A Grip on Sports: Atmosphere aside, college football’s 12-team playoff kicked off with something of a dud, though that should change today

A GRIP ON SPORTS • College football took over Friday night. And put us to sleep. College football always controls Saturday. Though the NFL is horning in a little today. America’s most popular game dominates Sunday. And will again tomorrow. Wash, rinse, repeat.

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• The atmosphere in South Bend seemed Tesla-like last night. All charged up and ready to run over anything in its path. Too bad the jalopy that is Indiana football didn’t have enough in the tank to stay with the host Irish. One team’s hot streak proved to be real. The other’s 11-1 record showed it was built on a foundation of sand.

That is if you want to base your conclusions on one game played in conditions unseen in college football. Ever.

Indiana came up small, sure. Notre Dame? Larger than life. What about that wasn’t expected? Touchdown Jesus, 77,000 Irish fans tailgating for at least 12 hours and the GameDay crew broadcasting it all for half the day. The perfect setup not only for the first game in the 12-team playoff era – though “era” might not be the right word to use for a format that will last all of two years – but also for a blowout. The final score was 27-17 but that was as backdoor a near-cover as possible, with the Hoosiers scoring both their touchdowns in the final 97 seconds.

It opened the door for the intellectually challenged – hey, there’s Lane Kiffin – to criticize the CFP committee’s inclusion of the Hoosiers. But no one mentions IU’s record was built mainly on its Big Ten schedule. Indiana was fed a steady diet of the conference’s patsies.

Don’t worry. When the SEC and Big Ten meet with ESPN and rebuild the playoff scheme, those two mega-conferences will be guaranteed a certain number of spots. And we will be lucky enough to witness such schedule-built mirages appearing again and again.

• Speaking of mirages, we’ll find out today which of Penn State or SMU’s national title hopes fits that category first thing this morning (9, TBS and TNT). After watching how tilted the field was last night in South Bend, I’ll say it is SMU that will leave Happy Valley with the frown.

Same with Clemson and its trip to Austin (1 p.m., TNT and TBS), though Steve Sarkisian’s lack of big-game success might just trump the home-field advantage.

There is just one visitor I think is guaranteed to win – and that’s a pick made with my heart, not my head. Tennessee’s band could be playing Rocky Top often this evening, as Ohio State’s season actually ended in the crowd of pepper spray after Michigan planted its flag again in Columbus. The fickle Ohio State fans – of which our hated step-mother was one – are just spoiled enough to run Ryan Day out of town, something they will express loudly as the Volunteers race to an insurmountable 3-0 lead soon after the 5 p.m. kick on ESPN.

• The NFL has always played on the Saturday before Christmas week. At least as long as I can remember. And the league was none too happy when the CFP folks decided to horn in this season. The NFL’s power brokers decided to show their displeasure, sending Patrick Mahomes and C.J. Stroud out to carry the banner in the early game (10 a.m., NBC).

Little did they know Mahomes would be limping in and Stroud would be suffering from a sophomore slump. No worries, though. They have backup. Russell Wilson (sort of) and the Steelers visit Lamar Jackson and the Super Bowl-bound (not at all) Baltimore Ravens in the afternoon (1:30, Fox).

• About the time Tennessee builds its dominating lead to 6-0, many televisions in the Spokane area will switch over to Gonzaga’s hunt of the Bucknell Bison (6 p.m., KHQ). But can I offer a more-star-studded basketball alternative, one Fox sees as counter-programming with the CFP game? Paige Bueckers and UConn host JuJu Watkins and USC, starting at 5 p.m.

A battle of All-Americans. A matchup of national title contenders. A crowd of 10,000 or so. And a great palate cleaner after a day of football.

• Last Sunday was pretty nice, right? At least up until the Seahawks kicked off. After all, with Seattle’s loss to Green Bay slotted into the NBC night-time window, one had all day to watch man’s greatest invention, the RedZone channel.

No such luck this week.

The 12-2 Vikings invade Lumen Field with the intent of plundering the Hawks’ playoff chances. Seattle’s inability to keep up with the NFL’s dominating teams will be on full display on Fox starting at 1:05 p.m. That means RedZone may only be on during the morning window – or until the Vikings put Mike Macdonald’s team into the freezer.

