A Grip on Sports: No matter how early we start on a Sunday, we never seem to get ready in time. It’s a life-long tradition

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sunday morning. Maybe 1966 or 1967. Everyone in the Grippi abode flying around, looking for hair pins or shoes or, in my case, a clean shirt. Mass is only minutes away and no one is dressed. Those were the days. Let’s imitate them, shall we? Let’s fly around the world of sports, looking for all that we’ve lost in the past few days. Just so we can say a few prayers.

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• Let’s start in a hotel in Grapevine, Texas. A meeting room. A bunch of old men (and one woman) gathered together, deciding the fate of a bunch of young men (and a few women).

What will come of College Football Playoff selection committee’s deliberations?

One thing is for sure. Whatever we write in the next few minutes will be outdated soon. Maybe even before you read this, as the 12 team will be announce in the 9 a.m. hour. So be it. Predicting what they will do is not something we care to do. What they should do, that’s more our style.

The top four schools are set: Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas Tech. The order will be determined, more than likely, in a way that sets up the best quarterfinal matchups. Why? The CFP is a TV show. The better the ratings, the more money generated. Enough said.

Money, and its brother-in-law, power, will also be in play for the final few spots.

The teams in play for the fifth and final automatic berth reserved for conference champions? James Madison and Duke. One 12-1, the other 8-5. One winners of the Sun Belt, which is not a conference with a lot of cachet. The other? Champs of the ACC.

Cougar fans know there isn’t much between them. Their team lost at JMU by four. It also lost at Virginia by two, the same UVA team that lost last night in overtime to the Blue Devils.

Duke is better than James Madison. But the Dukes – yes, that’s JMU’s nickname – deserve the 12th seed in the playoffs.

How about the last two at-large berths? Three blue-blooded programs are bleeding over everyone in hopes of making the cut. Alabama’s offense didn’t show up in the SEC title game against Georgia, a team the Tide topped in Athens earlier in the season. Is that enough to put a red line through their name?

Notre Dame and Miami sat out yesterday. They did, however, play earlier in the season and the Hurricanes dominated. Don’t take my word for it. Nick Saban thought so. Said so on College GameDay.

Bottom line? Miami won. The rest of the resumes are close enough that has to matter. But Notre Dame didn’t lose to, ahem, Florida State. Alabama, for the second consecutive year, should be exiled to the sidelines.

• College basketball in these parts is pretty darn good. Gonzaga, of course, is a big part of that. The 11th-ranked Zags, coming off a 94-59 walloping of No. 18 Kentucky that has everyone in Big Blue Nation wondering if Mark Pope is the right coach, has a home breather tonight. They host 2-6 North Florida, 323rd in the NCAA’s NET rankings (out of 365).

But GU isn’t the only reason for the area’s standing.

It wasn’t all that long ago Kyle Smith had a roster of stars in Pullman, a group that is scattered now but many of whom will play a big role in the national title picture. And I’m not even talking about Dylan Darling, the Central Valley High guard who plays the point for 23rd-ranked St. John’s.

Two years ago the Cougars’ roster included four bigs. Two ended up being NBA players – Isaac Jones and Jaylen Wells. Two are still in college.

Rueben Chinyelu helped Florida win last season’s national title (and is averaging a double-double this one) and Oscar Cluff, who starts at center for No. 1-ranked Purdue (and is also nearly averaging a double-double after doing so for South Dakota State last season).

It was Cluff who I was interested in yesterday. The undefeated Boilermakers were hosting undefeated (and 10th-ranked) Iowa State. The starting center for the Cyclones? None other than former Lake City High star Blake Buchanan.

It was bit of the Inland Northwest in the Midwest.

Cluff was fine. In 23 minutes he scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

But Buchanan was the winner in this one. And not just because his Cyclones handed Purdue the largest home defeat ever for a top-ranked school, 81-58.

Buchanan not only stuffed the stat sheet – 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots – he also kept Cluff and his fellow Purdue bigs off the glass. Though giving up 30 pounds to the former WSU big, Buchanan never backed down, never gave ground, never allowed the Boilermakers to do what they do to a lot of teams, beat them up inside.

