A Grip on Sports: No need to rush around this weekend, as bowl games and hoops should take your mind off Christmas shopping
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Ten days until Christmas. Plenty of time to procrastinate. To put off buying the kids’ their presents. Or, should we say, to let Santa get it done. There are better things to do this weekend. Like watch bowl games, for one. Yep, it’s time. Bowl games. Football playoff games. And great college basketball matchups as well. Hey, you can use your computer, order the haul online and get stuff delivered in time, right?
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• Yes, it’s Friday. Time to look ahead at what to watch. Bowl games or otherwise.
This Saturday’s bowl wheelbarrow is filled with games named Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl – just what do Avocados from Mexico cure anyway? – and the Cricket Celebration Bowl. Games pitting such household names as Jacksonville State and Louisiana or California and Texas Tech.
Hey, we recognize those last two. And two others, UCLA and Boise State. Yes, the Pac-12 bowl season, the last Pac-12 bowl season as we know it, begins tomorrow.
The Bruins and Broncos meet in the Starco Brands LA Bowl (4:30 p.m. PST, ABC) while California and Mike Leach’s old, old school, face off in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (6:15, ESPN). Yep, the first two Pac-12 bowl overlap. Of course.
They also conflict with the NFL, which moves to Saturday this time of year and, like that 500-pound gorilla you used to hear so much about, squashes everything else. Tomorrow night Denver plays at Detroit (5:15, Fox), the third of three games before Sunday’s usual onslaught.
That onslaught won’t include the Seahawks, no matter what those tickets you printed in July say. The game in Seattle with Philadelphia was flexed – a perfect word for the NFL to use – to Monday night, making the Hawks the answer to some future trivia question. What mediocre NFL team was the first to be flexed from Sunday to Monday night?
Before all that happens, though, the NCAA divisions not involved with bowls will either finish their seasons (Division II and III) or set-up its title game (FCS). The last is the one we have interest in, as the lone Big Sky team remaining, Montana, will try to end North Dakota State’s season in Missoula (1:30 p.m., ESPN2).
• Wait, we might have buried the lede here. Sure, football is the be-all and end-all of sports in America. But college basketball holds the No. 1 spot in our heart. And in the hearts of many Spokane residents.
This weekend the Inland Northwest holds the crown as the King of Neutral Sites.
The reign begins tonight with the 10th-ranked Gonzaga men meeting defending national champion (and fifth-ranked) UConn in a rematch of last year’s season-ending 82-54 NCAA wipeout. For the Zags, anyway. The game is in Seattle and will be broadcast by ESPN2 (7 p.m.).
But that’s only one of two neutral-site games featuring area schools. The Cougar men are in Phoenix on Saturday to face Santa Clara. The 11 a.m. game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
The most-anticipated game of that day is in Indianapolis, another “neutral-site” game pitting top-ranked Arizona and No. 3 Purdue, which just happens to be located just down the road. If you want to watch, make sure you can access Peacock at 1:30 p.m.
• If you wondered about the Cougars’ football schedule for next season, wonder no longer. Well, at least about the opponents if not all the dates.
Washington State and the Mountain West Conference announced the six MWC schools that will round out WSU’s first year as part of the Pac-2 – though we’re pretty sure the Pac-12 name will still be used.
The Cougars will have six home games, including a visit from Texas Tech (Sept. 7) that came about, indirectly, because Oregon and Oregon State wanted to play. That may be the best game at Gesa Field, with Hawaii, Wyoming, San Jose State (Sept. 21) and Utah State, the MWC schools visiting and Portland State also in town (Aug. 31).
The road is better – and tougher – with Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and New Mexico. The Apple Cup is at “neutral” Lumen Field on Sept. 14 and the Pac-2 title game will be in Corvallis on Nov. 23.
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WSU: Of course, Greg Woods has a story about the 2024 football schedule. But that’s not all. He also delves into basketball. And into the transformation of Sonoma State transfer Jaylen Wells’ game. The 6-foot-8 forward has become one of the Cougars’ most reliable 3-point shooters. … Former WSU assistant coach (and Post Falls High grad) Jeff Choate is filing out his Nevada staff since being replacing another former Coug assistant, Ken Wilson, as head coach. The latest addition? Former Washington State defensive back Parker Henry, who will the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we linked Jon Wilner’s bowl picks yesterday but do so again today as they appear in the S-R. … Washington is an underdog against Texas in the Sugar Bowl, one of this year’s four-team FBS invitational semifinals. The Huskies have never been afraid of a little heavy lifting. … As we mentioned, Oregon State also announced its 2024 football schedule. The Beavers will feature a new look, with some players and former coach Jonathan Smith in East Lansing, Mich. … Oregon’s football schedule was adjusted to allow the rivalry matchup with OSU. The two schools meet for the next two seasons. … The transfer portal is still working in Boulder. … Utah is busy with the portal too as it prepares for its bowl. … In basketball news, Colorado’s men host Northern Colorado today. … Zach Edey will test the Arizona front line. … An Arizona State player intends to play after court ruling about two-time transfers. A Utah player is uncertain. … The transition hasn’t been hard for a new Oregon State women’s player. … A Colorado player has taken strides this year. … Arizona is building for the future.
Gonzaga: It might be the least known fact about college hoops. Connecticut has won five mens’ NCAA titles in the past 25 years. No one has done better. Heck, no one else has won more than three. But it’s the Huskies vs. the Zags tonight in Seattle. Jim Meehan has a preview as well as the key matchup. … Theo Lawson previews the game in this interview with a Connecticut beat writer. … Theo also has the latest Benny G Show, the podcast he does with Ben Gregg. … Dan Dickau settled back in Spokane after spending his NBA career as something of a vagabond. His most memorable moment in the league may just have been this one John Canzano wrote about yesterday.
Idaho: The Vandals took a big step this season under second-year coach Jason Eck. There is no denying that and Colton Clark doesn’t in this season review. But they also are going to be hit hard by the transfer portal, as is the case for most FCS (and Group of Five) programs. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana holds the BSC banner, sure, in the FCS playoffs. The other game pits Albany, which got past UI last week, at top-seeded South Dakota State. … Montana State picked up some more honors. … In basketball news, Montana’s win streak is on the line against San Jose State. … Finally, Northern Colorado revamped its NIL program.
Preps: There was a key early season wrestling match last night at Mead, as the Panthers hosted University. Madison McCord was there and has this coverage of Mead’s 51-17 victory. … Dave Nichols has a roundup of Thursday’s other high school action. … Elena Perry has another story on the continuing saga concerning former Freeman football coach Ben Cochran.
Mariners: Don’t expect the M’s to trade any of their stellar young starting pitchers. They are cheap. Wait. We meant the pitchers but we guess the three words work just as well to describe Seattle.
Seahawks: It looks as if Geno Smith will return Monday night against the Eagles. Good thing. … Is Pete Carroll losing control of the Hawks’ locker room? K.J. Wright might just have the cure. … Devon Witherspoon has been a revelation.
Kraken: It also looks as if Seattle is beginning to right itself and Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto deserves some of the credit. At least he played a big role in last night’s 7-1 rout of the visiting Blackhawks.
Sounders: Alex Roldan is having an eventful week.
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• On the road again. Mountain passes in late fall. How fun. The sun awaits on the other side, though. As do chores. Until later …