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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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From No. 1 to No. 59 and beyond, the AP has your team covered

WSU fans cheer for their team against Arizona State during the first half of a Pac-12 college football game on Saturday, Nov 7, 2015, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
WSU fans cheer for their team against Arizona State during the first half of a Pac-12 college football game on Saturday, Nov 7, 2015, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Not often you hear a football fan chant “We’re No. 59” as if it’s a good thing. But maybe, in this poll, it is. Read on.

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• The Associated Press has been polling sportswriters for almost a century, trying to determine each week what is the best college football team in the land. Fans of Minnesota, the first No. 1 team way back when, to Alabama, the No. 1 team of last season, have been chanting “We’re No. 1” and holding up the appropriate finger for just as long. But that’s not enough. (It never is). Now the organization has decided to rank the all-time football programs of the past 80 years, based on their poll results. The No. 1 all-time team? The Ohio State University. Over Notre Dame? Are you daft man, or just anti-Catholic? Sorry, went into my college-football-fan mode there for a second. Actually, Notre Dame didn’t finish second. Oklahoma did. The Irish were third, followed by Alabama and USC. OK, fine. But where did the Washington schools finish? Well, the Huskies were ranked 20th all-time (ahead of their rivals from the south, Oregon, who probably vaulted 30 places in the past 15 years and is listed 28th). Washington State wasn’t that high – and shouldn't have been. The Cougars finished 59th, a reasonable result considering the years and years of three-win seasons. That’s not last in the Pac-12 by the way, with Utah coming in at 64 and Oregon State at 65. And those two also-rans are way above the least-regarded SEC school, Vanderbilt. The Commodores – really, how could a school be good at football with a nickname like that? – are listed 89th, below such powers as Dartmouth and Holy Cross. Heck, the WCC has a school listed above Vanderbilt. Santa Clara, which used to play football way back when, checks in at 77th. And USF is listed 94th. Who would have thought the WCC would have two schools with a stronger football heritage than Idaho or New Mexico?

• By the way, some of the schools listed by the AP you might not have thought of include Iowa Pre-Flight, a World War II aviation school led by legendary Minnesota coach Bernie Bierman (among others), Duquesne, Fordham (home of Vince Lombardi and the Seven Blocks of Granite), and Toledo.

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• WSU: Do you know there is a weekend this fall in which Washington State hosts Oregon and UW hosts Stanford? The four best teams in the Pac-12 North all playing in our little corner of the nation. Of course, thanks to the power of television, the Husky-Cardinal matchup is Friday night.

• Indians: The Northwest League All-Stars defeated their counterparts from the Pioneer League 11-5 last night in Ogden, Utah. Spokane’s Xavier Turner had a big role in that, with three hits, including a home run.

• Mariners: After their traditional trade-deadline yawn, the M’s turned the excitement meter up to 11 last night, thanks in part to finally putting Edwin Diaz in the closer role. Robinson Cano capped a comeback with a three-run home run and the M’s defeated Boston 5-4, scoring all five of their runs in the eighth inning. In trotted Diaz, in his first shot at replacing Steve Cishek. He struck out the side. OK, he walked a guy too, but he struck out the freaking side on a whole bunch of heat. ... Newly acquired Ariel Miranda will make his first Seattle appearance when he starts Thursday.

• Seahawks: The weather turned ugly enough in the Puget Sound yesterday that the Hawks moved practice inside. The close confines seemed to ratchet up the intensity, but that’s OK. ... The offensive line is showing it will put up a fight against a defensive group that has owned it the last couple seasons.

• Sounders: Who is the best team in the MLS?

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• Guess what. I’m back on the radio again today, once again filling in for Keith Osso. You can listen here between 3 and 6 p.m. if you want. You'll hear me, Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens on 700 ESPN. Until then ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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