A Grip on Sports: Money has always held sway in college sports, sure, but what the Players Era hoop tourney illustrates now is the athletes are getting a large, and deserved, share

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The shots were falling, inside and out. The bench provided a lift. And now, after two wins in Las Vegas, a chance for – put you right pinky against your lip and use your Dr. Evil voice here, as it is appropriate – “one million dollars” awaits. Man, Michigan looks really good.

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• Wait, you thought I was going to write “Gonzaga” above? Just because I am sitting in a cold and somewhat-snowy Spokane as I type? What am I, a homer?

OK, you might have a point. After what’s happened thus far this convoluted college basketball season, Gonzaga and Michigan seem interchangeable. At least their resumes are. Both undefeated. Both 2-0 in the AAU-esque Players Era money tournament. And each ranked among the nation’s top four teams by analytical-based ratings systems.

You can take your pick this pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday morning. And not be wrong. Until about 8:30 tonight. When one of the two will head home with the aforementioned $1 million in NIL funds, twice as much as the loser.

Then again, calling a college basketball team a “loser” when it will split up $500,000 is so 2025. Just think how happy Bill Russell or Bill Walton or even Bill Dunlap would have been to play three games for USF or UCLA or Gonzaga and been paid their share of a half-million.

The party at Jack and Dan’s would have been historic.

And appropriate. After all, the sea change in college athletics since the pandemic has also been historic.

Look, the schools themselves have always played games for money. When Knute Rockne hopped on a train for Southern California and Notre Dame’s showdown with USC a hundred years ago, it wasn’t for charity. It was a money grab. It’s just now the players are part of the equation. It is, as the name implies, their era.

Then again, the past quarter century has been Gonzaga’s era in a way. No, Virginia, the Zags have not won a national title – though we will go to our grave believing one missed out-of-bounds call cost Mark Few’s program their first in 2017’s final. But they been among the nation’s best, and most consistent, programs since Y2K was a thing.

Michigan? The Wolverines have been up and down this century. At their best, they’ve appeared in the Final Four. Twice, in fact, 2013 and 2018, matching Gonzaga’s total the past dozen years. And each school has lost the title game twice too.

But since Few took over from his friend Dan Monson in 2000, Michigan has burned through four coaches. This year’s juggernaut is headed by its fifth, Dusty May, in his second season in Ann Arbor.

In May’s first, UM emerged from the 24 losses in Juwan Howard’s final season to 27 wins and a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Where the Wolverines lost to, wait for it, Auburn.

The Tigers were their speed bump Tuesday night. Not really much of one in that. The seventh-ranked Wolverines, who topped San Diego State by 40 on Monday, won 102-72 to clinch a spot in tonight’s title game.

Where they will run up against a Zags team that is, like almost every program in America these days this time of year, still trying to mesh a new-look roster into something that will be unstoppable in March.

Few’s group has been darn-near-that in November, posting seven wins in seven games and outscoring opponents by more than 30 points a contest. That’s actually an important statistic, at least in Vegas this week. With five of the 18 participating schools emerging with 2-0 records, the standings were determined by scoring margin. No matter who was played.

Michigan, reaching the maximum of 20 in each game, finished first and will wear home uniforms tonight (6:30, TNT). The 12th-ranked Zags, after a 10-point win over No. 8 Alabama on Monday and last night’s rout of Maryland, took second.

No. 15 Tennessee may have posted the week’s top upset, handing third-ranked Houston a 76-73 loss Tuesday, but that meant the Volunteers’ margin in two game was plus-23. Not enough to play for the huge money. They will have to settle for merely big – the third-fourth game has a $500,000 total pot – today when they face Kansas (4 p.m., TNT). The Jayhawks’ plus-21 total edged out fellow Big 12-member Iowa State, who finished plus-19, for the final money game.

It is a convoluted way to hand out early Christmas bonuses to the participating schools’ employees – yes, that what college athletes are these days – isn’t it?

At least, unlike their predecessors since the NCAA began, they are allowed to earn it.

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WSU: The Cougar men seemed bent on winning their Maui Invitational semifinal Tuesday night, pouring in outside shot after outside shot in the first half against Arizona State. But Washington State’s defense disappeared down the stretch, as the Sun Devils scored a Michigan-like 58 points in the final 18-minutes, 19-seconds to top WSU 100-94. Greg Woods has the game story, including the news freshman Ace Glass poured in 40 points. … There is quite an important football game Saturday in Pullman (3:30 p.m., The CW). The Cougars face Oregon State, knowing it will probably take a lot more than the seven points they scored in Corvallis to earn their sixth win and bowl eligibility. Greg Woods has this preview. … Speaking of the Beavers, interim coach Robb Akey, who has as many Palouse connections as anyone, is ending his stretch in Corvallis with humor. As always. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his weekly projections in the Mercury News of the Pac-12’s bowl participants. … John Canzano has his (seemingly) daily update on Oregon State’s coaching search. … There is also one in the Oregonian. … What did yesterday’s CFB bracket reveal show us? That Notre Dame is still the chosen one, that’s for sure.

• 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 Utes’ run defense was awful last week. Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley shouldered the blame.

– Air Force at Colorado State (noon Friday, FS1): The Rams have settled on their new head coach, poaching Jim Mora from UConn with promises of the Rocky Mountain scenery and, most importantly, a bunch of money. In his contract and the program as it prepares to enter the rebuilt Pac-12.

