A Grip on Sports: From baseball – this time of year? – to a Pac-12 showdown to one needed upset, this Saturday has caught our attention

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A Pac-12 championship on the line in Corvallis. An MLS showdown in L.A. The most-important football game of the day before noon. And some offseason Mariner thoughts. It’s not your usual Saturday this time of year.  

•••••••

• OK, so it’s not officially The Pac-12 Championship Game, Presented by Alaska Airlines. Or something like that. But it is, unofficially. It’s how every Coug and Beav in the Northwest sees this afternoon’s showdown between the two small-town schools. Heck, the winning team’s fans should earn 50,000 Alaska Air miles. Just because it’s been a long year for both. How’s that again?

The Beavers’ foibles have been well documented. Great season in 2023. Coach leaves for more moola. So do many of the star players. Oh, and 10 conference compatriots take off too, leading to a Mountain West-heavy football schedule.

A football schedule that has resulted in just four wins with two weeks left. One against the 25th-ranked Cougars. The other at No. 12 Boise State. A bowl bid? Unlikely. All new coach Trent Bray really wants to see in the next couple weeks is better play. A competitive nature. A foundation to build from in 2025 and beyond.

Washington State shares many of those issues with OSU. Except Jake Dickert’s crew has managed them better. Until last weekend, when the Cougars face-planted at New Mexico. Still, WSU takes an 8-2 mark into today’s game, is favored by double-digits and is looking to cement the best bowl visit it can.

Want to watch? Turn on the Pac-12’s home network, The CW, at 4 p.m. And ignore the hard-sell. The conference isn’t really a conference. And this really isn’t a rivalry game to decide it. Neither will next year’s two meetings, one in each little Northwest town with a scenic river running through it.

Look to 2026. That’s when the Pac-12 is reborn. And the Oregon State vs. Washington State showdown might actually be for a conference title.

• All season long, the M’s management-approved broadcast team told us how solid Josh Rojas was at third base. Oh, no, not as a hitter, even though he had a hot start. It was his defense that was his calling card. And, according to Mike Blowers and, before he became manager, Dan Wilson, that was enough to keep him in the Seattle lineup.

Turns out, though, Rojas and his Gold-Glove-level hot corner defense is not worth $4.3 million to the penny-pinching team. That was the paycheck estimate for the left-hand-hitting Rojas in 2025. Couch-cushion money for most franchises. A deal-breaker for the M’s, who decided this week not to tender Rojas a contract.

He is now a free agent – along with Sam Haggerty and two relief pitchers. Total savings? About $8.2 million. And three roster spots that have to be filled.

Can you answer two questions for me? The first may be easy. Why should we ever listen to any blather about the current players emanating from the puppets who come into our homes and cars all season? And, if you could, is it possible to explain why anyone should root for a franchise that seems hell-bent on stripping the car for parts and trying to sell the chassis as playoff-road ready?

Thanks.

• This is where Seattle’s soccer season ends. In Los Angeles, as everyone who has followed the Sounders recently predicted. LAFC has their number. As in 8-0-2 in their last 10 matches.

It will take a spectacular effort by Stefan Frei in goal and maybe a lucky bounce or two for Seattle to move on to the MLS Western Conference final. Think it will happen? Then make sure your Apple TV MLS pass has been paid. And settle in by 7 p.m. My guess is you’ll be able to turn off the match by 8 and head to bed. It will have been decided – on not in the Sounders’ favor.

• The ESPN College GameDay crew is in Columbus. So is Ol’ Crimson, waving proudly above the lackadaisical home crowd. Yawns may be seen. The rest of the world may be all excited for GameDay, for the early morning pomp (and circumstance), for the Buckeyes to play its biggest home game of the season. A game that is on Fox, starting at 9 a.m.

But Ohio State’s opponent, annual cannon-fodder Indiana, seems surprisingly fresh. And the Hoosiers are. The Buckeyes’ usual in-conference equivalent of the SEC’s Mercer or UMass late-November break is actually expected to be competitive, even to those folks who talk down their undefeated record as being built by not playing anyone.

As if Indiana’s first-year coach Curt Cignetti hand-picked the conference games himself. Nope. The league’s office did that. Those folks underestimated Indiana’s chances – and ratings draw – as much as anyone. The Hoosiers were sent to Pasadena to not only play in UCLA’s first Big Ten game, but to visit the Rose Bowl for the first time in more than 50 years. And that was just the start.

No matter. Cignetti’s 2024 team did what his 2023 James Madison team did. Win every one of its first 10 games. The difference this time? Indiana doesn’t need a court order to be eligible for the postseason. Though it may sort of seem like it if Indiana loses today, is aced out of the Big Ten title game and must rely on the largesse of the CFP selection committee for an at-large berth.

Look, in that scenario Oregon, Ohio State and long-time Blue Blood-wannabe Penn State is in. A one-loss Indiana? It will be sacrificed at the altar of playoff restructuring. A perfect patsy for the SEC and/or Big Ten’s hostile takeover.

If a one-loss Indiana team makes the 12-team field and, say, a three-loss Tennessee or Texas A&M doesn’t, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will cite strength-of-schedule hocus-pocus, cry foul and say the conference will force the new iteration of the playoffs, coming in 2026, to include four guaranteed spots for his “it-just-matters-more” league.

If Indiana is snubbed, Big Ten head honcho Tony Petitti will feign outrage and say the conference will force the new iteration of the playoffs, coming in 2026, to include four guaranteed spots for his “we-have-a-bigger-media-contract-than-anyone” league.

Either way, the ACC, the Big 12, the rebuilt Pac-12, the Mountain West and the rest will be aced out even further. Heck, in this world of dominance wrought by the two dominate conference’s war machines, even Notre Dame might become an outsider.