I first met Blake when he was a tall, thin, gangly seventh grader. Was privileged to coach him a little the next year. Watched him grow over the next couple seasons. Saw his potential. Shared what I saw with some friends in the college coaching ranks during his sophomore season. Former WSU coach Tony Bennett listened. Watched. Agreed. And started recruiting him. Others did not. Not until Blake blossomed as a junior and senior.

Blake decided to head to Virginia. Played as a freshman, along with former Shadle Park standout Jake Groves, on what turned out to be Bennett’s last team. After a poor experience last season, Buchanan transferred to Iowa State, where he’s fit in even better than he did at UVA.

And now he’s a key piece of one of the nation’s best teams.

• It’s a chicken and waffles morning.

Why? The Seahawks are in Atlanta. A 10 a.m. start on Fox. A must-win? Certainly. If they want to earn the NFC title. The Falcons are 4-8. That’s almost a mirror of the Hawks’ 9-3 mark. Atlanta’s starting quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., is out for the season. Seattle’s Sam Darnold is having a special one.

But the guy Darnold replaced last season in Minnesota, Kirk Cousins, is going to be starting today. And has the experience and talent to make the day miserable for Seattle’s defense.

Except the Hawks are exceptional on that side of the ball. And are getting healthy after dealing – successfully in a lot of ways – with a series of debilitating injuries the past couple months.

Buckle up. Seattle’s recent history against backup quarterbacks, especially veteran backups, has been hit and miss. If Cousins hits a few passes and the Hawks miss a few tackles, watch out.

• So long Harry Ford. We never really got to know you.

The M’s made something of a surprise trade Saturday, sending their once top-rated prospect to Washington for a left-hander with promise.

Jose Ferrer wandered in the wilderness for a few years, trying to harness an arm that was top notch. The Nationals were about to give up on him last season until someone had the bright idea to use him as the closer. The pressure of the role seemed to focus him and he had his best season.

That won’t be his spot for the M’s. He’ll be another cog, along with Gabe Speier and Matt Brash, in a bullpen that sets up closer Andres Munoz. The pressure, however, may even be greater than he faced last season closing for a Nationals’ team that lost 96 games.

• If you are wondering what Jimmy Rogers owes Washington State for leaving before 2025 has even turned into 2026, it’s a hefty sum. According to a report from SWX, Rogers’ buyout is $4 million. That’s more than two years of his salary.

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WSU: We read Greg Woods’ story this morning on Rogers’ departure and how the news circulated throughout the WSU football community. We recommend it to you as well. … Greg also has a list of six possible replacements, at the top of which is Montana State’s Brent Vigen. Vigen’s second-seeded Bobcats moved on in the FCS playoffs Saturday, though there was an incident after the game between the coach and his star running back that earned national attention. … Rogers posted a letter to WSU yesterday on his social media accounts. Greg has more on that as well. … Jon Wilner doesn’t think Rogers’ loss should derail the Cougars. They have been through this crud, and worse, before. He shares his thoughts in the S-R. … John Canzano covers that subject as well. … Matt Calkins shares his advice for Cougar fans in the Times. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner also has his thoughts on today’s CFP bracket reveal. Those ran in the Mercury News. … He also passes along the weekly West Coast football recruiting roundup. … OK, there is a lot of stories and columns out there about the CFP bracket. We read quite a few and pass along a handful. … The best news from Saturday? Indiana is the No. 1 team in the nation. That’s a little different, isn’t it? Though some of us are old enough to remember when the Hoosiers played in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1968 (they loss 14-3 to O.J. Simpson and USC). It was the first shocking development of a year full of them. … The fifth spot is fine with Oregon. … Freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele announced he is staying at California next season, new coach Tosh Lupoi’s first win. … Utah knows who and where it will be playing its bowl game. … Colorado picked up a couple recruits. … Who will accompany new UCLA coach Bob Chesney on his trip from James Madison? … Finally, we finish with two opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times. Both are written by veteran – read, really old – sports voices. Former sports editor Bill Dwyre has 15 reasons why UCLA should not leave the Rose Bowl. And columnist Bill Plaschke implores USC and Notre Dame to keep their traditional rivalry game alive.

