A Grip on Sports: This weekend’s TV schedule features something we haven’t watched in a while – live college football games

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s here, albeit in a truncated form. The 2025 college football schedule begins Saturday. Which means, between tomorrow’s 90-degree fire-danger day and all those winter the-driveway-isn’t-going-to-shovel-itself Saturdays, the sport will dominate our TV-watching decisions. At least for the first 24 hours of each weekend.

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• Isn’t that glorious?

OK, “glorious” might be a bit much. Especially considering Saturday’s schedule.  None of the Associated Press’ top 10 FBS schools will play this week. Heck, not even any of the top 16, to pick a less-than-arbitrary number.

Kansas State, ranked 17th and coming off a 9-4 season, faces 22nd-ranked Iowa State (11-3 last season) at 9 a.m. (ESPN – of course). The matchup may not draw you in, but the location – Dublin, Ireland, not the one in California – and the fact it has been eight months since a college football game has graced your TV, just might.

Of the eight games that are available to just about anyone with a big screen, a Laz-e-Boy and a full fridge, there are a few with local connections. Tenuous ones, sure, but they are there.

Two Big Sky Conference schools will be playing, and one of them, UC Davis, is part of the best FCS Week Zero matchup in a while. The Aggies, 11-3 last season and ranked seventh to start this one, travels to Montgomery, Ala. to face 11th-ranked Mercer, hot off an 11-3 season. That game is also on ESPN (4 p.m.)

Earlier, Portland State will host eighth-ranked Tarleton State at its home-a-little-ways-away-from home, Hillsboro Stadium.

There is also one former Pac-12 school – and for our money, a future one as well – playing. That would be Stanford. Andrew Luck’s debut as head honcho of the football program will be televised from Hawaii by CBS, starting at 4:30 p.m. (Don’t be confused. Luck is in charge but he is not the head coach. That interim title is held by Luck’s former NFL coach, Frank Reich.)

Lest we forget, one future Pac-12 school is also playing. Fresno State will mark the beginning of the … wait a minute, let me check my notes … Matt Entz Era with a game at Kansas (3:30 p.m., Fox).

That’s it. The highlights. The appetizer not just for next week, when everyone else with a helmet straps it on and plays, but for another season of my-school-is-better-than-your-school mayhem.

• That’s not all that’s on your phone and big screen, of course. There is even a pretty important NFL game to watch Saturday – as important as an exhibition in which few, if any, Seahawks’ starters will play.

Maybe, after what took place Thursday in their joint practice, the Hawks and Green Bay Packers will hold an MMA exhibition at halftime at Lambeau Field. Now that would draw a big ratings number. The 1 p.m. (Fox 28) matchup probably won’t – even if the real games don’t begin for a couple weeks.

There are real, and really important, baseball games going on over the weekend in T-Mobile Park. The Mariners, coming off their horrendous 2-7 road trip, host the Athletics. In the three-game series (Friday night at 7:10, Saturday at 6:40 and Sunday at 1:10, all on Root) Seattle will be trying to cut into Houston’s two-game lead in the American League West and stay in the thick of the wild-card chase.

I will also be pretty locked in, watching to see if anyone can catch Scottie Scheffler in the FedEx Championship in Atlanta. Ya, I know. Scheffler is in second place after Thursday’s opening-round 63. But he’s still the guy to catch. NBC has the main coverage over the weekend. 

The Little League World Series will also have to be accounted for, with the U.S. (12:30 p.m., ABC) and International (9 a.m., also ABC) title games Saturday and the overall championship Sunday (noon, ABC).

You can also watch the Sounders play Sunday without an Apple+ subscription, which isn’t common these days. They are in Kansas City on Sunday night (6:15) and FS1 will broadcast the match.

Finally, the first rounds of the U.S. Open, tennis’ last Grand Slam event of the year, flood ESPN2 that day, and will make a cameo on ABC starting at 9 a.m.

