Pac-12 links: Utah’s Jordan Loveridge sheds 25 pounds

» Promising Utah forward Jordan Loveridge has dropped 25 pounds since March, spurred in part by his father’s recent diabetes diagnosis. The 6-foot-6 rising sophomore didn’t want his dad to diet alone.

“As close as we are, it’s something that’s made us closer,” Bill Loveridge told the Salt Lake Tribune. “We talked about it once, and then we’ve just kind of gone out and done it.”

» Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins will serve one day in jail for his guilty DUI plea. How long should he be suspended?

» Stanford is the only FBS school that employs African-Americans as athletic director, football head coach and men’s basketball head coach. Is that a big deal? David Shaw: “I think it is a story that it’s not a big story. That’s a great story!”

» The Cardinal also extended Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer to a new long-term contract. The 60-year-old has a 742-152 record on The Farm, two national championships, 10 Final Fours, and 18 Pac-10 or Pac-12 Championships.

» Former Elite 11 quarterback Shane Dillon will will return lefty starter Ben Wetzler (7-0, 2.13 ERA), turning down a fifth-round draft pick by the Phillies. He is highest-drafted Beaver to ever return for his senior season. Junior reliever Scott Schultz (6.57 ERA, six saves) turned down a 17th-round pick. Pitching coach Nate Yeskie called it “Christmas on July 12.”

» An Oregon student won $250,000 by throwing a perfect game in MLB 2K13. He will use it toward undergraduate and law school tuition, but balanced out that sensible behavior by expressing intent to purchase a Ford Raptor. Just look at that unsightly grille insignia!

Also relevant: If you missed it then, the 2011 MLB 2K13 winner was featured in a memorable Google commercial.

» After a 3-9 season, Mike Leach thinks Washington State is ready for a bowl: “I think last year’s the worst we’ll ever be.”

» Arizona State will retire former star Eddie House’s No. 5 jersey next season. In addition to holding the Sun Devils’ all-time scoring record with 2,044 points, House once dropped 61 points on Cal in January 2000 — tying Lew Alcindor’s single-game conference mark.

» Arizona’s new football uniforms cost either $90 or $120 in the student store, depending on which version you want — a $30 mark-up from last season’s editions. All-American tailback Ka’Deem Carey’s No. 25 is also absent.

» While fielding questions at the Center for American Progress, Senate majority leader Harry Reid mocked USC by saying: “I hope you have a better football team than last year, that was a disaster. … That proves you can’t buy college football players.”

» Baylor doesn’t recognize the official Holiday Bowl score, and erased UCLA’s (questionable) last-second touchdown on the bowl rings.

» EA Sports’ NCAA Football will no longer be called NCAA Football. You can probably thank the O’Bannon lawsuit for that.