• In basketball news, the Washington men rallied from 18 points down Saturday and upset 24th-ranked USC 84-76 in Los Angeles. … Oregon lost for the fifth consecutive time, falling 74-63 at UCLA in a game that should not have been that close. … Oregon State had to grind out a win over visiting Southern Utah. … Colorado State outscored Colorado 91-86 in Fort Collins. … Utah played well on the offensive end and got past visiting Cal Baptist 91-85. … California won another one, getting past Pacific 67-61 in Berkeley. … Arizona State had little trouble with Oklahoma, winning 86-70. … Second-ranked Arizona blew out 20th-ranked Auburn 97-68 in Tucson. Will the Wildcats be ranked No. 1 this week? … Boise State picked up a key road win at Butler. … Utah State will try to bounce back today from its first loss. … The Arizona State women have started the season with 10 consecutive wins for the first time.

Gonzaga: The Bulldog women hosted UC Davis yesterday and by a few minutes after halftime it seemed over. Gonzaga led by 31 points. Ultimately that was enough but as Greg Lee relays in this story, the Aggies’ rally caused some anxious moments in what turned out to be an 83-72 victory. … We mentioned the Zag men’s home game tonight above. Theo Lawson has a preview of the game with North Florida as well as the key matchup. … Theo also posted a look back at Friday night’s rout of Kentucky, one that is still reverberating throughout that state.

EWU: The Eagle men returned home and enjoyed a happy homecoming. As Dan Thompson tells us, they rolled over Kansas City 90-66 behind JoJo Anderson’s 17 points. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, all three conference football teams won their FCS playoff openers. And, thanks to a huge upset in North Dakota, the path to the title seems wide open. … Second-seeded Montana State would also seem to be the biggest recipient, though the Bobcats struggled at home to get past Yale 21-13 and had some personnel issues after the game. …Third-seed Montana rolled over South Dakota State 50-29 in Missoula. … UC Davis, seeded eighth, did the same thing to Rhode Island, 47-26. … In basketball news, Weber State’s women won. …Portland State’s men lost at home to Omaha. … The Montana women won. So did the Griz men. … The Montana State women won handily.

Idaho: Kolton Mitchell, along with Buchanan a member of Lake City’s undefeated State title team a few years ago, scored 22 points and the Vandal men edged South Dakota State 84-81 on the road Saturday. And, yes, I also coached Kolton. For a couple seasons of travel and AAU basketball actually. 

Preps: Jaden Ghoreishi, who I was also privileged to coach for a summer, scored 31 points as Mt. Spokane edged Camas in overtime, teaming with Gonzaga Prep to lead the East side schools to a 4-0 record in the two-day East vs. West Preseason Shootout. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … We can also pass along this roundup of the other basketball action yesterday.

Whitworth: The Pirate men led by as many as 17 points early in the second half but Mary Hardin-Baylor rallied and earned a 92-90 victory in the Fieldhouse. It was the Pirates’ first loss after four wins to start the season.

Chiefs: Spokane won 4-2 over Tri-City last night. Dave has the game story. But the most-important part of the contest? It was Teddy Bear Toss night. And 9,087 of the cuddly beasts were thrown on the ice and will end up in the arms of youngsters who need them.

Zephyr: The good news is Spokane scored its first goal since October. The less-good news? The Zephyr yielded a late equalizer and left Lexington with a draw at one.

Seahawks: What are you doing still reading? The Hawks are about to kickoff. Here is what you need to know. Now go turn on the TV.

Sounders: The men’s World Cup will be in Seattle next summer. Which matches? Glad you asked. These ones.  

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• Yep, it’s chicken and waffles this morning. Just what I need. Tons of carbs. I will be asleep by halftime. Hopefully it is partly because the Hawks are leading by four touchdowns. Until later …