Enjoy your canapes. The main courses are still being prepped in the kitchen.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, I can guarantee this will be the final Friday of the year there will not be some sort of S-R Cougar story to link. Well, until the football season ends at least. We start instead with news from, John Canzano, who reports something everyone suspected. The CW will be the main purveyor of the conference’s football games in 2026 and beyond. … We also can pass along more concerning Dallas Baptist joining the Pac-12 as an affiliate member for baseball. The addition of a program with 11 consecutive NCAA bids improves the conference’s standing and ensures Oregon State can play within in the conference footprint in 2026 and beyond without sacrificing its strength-of-schedule metrics. … Speaking of strength of schedule, the SEC has decided to transition to a nine-game conference football schedule in 2026. Why? The bottom line is, of course, the bottom line. ESPN is throwing in a reported $5 million more per game. But the move also undermines the Big Ten’s arguments about the CFP makeup. The SEC knew it would have to add another conference game someday. Why not do it know when it can cut the legs out from under its biggest conference rival and its stupid playoff format? … The CFP committee gave in to the SEC. It is adding a strength-of-schedule metric to its discussions, though it has not specified which one. … Speaking of the Big Ten, Jon Wilner lays out in the Mercury News why Washington, USC and UCLA are in for a long slog trying to become relevant in the conference. It has to do with, surprise, money. That’s why Oregon is inoculated. The Ducks have a Sugar Daddy. … Clemson has the inside track to the ACC title. … Former Washington play-by-play voice Bob Rondeau retired from the position almost eight years ago. He’s filling his time in his own way. … Speaking of Oregon, the Ducks have had to rebuild its entire secondary. It is a goof thing the program has a Sugar Daddy. … Oregon State’s linebackers have a key role for its defense. … Freshmen will occupy key spots for Colorado. … How is Utah’s offensive depth chart shaking out? … No, I don’t believe college football has lost its spark. … California is trying to light a fire under its defense. … A key USC receiver has returned from his injury. … Arizona State finished atop the Big 12 last season. Can it repeat? … Arizona wants no repeat of last season’s problems. … San Diego State felt the same about its offensive line, so it has beefed up the group. … Can Colorado State make a bowl? … How good are Utah State’s specialists? … In basketball news, the Oregon women have attracted the talents of one of the nation’s top players. … The Colorado men have added an international guard to their roster. … One Arizona international player has cleared up his visa problems.

Gonzaga: Former GU guard Khalif Battle will be playing his first professional season in Italy. He signed a one-year deal with Aquila Basket Trento this week. Theo Lawson has more in this story, including the note one of Battle’s teammates will be former Washington State player Andrej Jakimovski.

Idaho: When Hogan Hatten was an Idaho Vandal, he was a key part of the defense at linebacker. In the NFL? Hatten has become a key part of the Detroit Lions’ special teams unit as its long snapper. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, Northern Colorado does have quite a few players from its home state. … Idaho State begins Saturday as well, at UNLV, but watching the game on TV will be a challenge. … Weber State has decided on its captains. … Yes, UC Davis’ opener is the FCS game of the week. … Portland State has a challenge. … Having Sacramento State’s football stadium on California’s fairgrounds may just help both.

Preps: This is how all high school football stadiums should be everywhere. Come on Gonzaga Prep, get your act together. Just kidding. This football stadium in Georgia is excess in its most-visible form. Though it would be great to have a luxury box to sit in during the snow storms of November.

Indians: It’s been a good season for Mt. Spokane grad Stu Flesland, especially since he’s moved into Spokane’s starting rotation. His run continued Thursday night in Everett as the lefthander tossed a season-high seven innings, gave up two runs on four hits and struck out seven. But one other thing continued for the Indians last night. They lost, giving up a run in the bottom of the 10th in a 4-3 defeat. Dave Nichols has the story.

Zephyr: Spokane begins its second season in the USL’s Super League on Saturday and will do it with an interim coach. And on the road. John Allison has a preview of not only the opener against the host Dallas Trinity in the Cotton Bowl, but of the Zephyr’s season as well.

Velocity: Anuar Pelaez scored his eighth goal of the season and Spokane went on to a 1-0 win over host Forward Madison on Thursday. The win lifted the Velocity back into first place in the USL League One standings.

Mariners: We mentioned above the A’s coming to town this weekend. And we also mentioned the awful just-completed road trip. … Dan Wilson has managed 162 games. That just happens to be the same number – for now – an MLB team plays in a single season. How has it gone? It’s been a learning experience, that’s for sure. … Gabe Speier is more important for the M’s than you may think. Me? I think they need a couple more just like him. … Bryan Woo starts tonight. He’s doing something no one has ever done before in baseball. … It’s Friday, so I focus a lot on TV. Here’s more. ESPN and MLB are looking to reconnect for next season and beyond. They have reached an agreement that gives the WorldWide Leader a lead on everyone else concerning baseball streaming. … One last note. No wonder there were lines at the Yankees vs. Red Sox game last night. You got a bobblehead that seems priceless to me.

Seahawks: The Hawks indulged in the Packer tradition of borrowing kids’ bikes and riding them to practice. Then they indulged in the new NFL tradition of fighting the other team during their joint practice. How fun. The former I mean. The latter is fun until someone breaks a bone in their hand. … The rookies are worth being excited about.

Storm: Why has the team struggled since the All-Star break? There are quite a few reasons.

Reign: Not sure I even knew the MWSL had a commissioner. And I will admit I didn’t know her name. Now I do, as Jessica Berman visited Seattle.

Sounders: DeAndre Yedlin was the first Seattle player I really became attached to. And was sad to see leave for an overseas opportunity. Then was sad to see return to the MLS for another franchise. Now I’m sad to see him moving again and it is not back home to Seattle. He’s joining Real Salt Lake.  

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• Another Friday. That is not another Friday with what is coming tomorrow. A kickoff. A few kickoffs, actually. Enough to get us started anyhow. Until later …