PAC-12 MOVES TITLE GAME
The Pac-12 will hold its football championship game in Las Vegas for the 2020 and 2021 seasons
The Pac-12 will move i ts football championship game to Las Vegas in 2020 and 2021.
Commissioner Larry Scott announced the decision Wednesday at the start of Pac-12 media day in Hollywood.
The league title game has been played at Levi's Stadium in suburban Santa Clara, California, since 2014. The event has struggled f or solid attendance in the past half-decade, including a noticeably empty stadium for Washington's win over Utah last year.
After the upcoming season, the game will move to party-friendly Las Vegas and the Raiders' new stadium, which is still under construction just west of the Strip.
The P ac -12 men' s basketball tournament has been played in Las Vegas since 2013, and conference leaders have credited the move with boosting attendance.
Utah favorite by media to win Pac-12
Utah has been selected as the favorite to win the Pac-12 in the annual preseason poll of media members.
The Utes and Oregon were tabbed to win their respective league division sin the poll released Wednesday before t he conference's media day in Hollywood.
Utah received 12 of 35 votes to win the Pac-12 for the first time since joining the conference in 2011. Oregon received 11 votes and defending champion Washington had 10.
Oregon edged Washington by one point to take the North Division, followed by Stanford and Washington State.
The Utes are the overwhelming choice in the South. USC picked up the other two first-place votes.
Mark Sanchez joins ESPN as college football analyst
Former USC star and New York Jets first-round pick Mark Sanchez is retiring from the NFL and joining ESPN as a college football analyst.
Sanchez played quarter back for USC from 2005- 08, earning Rose Bowl MVP honors in his final college game. The 32- year- old played for the Jets, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins in a 10-year NFL career.
This season, Sanchez will join anchor Kevin Ne gandhi and analyst Jonathan Vilma, another former Jets player, on ABC' s studio show. Sanchez replaces Mack Brown, who returned to coaching at North Carolina.