A Grip on Sports: The Super Bowl was such a bore it allowed us to shut the book on the NFL’s season at halftime – and start looking toward March

A GRIP ON SPORTS • OK, then. This year’s Super Bowl was a bore, decided in the first quarter, it seems. Which, in a weird way, made me feel young again. But that’s for another time. Right now? It’s time to think about March.

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• March? March? If you just said those two words in Jim Mora’s voice, you probably smiled a bit during one of the Super Bowl commercials last night. If not, you might have wondered why the old guy was yelling on your screen. Either way, the point is March is nearly here.

And with it comes the NCAA basketball tournaments. You know, 136 schools anointed with the opportunity to win the Division I title. How many of them will be from the old Pac-12? Probably fewer than would have been expected if the conference hadn’t exploded, scattering parts throughout the nation.

It seems like a good day to check in with the 24 schools and see how they are doing. Give them grades for their first year in their new conferences. Why not?

Schools earning an A: Arizona men; UCLA and USC women.

The last two are pretty obvious. The Bruins are atop the Big Ten standings (and the No. 1 team in the nation) and USC is a game behind. Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats, after a tough start in nonconference (knock a half-grade off, if you want), have blossomed in Big 12 play, tied with Houston for first at 11-1.  

B: UCLA, Stanford and Oregon State men; Utah, California, Washington State and Oregon State women.

We’re grading on a curve here. UCLA seemed capable of having an A season and has underperformed some. Kyle Smith’s team seemed destined to be a C team in the ACC and is doing better than that. Oregon State’s men? They are hanging around the upper third of the WCC after cratering in the last Pac-12 season. The WSU and OSU women might even have earned a B+, considered all they lost. Utah is hanging around in the Big 12 (tied for fourth at 9-3) and California, though sliding a bit lately, may still make the tournament. 

C: Oregon, California and Washington State men; Colorado, Oregon women.

Both Oregon schools and WSU started the season strong. In conference? Disappointing. Cal is exceeding expectations some while the Buffs are doing what they usually do, lose some, win a couple more.

D: Utah and USC men; Arizona and Washington women.

The Huskies haven’t had a lot to cheer their first year in the Big Ten, with either squad, though the women have won five league games. Utah is probably a D+ or maybe even a C, considering being a middle-run Big 12 program is all it can hope for. USC has won some big ones, lost a couple others and is, at 5-7 in the Big Ten, meh. Arizona hopes for a lot more and isn’t getting there this year.

F: Colorado, Arizona State and Washington men; Stanford and Arizona State women: Stanford has been to every NCAA tourney since 1988, which is almost all of them. The nation’s longest consecutive-appearance-streak ends at 36 this year, the first without Tara VanDerveer on the bench. The Cardinal, 11-12 overall, are 3-9 in ACC play and are ahead of only two schools. That’s not as bad as the Colorado men, though, who are 0-12 in the Big 12. Their counterparts at UW have won three more league games but are just a half-game out of last in the Big Ten. ASU’s men aren’t in last thanks to Colorado and the ASU women have just one more win than the Big 12 cellar dwellers.

Who will experience the madness? It’s bad on the women’s side, with only the L.A. schools locks. Utah and Cal could sneak in. Either WSU or OSU could win the WCC and take the auto bid, but that’s unlikely. Other than that, nothing. Last season? The Pac-12 sent seven schools to the tournament. This year? At best, three. That’s an F performance considering the Pac-12’s pedigree.

Arizona is a lock for the men. UCLA, hot these days, should get in. After that? Nada. Zilch. Wait until next year. Remember, four teams participated last year. And that was a typical number. This season? A D- performance. At best.

• Sunday’s game was, well, a blowout. Just like it was when I was a young(ish) man.

Between 1980, when my beloved Rams lost 31-19 to the Steelers, and 1999, when Denver rolled the Falcons 34-19, only four Super Bowls finished as a one-score game. There were finals of 38-9, 38-16, 46-10, 39-20, 42-10, 55-10 … ah, you get the picture. It was almost always a letdown. Sunday’s 40-22 Philly win was the first blowout since Tom Brady retired. It also snapped a streak of three games decided by three points.

• Finally, the commercials were OK. Good and bad. As always. There have been a lot of dogs – as in awful, not those in some tear-jerking Bud commercial – over the years, though, and this one didn’t seem to have any. Which is a win, I guess.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, did Washington hire the best defensive coordinator in the country? Ryan Walters did his best Danny Hurley impression lately. … Oregon is looking for a new receivers coach as former Eastern assistant Junior Adams is headed to the NFL. … USC is going all-in behind the scenes. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, former Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore won a Super Bowl ring last night as Philly’s offensive coordinator. Today, he’s expected to become the Saints head coach. It’s the family business, after all, as he played for his dad Tom at Prosser High. … In basketball news, the Oregon women played enough defense to keep within shouting distance of top-ranked UCLA but their offense just didn’t come through. … Washington started hot but couldn’t keep up with No. 16 Maryland. … Saint Mary’s crushed the Oregon State men at home. Wayne Tinkle isn’t happy about it. … I’m not happy about what happened to UC Irvine on Saturday but, after all, UC San Diego might be the best team in the city after all. … Colorado State won a rock-fight Saturday against the Aztecs. To win in the Mountain West, you have to be ready to do that. Ask Utah State.

Gonzaga: If Mark Few was giving out grades to his defense – and there is a good chance he is – than it would be earning an A right now. The D was a D-, at best, not that long ago. Jim Meehan has more in this follow-up to Saturday’s 78-61 victory at Pacific.

Seahawks: You still want to read more about the Super Bowl – I linked the S-R game story in the first paragraph and, oh, here too – despite the not-as-close-as-it-appeared final of 40-22? OK, you’ve got it. There are stories about the end of the Chiefs’ “dynasty.” Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jaden Hurts and Saquon Barkley stories. The Philadelphia defense. The Eagles’ future. And even more. Commercials? I covered those above. The broadcast? Yep, there is something to pass along.

Kraken: If you want to watch the Four Nations tournament with an eye on Seattle players, here is a guide for you.

Mariners: Those questions about the team as spring training begins Wednesday? Adam Jude’s Times story ran in the S-R today. … The infield is the area with the most, isn’t it? … The offseason is about done for everyone.

Storm: The offseason holds more risk for WNBA players than their NBA counterparts. Why? Because they play games to augment their earnings. It looks as if the injury risk caught up with one Storm player, forward Jordan Horsten. There are reports she tore her ACL.

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• Why beat a dead game? That was my thought process today. The outcome was decided early, the excitement faded after my second-favorite rapper’s halftime show and I could only take so many camera shots of the Chief stars sitting on the bench with a stunned look on their face. Until later …