A Grip on Sports: Monday played the role of the calm day that precedes a week of chaos – and fun – in the world of sports

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Did you enjoy your day off? Silly question, I know. Everyone enjoys a day off work. But we’re not talking about that. The question was aimed at the day off from a crowded sports schedule. Our one-day respite is just one of the items on our overflowing plate today.

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• OK, so watching the Rams lose in Atlanta would have been fun. If anyone actually thought it was a possibility. Even when the Falcons built their 24-3 – anyone notice if Arthur Blank was dancing on the sidelines? – and Matthew Stafford was two-thirds of the way through throwing his interceptions, the idea the Falcons would win still seemed a little foreign.

But they did, thanks to Zane Gonzalez’s 51-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining. L.A., anointed as the Super Bowl favorite a couple weeks ago, had come all the way back with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. And still lost.

The NFC West is in the Seahawks hands. Or the 49ers. Not just by record, as was the case heading into Monday. Saturday’s winner will also be the peoples’ champion, if by people you mean America’s talking heads. And we do.

• As is the case often the latter third of the calendar year, the NFL game was basically the only major event on the Monday slate. Today the crowded race to 2026 really begins.

Bowl games galore. The CFP pushing its way into the picture Wednesday night. College basketball moving full-bore into the conference seasons. And, of course, the final, decisive weekend of the NFL just on the other side of the 2025/26 demarcation line.

There are two old-fashioned bowl games on the TV today, starting with a Big Ten (Illinois) vs. SEC (Tennessee) mid-major matchup. They meet in the Music City Bowl, which just happens to be in Nashville (2:30, ESPN).

That’s followed by (former) Pac-12 standard bearer USC, ranked 16th, vs. TCU in the Alamo Bowl, another bowl game being held in the same state as one of the participants. That one, also on ESPN, kicks at 6.

• Speaking of Texas, it seems an appropriate place for Trojan coach Lincoln Riley to saddle up his high horse and try to bulldog the narrative around the demise of the greatest nonconference rivalry in the sport. USC vs. Notre Dame isn’t just a game, it is a history lesson in cleats. You can illustrate the major changes in the sport through the teams’ shared history, one that began with Knute Rockne and ended with Pete Bevacqua.

Who’s that again? Ya, I know. The Irish athletic director will never hold the same place in college football lore as Rockne. Or even Rudy Ruettiger. But if you want a college football villain for the mid-2020s, Bevacqua is your man. Heck, you could limit it to the last month and he would fit.

The guy was gob-smacked by the CFP committee leaving his school out of the playoffs, something foreshadowed the final four weeks of the season. The guy who blamed the ACC for that, even though the conference was nice enough to crown a champion that had no chance of making the 12-team field. And the guy who deserves much of the blame for destroying an interstate rivalry like no other.

But for Riley, who has yet to seem like nothing more than a mercenary during his USC stint, to be the guy calling out the Irish is rich. Yes, the blood of the series’ death is on Notre Dame’s hands. But there’s a bit of karma for the Trojans as well. After all, they wielded the knife that ended up in the Pac-12’s back.

• Enough of that. Let’s get back to the schedule. New Year’s Eve is packed. Four bowl games, the best of which is also the cheesiest. No. 13 Texas vs. No. 18 Michigan in Orlando’s Cheez-it Citrus Bowl (noon, ABC). This one is extra toasty, thanks to the Wolverines’ self-induced issues that have led them to hiring a 66-year-old Kyle Whittingham as their next coach.

But even that game has to yield the stage for the first of the CFP’s quarterfinals. Second-seed Ohio State, the defending champion, and 10th-seed Miami, a first-round upset winner, facing off in the Cotton Bowl (4:30, ESPN). Maybe they’ll play a seven-overtime classic that doesn’t pop its cork until after ball drops in Times Square.

New Year’s Day is reserved for the three other playoff games. At three historic bowl sites. The Orange Bowl, which historically was New Year’s late-night game, kicks off the trio at 9 a.m. from Miami. Then the Rose Bowl starts an hour earlier than usual (1 p.m.) before the Sugar Bowl tops off the day at 5. All of the games are on ESPN.

Oh, wait. Forgot to list the matchups. No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech in the first one. Ninth-seeded Alabama against top-seeded Indiana – history forced me to check that seeding – in Pasadena. And the SEC battle between sixth-seeded Ole Miss and No. 3 Georgia.

• Of course we’re interested. But that doesn’t mean our attention won’t be divided. There is college hoop this week. Not ranked matchups, sure. Not today anyway. A lot of conference games. ACC. Big East. Mountain West. And, for local fans, West Coast Conference battles.

Though the word battle is relative. Seventh-ranked Gonzaga is at San Diego, favored by more than four touchdowns. Washington State is at WCC newcomer Seattle U., though the game is in Climate Pledge Arena. The Redhawks are a 4.5-point favorite. Considering their records – WSU is 6-8, Seattle is 11-3 with wins over Washington and Stanford – it could have been a larger spread. But as is said, the trend is your friend – and the Cougars’ recent defensive improvements have led to a three-game winning streak.