That’s crazy talk. Almost as crazy as thinking Indiana – Indiana! – would play a crucial role in deciding college football’s future.

•••

WSU: The Cougars could have been part of the outrage machine today. If only they had made one more stop last Saturday. They didn’t. They aren’t. But that doesn’t mean they are more vulnerable today in their visit to Oregon State. Nope. Even if Dickert offered up some bulletin-board fodder to the Beavers earlier this week. Greg Woods has this preview of the contest. He has his keys to the game. And he has his reasons for picking Washington State to win its ninth game of the season. … Of course we have a lot to pass along from Oregon, with an Oregon State mailbag and a preview of today’s game. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, there is another older, more established, rivalry game today. The Big Game. Featuring two not-so-big football powers, struggling Stanford and Cal. The 5-5 Bears need one more win to be bowl eligible. The 3-7 Cardinal need one more win, period. … Oh, there is also the rivalry game from down I-5. The Battle for L.A. UCLA and USC. The Rose Bowl. Don’t break your couch. … Jon Wilner has a mailbag we can pass along. He also passes along the usual weekly recruiting roundup. … John Canzano briefly delves into the Pac-12’s media strategy now that the conference has hired Octagon as a consultant. … Between the Ohio State vs. Indiana showdown to Colorado State’s matchup in Fresno, as the Rams try to fend off UNLV for a Mountain West championship berth, today’s TV schedule isn’t all that strong. … One game worth watching, for once? Army vs. Notre Dame (4 p.m., NBC; fixed from earlier). Both ranked. Both trying for an at-large playoff berth. … Washington has a bye this week. It faces Oregon in Eugene next week. And faces a tough future every week. … Colorado will try to keep its momentum as it travels to Kansas today. … Utah will try to play spoiler against Iowa State. … Arizona State doesn’t want anything to spoil. It just wants to top visiting BYU and move closer to the Big 12 title game. … Arizona would just like another win, this one against TCU. … In the Mountain West, there was one football game last night. UNLV went to San Jose and overwhelmed the Spartans in the second half for a wet 27-16 victory. … Utah State hopes to keep rolling against San Diego State. … The same can be said for No. 12 Boise State against overmatched Wyoming. … Air Force and Nevada face off today. … New Mexico is about ready to announce its new athletic director. … In basketball news, Oregon State learned some things in its loss to visiting Oregon. We learned the two teams will play in Eugene next year. … No. 12 Duke handled No. 17 Arizona 69-55 in Tucson last night. …Though the Oregon State women lost for a third consecutive time, they have an emerging star. … In soccer news, we actually have some to pass along. Mainly because a Ferris High graduate, Jadon Bowton, led the way for the Huskies in their first-round NCAA playoff win. He saved three shots in the shootout, allowing UW to move on to tomorrow’s second-round matchup at SMU.

EWU: Eastern Washington gained more yards on the ground last week than the Prussian Army. Hey, don’t look so put-out. Isn’t that the new game? Dan Monson invoked the U.S. Army and China recently after his defenseless basketball team gave up 96 points to Washington State, so I thought that was the cliché of the week. Anyhow, the Eagles and their ground-and-pound attack travels to Northern Arizona it end the season. Dan Thompson has three things to watch. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana and Montana State are playing the 123rd Brawl of the Wild today. And in all of them someone came up with keys or – back in the day – the reins to a win. … It is Senior Day at Weber State as it hosts Cal Poly. … In basketball news, the Weber State men should take great solace in losing just 93-87 to the most-respected program on the West Coast, UC Irvine. At least the Anteaters are the most-respected in our house. … Northern Arizona edged visiting Incarnate Word 75-74. … Finally, Sacramento State has entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement with a local Indian tribe.

Idaho: The 8-3 Vandals are on the road as well, but their season won’t end in Pocatello against the team that yielded 77 points last week in Cheney. Instead, they will return to Moscow and begin prepping for an upcoming FCS playoff game. They will either have momentum or have squandered all of it in their rivalry contest. Peter Harriman has three things for you to watch.

Whitworth: We want to remind you the Pirates host Pomona-Pitzer in a first-round NCAA Division III playoff game Saturday. Greg Lee previewed the contest, which starts at noon in the Pine Bowl, yesterday in the S-R.

Preps: Over the years, if Gonzaga Prep’s football team made the state playoff finals, it usually won. But if the Bullpups had to cross the mountains prior to that? It usually meant the end of their season. Dave Nichols traveled to Burien to see if history would repeat. It didn’t, as Prep topped Kennedy Catholic 34-28 in the 4A quarterfinals Friday night. … Dave also attended Mt. Spokane’s 3A soccer semifinal, where the Wildcats’ hope of a 3A title ended in a 1-0 loss to Seattle Prep. That coverage leads off this roundup of other Friday playoff action.

Chiefs: It took a shootout, but Spokane got past host Everett last night, winning 4-3.

Seahawks: We pass along a couple stories today that we’ve linked before in their original form. But this piece on Jaxson Smith-Njigba and this one on the keys to Seattle’s success down the stretch are both on the S-R’s website today. … The Arizona defense is surging. But, as always, stopping Kyler Murray is an emphasis for the Hawks. … Abe Lucas may play the entire game this week.

Kraken: Jordan Eberle has a broken pelvis. He will miss at least three months.

Sounders: We mentioned Seattle’s MLS playoff match in L.A. above. We have another preview to pass along. And more from Los Angeles.

Reign: Former Washington State student Trinity Rodman is talented enough that one play can turn an entire game around. Her game and her team’s.

•••       

• Once, during a UCLA/USC football game when I was a boy, the Bruins scored a touchdown on a trick play. I got so excited, I jumped up. Came down hard on the couch. Something snapped. Then my dad snapped. A good play. A great celebration. Overall, though, a bad day. Until later …