Grip on Sports: An ‘empty’ Sunday never turns out to be as empty as you might think

A GRIP ON SPORTS • With no Seahawks yesterday, the day was filled with DIY and RedZone. And the evening with magical beasts. But now it’s back to apples and the like. Read on.

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• It’s so odd when the area’s NFL team doesn’t have a game on a November Sunday, no matter the reason. But it’s also a bit liberating. Oh, the places you can go.

Like … the bathtub, where the drain wasn’t working right. Or the hardware store, to buy a new drain mechanism. Or the laundry room. Or the TV room, to check in on the late games. Or the office, to catch up on bills and such.

Can we not have a Sunday without the Seahawks again, please? They get too busy.

But it was nice respite to do the old stand-by date: dinner and a movie. Even if the movie was way too much like “The Empire Strikes Back” even down to the – spoiler alert – “I am your father” ripoff/reveal at the end.

• There was local college football content to fill the gap, though. Eastern found out its FCS fate and it was really good. The entire Big Sky was treated with respect by the NCAA, with four teams – the Eagles, Weber State, UC Davis and Montana State ­– selected and all but MSU earning a bye and a top eight seed.

The only bad part of the 24-team bracket for the Big Sky? All three seeded teams are on one side of the bracket, meaning that, unless Montana State can fight past top-seed North Dakota State and into the finals, there is no chance two conference teams could face off for the title.

• Washington State moved up another spot in the Associated Press poll and is ranked seventh in the nation. The Cougars were also installed as a three-point favorite in Friday’s Apple Cup, but you can find 3 ½ already.

It will be interesting to see how the line moves between now and Friday.

• The first Pac-12 coaching vacancy was created yesterday when Colorado fired Mike MacIntyre after six years. More importantly, though, the Buffs made the move only two years after MacIntyre had the program in the Pac-12 championship game.

The reporting out of Boulder has athletic director Rick George looking for someone who can win national championships in Colorado. Good luck with that. This isn’t the 1980s anymore.

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WSU: Besides all the usual Sunday items like the rankings and the betting line, Theo Lawson also has a story on Klay Thompson waving the Cougar flag, figuratively, from the Bay Area. … Tom Clouse followed up on Marcus Strong’s game-turning interception. … The women’s basketball team lost at home to UC Davis. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, it is a poll day and a power-ranking day. … The biggest news of the day came out of Colorado where MacIntyre was let go. There is a lot of money involved with being a Power 5 football coach these days, but not a lot of job security. The best thing a coach can do, if he wants to control his destiny, is strike when the demand is there and move along. … USC hasn’t made a change yet, even with a lot of clamor in Los Angeles. … The second of the conference’s rivalry weeks includes the Civil War, matching Oregon and Oregon State. … Though Utah has secured its spot in the Pac-12 title game, there is one more nonconference battle left. The Utes face BYU in what could be a tough one with a short week looming. … Arizona State lost a chance to win the South with a poor showing in Eugene. … UCLA’s trajectory seems pretty favorable right now. … In basketball action, Oregon State lost to Missouri and Washington picked up a win over Santa Clara north of the border.

Gonzaga: The Zags are in Maui, one of Mark Few’s favorite places on earth. Jim Meehan has that story as well as another on the coaching connection between Gonzaga and Illinois, tonight’s first-round opponent in the Maui Invitational. … Jim also has the key matchup in tonight’s game. … Around the WCC, Santa Clara lost a key player with a broken thumb.

EWU: It was different atmosphere this year in Cheney when the FCS bracket was announced. Ryan Collingwood was there and has this coverage of selection Sunday. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State received its highest FCS seeding ever. The NCAA expects the Wildcats to play in the finals. … UC Davis was once a dominating Division II program. Now it’s having FCS success. … Two members of Mike Leach’s first WSU coaching staff will meet as head coaches when Montana State hosts Incarnate Word. … Montana’s season had its ups and downs.

Idaho: The Vandals picked up their first win of the basketball season, 87-59 over Bethesda. Peter Harriman has the game story.

CCS: It’s official. Not only are the Sasquatch the NWAC volleyball champions, they are the undefeated volleyball champions. They finished the 40-0 season yesterday in Tacoma with another sweep in the title match.

Chiefs: Riley Woods did it all for Spokane last night in Everett, including a hat trick and the game-winning overtime goal. The Chiefs won, 3-2.

Seahawks: Even without a game, it was a great Sunday for the Hawks. … There were questions, and answers, yesterday as well.

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• We’ll be watching the Zags’ game tonight from our living room and then writing our TV Take. The analyst tonight is Bill Walton. Please keep me in your thoughts as I try to decipher what he’s saying as he focuses on everything but the game. Until later …