Yesterday was the day that college basketball paused one last time to make way for its college football friends. From here on out, college hoops has the right of way on the amateur level. With Oregon representing our proud conference despite the loss, we figured today would be a good time to tie college football and basketball together in a fun way by piecing together an imaginary football team made up entirely of current Pac-12 basketball players. This team would probably be pretty good, so let’s get right to it.
Offense
- QB: Nigel Williams-Goss, Washington – If there was such a thing as a pocket passer in basketball, Williams-Goss would be it. We’ll get him out on the edge every now and then to make some plays, but we want our quarterback to hang tight and deliver the ball to our play-makers.
- RB: Chasson Randle, Stanford – He’s got speed, quickness and power. We can dump the ball to him out of the backfield or let him pound ahead into the line.
- RB: Malcolm Duviver, Oregon State – The first time I saw this guy I thought he looked more like a tailback than a point guard. At 6’2”, 205, he can be our workhorse back.
- WR: Stanley Johnson, Arizona – Man, there are so many places we could play Johnson but we’re envisioning him as our Megatron. He’s got speed and great hands, and once he makes the catch, good luck bringing him down.
- WR: Delon Wright, Utah – What can I say? I like big receivers. Wright isn’t quite the physical specimen that Johnson is, but his length and smoothness could make him a potent downfield threat or on quick dump-offs.
- TE: Kevon Looney, UCLA – At 6’9” and 220 pounds, we can use Looney as a blocker in the run game but we really want him at end for his contributions to the passing game. He moves well and has a knack for pulling down anything in his vicinity.
- C: Jarmal Reid, Oregon State – A 6’7” center? OK, we might have some weaknesses trying to plug college hoops players into another sport. But Reid is a physical specimen who can get down and dirty.
- RG: Grant Verhoeven, Stanford – A 6’9”, 245-pound beast, Verhoeven has shown his love of the physical game on the hardwood.
- LG: Chris Reyes, Utah – At 235 pounds and very mobile, we’ll get Reyes to pull out in front of our running game.
- RT: Tory Miller, Colorado – This freshman 255-pound specimen will be the front line of our running game for years to come.
- LT: Wesley Gordon, Colorado – Huge wingspan, a nasty demeanor and quick feet have Gordon protecting our quarterback’s back side.
Defense
- DT: Robert Upshaw, Washington – Good luck trying to throw the ball over the middle with Upshaw ready to stand up his blockers and knock everything down.
We’ll Start Our Defense With Robert Upshaw on Both the Hardwood and the Gridiron (Dean Rutz, Seattle Times)
- DT: Tony Parker, UCLA – At 260 pounds, Parker has shown his ability to move people around when he needs to, and they’re a little bit more lenient with charging calls on the gridiron.
- DE: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arizona – Size, speed and athleticism. Just point him at the quarterback and let him go.
- DE: Reid Travis, Stanford – Travis played quarterback in high school, so maybe we’ll let him run our Wildcat offense. But with that body, we’re going to need to make use of him on the defensive line as well.
- OLB: Elgin Cook, Oregon – We’ll drop him back into pass coverage; we’ll send him after the quarterback; we’ll trust him as a run-stopper. He’s our do-everything guy.
- MLB: Jordan Bell, Oregon – So if you somehow get that pass over Upshaw and Parker in the middle, we’ve got Bell roaming the middle of our field waiting to swat any other passes away.
- OLB: Savon Goodman, Arizona State – We’ll use the 6’6” athlete as our edge-rushing specialist.
- CB: Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Arizona – A little undersized at 5’8”, he’ll make up for it with speed, quickness and toughness, just like he does on the basketball court.
- CB: Gary Payton II, Oregon State – One of the best athletes in our conference, he’ll be our big physical corner at 6’3″.
- SS: Norman Powell, UCLA – Big and physical, he can come up and provide run support or track down errant passes.
- FS: Robert Cartwright, Stanford – Already the Pac-12’s most annoying defender as a freshman, Cartwright can not only play center field, but he can come up and provide man-coverage against four-wideout sets.
- Specialist: Marcus Allen, Stanford – I have no idea where Allen will play (running back, wide receiver, cornerback?), but given his name, he’s got a spot on our team.