A Grip on Sports: It took us years to realize numbers are nothing to fear, even as we still have trouble figuring out our car’s gas mileage

A GRIP ON SPORTS • As my boys were growing up, I used to watch Sesame Street with them whenever I could. My least favorite character? The Count. He scared me.

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• Actually, it was the baggage he carried around that I feared. Numbers. They have never been my friend. Especially when they lost their plusses and minuses and began to morph into things such as Xs and Ys and the like.

Arithmetic? That was OK, though division has long been a nemesis. Math? It’s a four-letter word that ranks right up there with “work” and “Brussel sprouts.” Why are you scoffing? You like Brussel sprouts? Oh, wait.

As I’ve said many times in many ways, math is hard.

Take the math associated with college basketball rankings. And the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

If you look at the rankings published daily in the nation’s shrinking number of newspapers, the 2025-26 edition of the Zags were about the 12th or 13th-best men’s team in the country last week. And may not move up (or down) much when the new polls are released today.

But if you peruse rankings from such places like the sports arm of the New York Times, The Athletic, the Zags are ranked quite a bit higher. Today they are fifth. Then again, CBS Sports, in its Top 25 and 1, has them 13th, so there is that.

That’s opinion, right? The major polls are an average of a bunch of folks’ opinions, whether they be sportswriters or coaches. Math is not supposed to be about opinion. It’s about numbers. Cold, unrelenting numbers.

Divide 64 by 4 and you get 16. Every time. And yet, number-based ratings systems can have varied outcomes. It all depends, in some degree, on opinions. On how the person who put the formula together weighs categories of numbers.

Ken Pomeroy was one of the first to inject analytical analysis into college hoops rankings. His system still is the gold standard, at least for math-challenged me.

Where does KenPom’s rating list GU? Third in the nation, the same spot – though tied with Houston – the Zags are slotted by Evan Miyakawa’s analytical-based ranking.

Why the disconnect? Numbers don’t have a memory. Or prejudices. Plug a bunch of numbers into a computer the same way every time and the same outcome will be spit out. Every time. You can’t say the same about humans. For good or bad.

• The Zags begin the Players Festival tonight in Las Vegas. It’s a second-year tournament that is building its reputation, and field, around NIL payouts for, who else, the players.

Their first game? Eleventh-ranked Alabama. Which means the Crimson Tide is favored, right? Uh, no. Gonzaga is. By 3.5 points. That’s similar to what the EvanMiya and KenPom ratings indicate.

So which is it? We will find out about 8 tonight.

• The Seahawks were favored by double digits heading into Nashville yesterday. They didn’t cover. In fact, they almost got so cute they lost. On the scoreboard, the only place numbers really matter in the NFL.

Stats drive the game’s finances, sure, but points decide who wins or loses. And the Hawks have scored more points than their opponents eight times this season. On Monday morning after a 30-24 victory, that’s what matters.

• Then again, we all are interested in whether the Hawks will have enough wins in a month or so to make the postseason, right? Thank goodness there are folks out there who take the time to run the numbers. Look back. Look ahead. Figure out the percentages. And share them with us.

What do they say? Seattle has the third-best odds in the NFC of being in the postseason. Though winning the division is a longshot.

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WSU: Finishing. It is easier said than accomplished. At least it has been for the 5-6 Cougars this season. Throughout their history, too, hence that awful phrase. But all Jimmy Rogers is worried about is the future. He told Greg Woods after Saturday’s 24-20 loss at No. 21 James Madison “We just gotta learn how to finish games.” They have one more guaranteed shot at that Saturday, when they host 2-9 Oregon State (3:30 p.m., The CW). Today? Greg has this look back at the most-recent loss. … Jalen Thompson was a mainstay of the Washington State defensive backfield during the late Mike Leach era. He is now a mainstay of the Arizona Cardinals. And he also is the leading subject in Colton Clark’s look this week at local players in the NFL. … The women’s basketball team is 0-6 after a 71-54 loss to Missouri in Florida. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, there is still a week left in the regular season. That hasn’t stopped a spate of college coaches being fired. The latest? California’s Justin Wilcox. He was replaced Sunday on an interim basis by former WSU coach Nick Rolovich. … Jon Wilner has his weekly ranking of the new Pac-12 schools. … The polls came out yesterday. … This could be a great weekend for upsets. … Oregon State is interviewing head coaching candidates. One was at the airport yesterday. 

• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 games this week, listed chronologically and including the latest Associated Press rankings if applicable. All are on Saturday unless noted. The schedule below also includes any game in which finding news turned out to be nearly impossible.

– No. 14 Utah at Kansas (9 a.m. Friday, ESPN): The first task for Utah is to win. Then the Utes will find out if it can make the Big-12 title game.

– Air Force at Colorado State (noon Friday, FS1): The Rams will be missing a couple of players this week, including their starting quarterback. They were suspended for spitting on Wyoming players.

