Grip on Sports: If you want the Pac-12 to have some football success this postseason, you want the Huskies to win today

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are a lot of you ready to say good riddance to 2016. It’s time to move on to 2017 and put all the fighting and death and destruction of the past year behind us. But before we do, all you have to do is answer one question: Who do you root for in today’s college football playoff semifinals? I have my answers. Read on.

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• “Root” is a strong word to use concerning my feelings about today’s games. I’m not really “rooting” for anyone.

But that doesn’t mean I’m a disinterested party.

I want both Ohio State and Clemson to lose. Yes, I know that’s impossible, but I have some deep personal reasons to hope for a Buckeye loss and a professional one – I dissed the ACC all season here – for a Clemson defeat.

So, basically, there is no chance I won’t be disappointed following the second semifinal, the Fiesta Bowl. (There is just as good a chance I’ll be ecstatic as well, but if you know me, you know I’m a glass-half-empty-because-someone-cracked-it type of guy.)

So it comes down to the opener, the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Who to root for in that one?

Again, it actually comes down to a more personal question. Who to root against?

After much soul searching and at the risk of losing about 1,100 Twitter followers – and my wife’s admiration – I want Alabama to lose.

I know what the flip side of that coin is and I just don’t care.

Arrogance bothers me. And, no matter what Cougar fans say, there is no one as arrogant in college football as SEC Fan. And by that I mean Alabama Fan. Because, outside of Auburn, every Southeastern Conference football fan is rooting for the Crimson Tide to win its 47th national championship, or whatever number it is the school claims.

For the SEC to continue to assertion it is the best football conference in America, the Tide has to win two more games. For the SEC to continue to claim it invented the game, it perfected the game, that it owns the game, the Tide has to win two more games.

If not, we can all laugh at a conference that had only one school with less than four losses this season.

The ancillary benefit? If Alabama loses today, than that’s a feather in the helmet of the conference I’ve been following for all of my 60 years. The Pacific Coast Conference, or as it’s known now, the Pac-12.

Yes, I know. The Pac-12 banner is held up today by the Huskies. And, yes, I know most – but not all – of Eastern Washington isn’t a fan of the Huskies. I took geography in college.

Heck, I grew up in Southern California and the Huskies might have been the most hated team in that area outside of USC/UCLA – depending on your family’s side of that intra-city rivalry.

Cal and Stanford usually were awful. Oregon and Oregon State always seemed to be. No one knew where the heck Pullman was. So that left Washington to dislike, non-L.A. Basin edition.

Sonny Sixkiller was overrated.  Every game UW played was in the rain. Warren Moon was from Los Angeles and wasn’t good enough to play at either L.A. school.  Every game UW played was in the rain. Don James couldn’t hold a candle to John McKay. Every game UW played was in the rain. Let’s face it, in those days, to an L.A. guy, Washington was third string.

Now the Huskies hold the football fate of all the West Coast in their hands. Can they uphold our honor? We’ll know for sure in about eight hours.

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Gonzaga: The Zags will play their first true road game in about 10 hours, facing Pacific in Stockton. Jim Meehan is in one of the toughest cities in California and has this advance. He also has a couple short pieces on the matchup between Gonzaga and the Tigers. … The Gonzaga women return home today trying to put a conference-opening upset behind them. Jim Allen has an advance. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU is just like Gonzaga. Today will be the Cougars first true road game as well.

WSU: The Cougars and the Huskies will be the final Pac-12 schools to play a conference game and they don’t do it until next year. In the meantime, Jacob Thorpe has this look at the conference basketball race, which is already underway. … The big winner the first week? That would have to be Oregon, which finished a home sweep of the previously undefeated Los Angeles schools by routing USC last night. … Oregon State did the opposite, losing to No. 2 UCLA. … Arizona State shot the lights out and upset Stanford on the Cardinal’s home court. … California rallied but still fell short against Arizona despite an outstanding performance by Ivan Rabb. … Colorado and Utah also don’t play until tomorrow. … In Pac-12 football, Stanford lost its starting quarterback to what’s being reported as an ACL tear, but held on to defeat North Carolina in the Sun Bowl. … Colorado has a lot of good things to build upon after this football season. … Former WSU assistant David Yost found work. And former WSU head coach Dennis Erickson retired from the college ranks. Expect Dennis to be at the Lake City High practices next season. … In women’s basketball yesterday, WSU is 0-2 in conference play after losing at Oregon State.

EWU: The Eagles opened Big Sky play at rival Idaho and built what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. Until the Vandals started to mount a comeback. In the end, though, Eastern held on, 69-62. Josh Wright has the game story.

Whitworth: The Pirates held off Steve Bergum’s alma mater, Buena Vista of Iowa in a tournament at Whitman College.

Chiefs: This doesn’t look to be Spokane’s year – and were not saying that in a “the-year-ends-tonight-anyway” type of way. The Chiefs remain in the cellar of the U.S. Division after their 6-3 home loss to Tri-City. Tom Clouse has the story from the Arena. … Prince George finally got the better of Everett last night.

Preps: Basketball rolls on and we have roundups from girls and boys action on Friday.

Seahawks: Michael Bennett has griped about has contract some, but he’s been a loyal soldier for the Seahawks. He’s shown up, played hard – and well – when he’s been healthy and let it be known he was going to honor his word. So the Hawks rewarded those actions yesterday with a three-year extension, setting a couple of precedents. … Seattle has bounced back from its loss last week and has a chance for another 10-win season. … Who are the Hawks’ kick returners now?

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• There are football games and basketball games and soccer and whatever to watch today. Why couldn’t it be snowing so hard there is no way to leave the house? I always love excuses like that. Don’t have to rationalize my laziness. Until later …