl since 2017.
Rams lost their last five bowls (last win, 2013)
Last five years, Rams are 5-11-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In his college career, Mora is 24-19-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last 10 years, Colorado State is 15-25 ATS in non-league games.
Fresno State
Coach Entz was 9-4 LY, in his first year at Fresno.
Last five years, Bulldogs are 44-22 SU.
Fresno has 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Bulldogs have 56 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Martin is a transfer from Maryland.
Last four years, Fresno is 3-6-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last 10 years, Bulldogs are 24-14-1 ATS as an underdog.
Fresno had a positive turnover ratio the last five years (+24 total)
Last four years, Bulldogs are 6-11-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Fresno won four of its last five bowl games.
Oregon State
Last two years, Beavers were 7-17 SU/5-16 ATS.
Oregon Stste lost three of its last five bowl games.
Oregon State has 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Beavers have 32 returning I-A starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Murphy has 20 career starts.
New coach Shepard has never been a head coach before.
Last two years, he was an assistant at Washington/Wazzu.
New DC MacIntyre has been a head coach for 12 years.
Beavers are 3-10 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog.
Last four years, OSU was 6-16 ATS in games coming off a loss.
San Diego State
Coach Lewis is 36-66 in 8 years as a HC, 12-13 in two years here.
Aztecs lost last two bowls, by two points each.
San Diego State has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Aztecs have 91 returning starts on OL; they added 7 OL transfers.
Senior QB Denegal has 12 career starts.
As a HC, Lewis is 21-13 ATS as a favorite.
As a HC, Lewis is 21-13 ATS in home games.
As a HC, Lewis is 12-18 ATS as a road underdog.
Aztecs are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games coming off a win.
Last year, San Diego State was 8-2 ATS as a favorite.
Texas State
Coach Kinne is 23-16 SU in three years with the Bobcats.
Texas State won bowls the last three years, scoring 45-30-41 points.
Texas State has 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Bobcats have 53 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Jackson started 13 games last year.
Last three years, TSU was 10-14 ATS in the Sun Belt.
As a I-A coach, Kinne is 11-15 ATS as a favorite.
Bobcats are 23-16 SU under Kinne, despite a minus-10 turnover ratio.
Texas State is 9-11 ATS in last 20 games coming off a win.
Texas State is 7-9 ATS in last 16 games coming off a loss.
Utah State
Utah State has had four consecutive losing years.
Aggies lost four of their last five bowl games.
Utah State has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Aggies have 76 returning starts on OL, at various levels.
Junior QB Hillstead has four career starts.
In 19 years as a HC, Mendenhall is 146-95 SU, 7-8 in bowls.
LY, Aggies were 6-7 in Mendenhall’s first year in Logan.
In his career, Mendenhall is 53-37 ATS as a home favorite.
Utah State is 1-7 ATS last 8 games as a road favorite.
Utah State is 11-4 ATS last 15 games as a home favorite.
Washington State
Wazzu was 8-5/7-6 the last two seasons.
Coogs lost four of their last five bowl games.
Wazzu has 5 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Coogs have 40 returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Pinnick started 12 games LY at I-AA Cal-Davis.
New coach Moore is a head coach for the first time.
He comes to Wazzu after being the OC at Missouri.
Last 2 years, Wazzu was 7-3 ATS as a home favorite.
Coogs are 17-9 ATS in last 26 non-conference games.
Wazzu opens season with the Apple Cup game, at Washington.
— Famous birthdays, June 21st:
Bernie Kopell, 93
Monte Markham, 91
Mariette Hartley, 86
Michael Gross, 79
Rick Sutcliffe, 70
Tom Chambers, 67
Derrick Coleman, 59
Maggie Siff, 52
Chris Pratt, 47
Richard Jefferson, 46
Thaddeus Young, 38
Garrett Crochet, 27
— Buffalo Bills have a new head coach (Joe Brady); they’ve hired former NFL head coach John Fox as a senior assistant coach. Fox was a head coach for 15 years with three teams, winning two conference titles. Before that, he was a long-time defensive coordinator.
— Miami Dolphins only have five starters back on offense, six on defense; they’ve got $175M in dead cap space this year, as they rebuild under new coach Jeff Hafley.
— New England has a tougher schedule this year; a Wednesday game in Seattle, Monday game in Kansas City, two Thursday games, and a game against Detroit in Germany.
— Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010; they added Frank Reich as their new OC, and added 35-year old Geno Smith as their new quarterback.
— Phillies 15, Mets 3
Kyle Schwarber hit three HR’s, two in the third inning.
Bryce Harper hit for the cycle, in the first five innings.
Hitters 1-3 for Philly were 10-for-15, with nine runs scored.
— Blue Jays 8, Cubs 6
Toronto trailed 5-0 after six innings.
Kazuma Okamoto hit the game-winning three-run homer.
Blue Jays have won four of their last five games.
— Padres 6, Rangers 4 (10)
Manny Machado hit a three-run homer in 10th inning.
Texas led 3-1 after seven innings.
Mason Miller is a perfect 20-for-20 in save chances this year.
— Braves 4, Brewers 3
Ozzie Albies homered twice, including a walk-off HR in 9th inning.
Kyle Harrison allowed only four hits, two runs in 6.1 IP.
Joey Bart was the 8th catcher to play for Atlanta this year.
— Rockies 2, Pirates 1
Horwitz led the game off with a homer, Pirates’ only run.
Jake McCarthy led off the bottom of the first with an inside-park home run.
Pirates have lost Paul Skenes’ last seven starts.