– San Diego State at New Mexico (12:30 p.m. Friday, CBS Sports): It will not be easy but another Aztec win keeps them in the MWC title picture and the CFP conversation. 

– Boise State at Utah State (1 p.m. Friday, CBS): The Bronco seniors made an impact on their Senior Night win.

– Arizona at Arizona State (6 p.m. Friday, Fox): The Wildcats are playing better defensively as the season winds down. 

– Colorado at Kansas State (9 a.m., FS1)

– South Alabama at Texas State (noon, ESPN+)

– No. 5 Oregon at Washington (12:30 p.m., CBS): The Huskies have made progress this season. An upset at home over the Ducks would cement it, that’s for sure.

– UCLA at No. 19 USC (1:30, NBC): Will a rivalry win be enough to make this season a success for the Trojans and Lincoln Riley? … The Bruins have way too much on their plate.

– SMU at California (5, ESPN2)

– No. 9 Notre Dame at Stanford (7:30, ESPN)

– Fresno State at San Jose State (7:30, FS1): The Bulldogs were within a play or two of winning last week.

• In basketball news, the Utah State men won a tournament Sunday, continuing their hot start to the season. … San Diego State has some connections with its opponent in Las Vegas today, Michigan. … Boise State is headed to Hawaii for its tournament this week. … Colorado is still trying to connect defensively. … Arizona State faces Texas today in Hawaii. … Arizona faces Denver in a homemade tournament. … The Washington women routed Vermont. … Both Oregon and Oregon State also picked up easy wins. … So did third-ranked UCLA. 

Gonzaga: Nothing says Thanksgiving Week – can you remember when it was just Thanksgiving weekend? – like a matchup between the 13th-ranked Zags and 11th-ranked Alabama in a Las Vegas tournament featuring NIL money for the winners. Theo Lawson will be in the MGM Grand Garden Arena tonight for the Players Festival first-round game (6:30, TNT). He has a preview of the contest as well as the key matchup with the Tide’s Labaron Philon Jr. The point guard is a wizard in ball-screen action. My guess is whomever Braden Huff is guarding will be setting a lot of screens. … The Bulldog women hosted Eastern Washington yesterday in the Kennel. The outcome, as it has been for a couple decades, favored GU. Greg Lee has this story on the Zags’ 79-60 win that snapped a three-game losing streak.

EWU: The season has begun slowly for the Eastern men. They fall again Sunday, dropping their record to 1-5. This was their worst loss, a 92-65 decision at Central Arkansas. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, there are already two head coach openings in the conference. Saturday, Portland State fired Bruce Barnham before he even got back to his office following the 11th loss of the season, the latest at Northern Colorado. Cal Poly gave Paul Wulff a few hours to enjoy Saturday’s win over his previous employer, Eastern Washington, before pulling the plug on his three-year tenure in San Luis Obispo. Wulff’s Mustangs were 10-24 overall and won just five conference games. Those numbers were not good enough for the former WSU coach to keep the job. … On the other end of the spectrum, the FCS playoff field was announced Sunday. Montana State, after its win at then-second-ranked Montana, earned the two seed behind top-ranked and defending champion North Dakota State. The Griz were slotted third, which means the two Big Sky powers could meet in Bozeman in a semifinal. … UC Davis also earned a first-round bye as the eighth seed. … It’s possible if Sacramento State had upset the Aggies on Saturday, or if Northern Arizona hadn’t tripped up against Weber State, the conference would have received four bids. … Southern Utah and Utah Tech ended their seasons, and their stay in the United Athletic Conference – they will join the Big Sky in July – without a postseason bid. … In basketball news, the Montana men fell in their tournament. 

Idaho: The Vandal women raised their record to 5-1 with an easy 89-56 home win over Cal State Northridge.

Seahawks: We start our coverage as we always do, with Dave Boling’s column on the game. His subject? Sam Darnold’s performance. That surprised me a bit. I was expecting his thoughts on rookie guard Grey Zabel playing despite suffering a knee injury last week. After all, Dave has some experience playing with an injury from his college days. … The Hawks dominated the early part of Sunday’s game at the woeful Titans but let the home team have hope in the latter stages. Still, a win is a win. But a non-cover is also a non-cover. … We should have covered Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s numbers above. What a season the receiver is having. It is worth a column or two. … There are always grades. 

Storm: The WNBA held its draft lottery Sunday. Seattle didn’t earn the top pick. That went to Dallas for the second consecutive year. The Storm also missed out on the second pick. But they did get the third.

Kraken: You have to score to win. Seattle was unable to do that Sunday in New York and lost 1-0 in a shootout with the Islanders.

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• Speaking of numbers, I’m not operating at 100% this morning. Yesterday was even worse. Had lunch with a good friend Friday. He was dealing with a cold. And shared, I think. Knocked me for a loop, causing me to spend most of the day in bed. The congestion today is better. But that may just be because of miracle drugs. Until later …