Grip on Sports: When there are so many college basketball games on, there is little time for the playoff games

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Every year we hit this spot in the major college football schedule. Call it a hiatus or a pause. The regular season is over, the bowl season has yet to begin. Read on.

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• There is more than one college football game today. But other than Army trying to sink Navy once again, all the games are playoff games in the lower divisions. So television, the be-all and end-all of college sports, basically ignores most of them, including the game in Cheney today pitting Eastern Washington and UC Davis.

ESPN, the trendsetter, is broadcasting one FCS playoff game this morning. CBS carries the traditional Army/Navy battle. And that’s it.

If you want to watch any other college football today, you have to deal with the online version, ESPN3. It isn’t as easy as just picking out a channel, pushing a button on your remote and watching for three hours or so.

What is on instead?

About a million college basketball games.

Which isn’t a bad consolation prize.

Even those of us who love college basketball, however, may have too many choices. And some of them are broadcasts that seem a bit niche-oriented. Some games today, games that are taking spots that might feature a pretty interesting college football playoff game, seem only of interest to alumni of the two schools playing.

Clemson and Mississippi State play this afternoon. A decent game, probably, but not a huge matchup in New York or Chicago or even Los Angeles. Being that college football is a better draw than college basketball, all things being equal, it’s sort of surprising that only one of the three FCS games today are televised.

Instead there is Xavier at Cincinnati or Pittsburgh at West Virginia.

And that doesn’t even include the many games on different networks that don’t start with ESPN.

All in all, there are 21 college basketball games on cable today. Yes, 21. That’s a lot.

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Gonzaga: Two big nonconference games remain for the top-ranked Zags, starting Sunday with the Phoenix battle against seventh-ranked Tennessee. Jim Meehan took some time to examine the top matchups in that game and the one next weekend at North Carolina. … Zach Collins may be in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of what’s happening at Gonzaga this season. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s won for the third consecutive time. … Santa Clara blew a 14-point lead and lost to Idaho State at home.

WSU: The volleyball team lost in the NCAA playoffs last night, falling to top-seeded Stanford in four sets. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, there is some good news for the conference. It seems to be the one place where minority candidates receive the fairest shake when applying for football coaching positions. … The conference office isn’t all that welcoming for athletic directors. … In football, Colorado’s new coach wants to instill a sense of toughness. … Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley hopes to be healthy enough to play in the Holiday Bowl. … California is getting prepped for its bowl appearance. … In basketball, Arizona State had fifth-ranked Nevada on the rocks but let the Wolf Pack get away in the second half and lost, 72-66 in Los Angeles. … USC was never in the game with TCU and fell, 96-61 at home. … UCLA has the players to allow Steve Alford to stay in Westwood. … Arizona always feels as if it is at home, even on the road. … Oregon State is losing a player as a transfer.

EWU: The rematch between UC Davis and Eastern Washington has a lot more at stake, what with the winner not only moving on to the FCS semifinals, it will also be the host. That was decided last night when Weber State lost to Maine, 23-18, at home. Ryan Collingwood has a preview of today’s quarterfinal game in Cheney. … The women’s basketball team lost at Boise. … Last night’s game featured one of the weirdest third quarters I’ve ever seen, with four long replays, a couple of which seemed obvious from the start.

Chiefs: Spokane returned home and picked up a much-needed win over visiting Lethbridge, 6-2. Dan Thompson was in the Arena and has the game story.

Preps: There were a lot of high school basketball games going on last night and we have roundups from the GSL girls, GSL boys, area girls and area boys. … Two North Central High runners will be competing in the Foot Locker race today in San Diego.

Bloomsday: Speaking of running, Bloomsday founder and race director Don Kardong will head off into the sunset after next year’s race. The 69-year-old Kardong announced his retirement yesterday. Dave Nichols has the story. … Larry Weir and Sam Adams talk about the development in the latest Press Box pod.

Seahawks: Yes, Russell Wilson did throw a show last week. … Minnesota needs to win Sunday to have any playoff hope. … The Hawks may be without Doug Baldwin. They do have George Fant, though.

Mariners: Did Robinson Cano’s signing work out for the M’s? He did his part, at least on the field. … What other changes are the Mariners contemplating at next week’s Winter Meetings?

Sounders: Now that the MLS season is about over, Seattle is working to get its younger talent locked up.

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• No Washington State football game. No Gonzaga basketball game. Eastern’s football playoff matchup is on ESPN3, which makes it tough for a certain segment of the population to watch. So what is there to do today? How about Christmas prep? Sounds good to me. Unless of course you have everything done already. In which case I loathe you. Until later …