Let the week really begin.

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WSU: Let’s begin ourselves with Greg Woods’ preview of tonight’s Cougar men’s game. It is also a notebook of sorts. … Yes, Greg has football too, in the form of his transfer portal tracker. It has a new entry. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we linked Wilner’s mailbag from the Mercury News the other day. It is on the S-R site today. … He also has his basketball ranking of the future Pac-12 schools in the S-R. … One more Wilner column, this one in the Mercury News. It covers the college football coaching carousel. The Big Ten was the big winner. … John Canzano had a mailbag Monday. … Washington will be dipping into the portal to fill holes, like every other school. A new one opened Monday. … Oregon arrived in Miami yesterday. The Ducks have to worry about one of the nation’s best defenders this week. And the rest of the Texas Tech team, including its quarterback. … Oregon State is losing a local linebacker to the portal. … USC is losing its defensive coordinator. D’Anton Lynn is headed back to his alma mater, Penn State. … Colorado has found an athletic director. The Buffs hired Fernando Lovo away from New Mexico. He has some tough tasks ahead. … They also lost a backup quarterback to the portal. … How was Utah’s football season? Other than the recent change, I mean. … UCLA’s new coach has brought both coordinators with him from James Madison. … Arizona State will have its hands full with Duke in the Sun Bowl. … The Holiday Bowl with SMU beckons for Arizona.  

• In basketball news, oftentimes, nonconference schedules for the better women’s teams are sweet.  As in most of the top teams play too many cupcakes. … That is over, however. Washington welcomed Northwestern in for the home Big 10 opener and won 94-73. … Oregon hosted eighth-ranked Michigan, fell behind, rallied, had a couple chances to win then finally fell 92-87 in double overtime. … No. 17 USC handed No. 20 Nebraska its first loss. … The Washington men ended nonconference by shutting down Utah in the second half for a 74-65 home win. … No. 1 Arizona had another breather before Big 12 play, rolling over South Dakota State. The Wildcats are 13-0, with some of those wins coming in money-making neutral-site games. … Colorado has some defensive issues. … Boise State has a tough task. Bounce back from a loss against New Mexico. … San Diego State reset some things over the Christmas break. … Colorado State, still missing its best player, hosts Nevada tonight. … Utah State is at Fresno State.

Gonzaga: Yes, the Zags play in San Diego this evening. However, before we can delve into the coverage of that, we have to pass along Theo Lawson’s look back at the win over Pepperdine. And what it meant for the Bulldogs. … What will tonight mean? Probably another win, right? Theo has a preview and the key matchup. … Jim Meehan and Richard Fox’s latest Zags Basketball Insiders Podcast is ready. You can listen here if you like. … Around the WCC, Portland’s longtime athletic director (and baseball coach) Joe Etzel died recently at age 87.

EWU: The holiday season feels appropriate for a Difference Makers story. Dan Thompson supplies it. It is about Eastern football player Nolan Ulm and what he does off the field. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, some schools posted poor nonconference results. Surprisingly, one of them is Montana. … Idaho State is trying to patch up its defense before conference play begins. … Southern Utah and Utah Tech will be in the conference next year. They met last night to open WAC play. Tech won 80-66. … In football news, Montana State is still holding out hope its best defensive player will be healthy enough to play in the FCS title game. … Cal Poly is already mining the portal. … Portland State’s new coach has some new resources, including a new general manager.  

Preps: We had a chance to chat with our golfing buddy – we share games that mirror each other’s – Dave Nichols last night as he covered games at the West Valley Holiday tournament. He uses that coverage to lead off his roundup of Monday’s games.

Seahawks: Are the Hawks good enough to win it all, even with an up-and-down Sam Darnold at quarterback? Matt Calkins thinks so. … The Rams’ loss made Seattle’s playoff picture clearer. The NFC’s overall? More mud-encrusted. … How is Rashid Shaheed doing with his concussion? How about other injured players? … I would rather see the Hawks in the No. 2 or 3 spot in these power rankings as they enter Saturday’s showdown. Maybe that’s just me. … I also would like to see them start faster than their usual performance. And run the ball well.

Mariners: I linked Ryan Divish’s analysis of the M’s offseason moves when it ran in the Times. It is on the S-R site today. … The M’s built some memories in 2025, didn’t they? There is still one more out there to build. Maybe two.

Kraken: Seattle’s winning streak ended in a home shootout loss to the Canucks.

Sounders: A key piece is coming back. Or should I have said a key local piece is coming back.

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• Only a couple days until my resolutions kick in. Yes, for one of the rare times in my 69 years on this planet, I have a New Year’s resolution. Not going to share it until next year is almost over, though. But I will say this about it: I want to turn 70 next October with a bang. And that will take nine months of hard work. Rocky IV work. That is the one with him and the snow, right? Until later …