– San Diego State at New Mexico (12:30 p.m. Friday, CBS Sports): If the Aztecs win, they will host the Mountain West title game. But maybe not on their usual field. There could be an MLS game scheduled at Snapdragon the night before and the turnaround time is too short. The game will be held at Petco, home of the Padres.

– Boise State at Utah State (1 p.m. Friday, CBS): The Aggies have a chance to finish Bronco Mendenhall’s first season in Logan 6-0 at home. … The Broncos, even with their injury issues, may be the best team to visit, however.

– Arizona at Arizona State (6 p.m. Friday, Fox): Both teams are ranked by the CFP committee, though neither will make the bracket. The Sun Devils have been powered by their defense recently. The Wildcats? They are finally playing like second-year coach Brent Brennan imagined.

– Colorado at Kansas State (9 a.m., FS1): Asking if Deion Sanders can win games without his son at quarterback is a valid question. Without Shedeur, Colorado is 3-9 in Deion’s tenure.

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

– No. 5 Oregon at Washington (12:30 p.m., CBS): Just how should we evaluate the Huskies’ young offensive line? … No matter who wins, the TV audience will probably be massive. The Ducks’ games have been this season. … Should Oregon actually want to play in the Big Ten title game?

– UCLA at No. 19 USC (1:30, NBC): The rivalry game will be Tim Skipper’s swan song as the Bruins interim coach. There is a frontrunner to replace him. 

– SMU at California (5, ESPN2): The Bears will not only try to derail the Mustangs’ ACC title game chances, they also are trying to deal with all the flotsam of a head coaching search. Could Oregon DC Tosh Lupoi, a Cal alum, be the answer?

– No. 9 Notre Dame at Stanford (7:30, ESPN): If the Irish were called, say, BYU, there is no way they would be entrenched in the CFP rankings. Actually, the Notre Dame resume is not as good as the Cougars’. 

– Fresno State at San Jose State (7:30, FS1)

• In basketball news, the Oregon men won the Players Era tourney last year. They are 0-2 in this one after Tuesday night’s rout by San Diego State. … California is undefeated and that record now includes a win over 18th-ranked UCLA. The two played last night at the Chase Center and the Bears won 80-72. … USC will play in the Maui final despite a key injury Tuesday. … No, Utah wasn’t up to a more challenging opponent. … Boise State hasn’t been up to the Maui challenges either. … Colorado State plays Virginia Tech today. … The Washington women are still undefeated after routing Southern. …Oregon is also undefeated after pulling away from Saint Mary’s in the fourth quarter. … Colorado’s offense disappeared against Texas A&M. … USC, behind Jazzy Davidson’s first college double-double, rolled Tennessee Tech. … Arizona had no trouble with Northern Arizona.

Gonzaga: The Zags’ 100-61 win over Maryland was notable in a lot of ways. But what stood out was their prowess from beyond the arc. After a so-so long-range result against Alabama, GU hit 14-of-32 3-pointers against the Terps. That stat comes courtesy of Theo Lawson’s game story. … Theo also teamed with the folks in the office for this recap with highlights. … Dave Boling had plenty of time during last night’s second half to contemplate the Zags’ ceiling. He does just that in his column. … Jim Meehan previews tonight’s title clash and has three takeaways from the Maryland game. … Jim also talked with Richard Fox for the latest edition of the Zags Basketball Insiders podcast. You can listen here if you want. … Tyler Tjomsland has another photo gallery from Las Vegas. … The Zags surprising – to some – performances in Las Vegas have garnered national attention. That allows us to share a handful of stories from around the country.

EWU: The Eagle men were in Denton, Texas, Tuesday night still searching for their first Division I victory. They didn’t get it against North Texas, falling 79-71. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Portland State athletic director says the football program is at a “turning point.” If that’s the case, will the new coach be encouraged to drive it toward an off-ramp? Or hope the old jalopy can still hit freeway speeds? … In basketball news, the Montana Grizzlies lost at home to the Oakland Grizzlies in men’s action. … Portland State picked up a road win at Utah Tech. … Recruiting never stops for Montana State. … The MSU women lost for the first time. … Finally, Northern Colorado has been downsizing throughout the university recently.

Idaho: The Vandals are in the market for a new offensive coordinator. Matt Linehan announced on X yesterday he and UI have parted ways.

Seahawks: Kenneth Walker III is back entrenched as the Hawks’ No. 1 running back. … Could Quandre Diggs make another appearance in the Seahawk uniform? … We linked this story yesterday when it ran in the Washington Post. It concerns the Seahawks’ postseason chances. It appears on the S-R website today.

Kraken: Everyone has, or should have, a shootout strategy. Why you would share it with the world, we’re not sure.

Sounders: Seattle revealed its 2026 roster decisions Tuesday and there are two key free agents. One of them is keeper Stefan Frei.

Mariners: Bryan Woo is swimming in the arbitration system’s money pool. The deep end.

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• For those of you with dogs at home, isn’t it fun to be woken at about 4:45 in the morning to the sounds of said dog retching? In the bedroom? On the carpet? That was my experience today. If someone would make an alarm clock that sounded like that, there is no way anyone would every oversleep. Then again, the woman I am related to by marriage slept right through it today. Until later …