Enjoy RedZone while you can. At least in its purest form. The commercial-free aspect will soon be gone. The NFL ran a few ads last week in what it termed an experiment. And the league’s headquarters building was not put to the torch by an angry mob. Which means the powers that be are sure the experiment was successful.

The door has been opened. Commerce, and its ugly older brother Profits, will step through it next year – at the latest.

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WSU: Former Cougar – and I used that term on purpose as the old “once a Cougar, always a Cougar” malarkey should finally be retired – running back Wayshawn Parker will join former Washington State assistant Mark Atuaia at Utah. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner posts a Mercury News mailbag, which includes a couple questions of great Cougar interest. … He also looks at portal losses, retention and recruiting, none of which is working in Washington State’s favor currently. … The weather won’t play as big a role as one might hope in the CFP games today. … Last night’s win was as expected as it was boring, both of which really shouldn’t have a role in a playoff system. … This is a true statement. It is harder to love college football these days. … One aspect in that? The portal, and the NCAA’s idiocy of hanging on to the notion the academic calendar means anything. The reason why the portal comes before the football season is over? So transfers can enroll for the spring semester. If you are going to let them move as many times as they want, let them start classes late. And move the portal opening to after Jan. 1. … Washington, Oregon and Oregon State all added players from the database Friday, including some key ones for the Beavers. … We can also pass along Nick Daschel’s Oregon State mailbag. … Even punters are moving around, as Colorado proves. … Utah is really remodeling its running backs room. … Arizona State used its win over the Utes to electrify its season. … Arizona continues to grab portal additions. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, Boise State’s assistants have earned a bunch of bonus money. … Colorado State is expected to hire an assistant that’s worked in Fort Collins before. … Fresno State arrived for its Boise bowl game in style. … In basketball news, San Diego State’s men’s team had the opposite experience heading to San Jose to play California. …The Oregon State women lost in Hawaii.

Gonzaga: Today is World Basketball Day. It is also, in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest one of the year. As measured by the sun’s time above the horizon. Maybe it is appropriate. Basketball is an indoor sport. No sun needed. And the Bulldogs will celebrate by routing another visitor from where the sun rises, the East, in Bucknell. Jim Meehan handles the game’s preview and its best matchup. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Utah State is at Saint Mary’s tonight in a game important to both and will loom large in March.

Idaho: The Vandals introduced their new football coach Friday, though Thomas Ford needed no introduction. At least to folks who have followed the program for a while. Ford has been around Moscow off and on since the last century, starting with attendance at football camps. Peter Harriman was at the introductory press conference and has this story. … We also can pass along a photo gallery of the event, shot by Geoff Crimmins. … Former Vandal receiver Mark Hamper is headed to Wisconsin, where there will be fewer pass thrown his way next season than in a single game at UI. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, there will be a change to the FCS playoffs next season. The Ivy League champion will finally join the party. … It was an awful day for the women’s basketball teams. Yes, Montana State won, but Montana, Weber State, Sacramento State, Portland State and Northern Arizona all lost, some in blowout fashion. … Just who is coming back to play football at Montana?

Preps: This isn’t a new story, in the sense it’s a subject new to most of you. But Jonathan Brunt does take a new look at the high school basketball spirit games the local district sponsors and what they mean to the schools. … Dave Nichols focused on the outcomes of those games this week, though his Friday assignment wasn’t in the rotation. He headed to University High, where the Titans hosted Mead. The Panthers swept both. … Dave also put together this roundup of the other matchups featuring GSL schools and another on the games among smaller schools.

Seahawks: With their health improving, the Hawks hope to be able to match up well with the Vikings’ passing attack. Seattle’s group of receivers, including veteran Tyler Lockett, are pretty good too. … What can we expect? … And who will win? I have no idea, so we leave that to Sam Farmer.

Reign: Seattle made a trade Friday that holds the potential to jumpstart renewed success.

Mariners: With Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez making the decisions, Seattle will change its hitting focus to a time-honored approach.

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• There is a smile on my face this morning. The sun rose at 7:35, though it was obscured by cloud cover. It will set at 4 p.m., as rain wishes it a good night. And that, my friends, is a good thing. Today is the winter solstice. The best day. From now until late June, each day will feature a minute or two of more sunlight. The day-time minutes are growing, as our species has noticed for thousands of years. I’m not going to build a pyramid in celebration but I will quit grumbling about how early it gets dark. After all, every day will be better. Longer. And soon spring will be upon us. Until later …