A Grip on Sports: When Black Friday arrived not that long ago, we used to line up to buy gifts and then head home for an unsurpassed weekend of watching college football

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When I crawled out of bed this morning halfway through the 5 a.m. hour, it hit me. There was a period of years when getting up at that time was de rigueur on the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday. Standing in the cold, lined up at Walmart or Target or the White Elephant. All to save a bundle on that one toy needed to make Christmas complete. Good times.

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• Actually, it was rarely me. That was Kim’s assignment. And, these days, I’m reaping karma’s payback, leaving the warm covers early pretty much every day as she and the dog burrow back in for the next two or three hours. Good times.

But no longer does anyone need to brave the weather, the crowds, the evil overlords of Black Friday sales – They only had seven Game Boys? – to ensure a young child’s smile. Nope. Everything you could ever need is online.

Just like this weekend.

Want to watch your favorite FCS football team in the first round of the playoffs? It’s there. Want to watch your favorite college basketball team play in a holiday-themed high school gym? It’s there. Want to watch your favorite NFL team? Yep, it’s there too.

So what are the best games to watch, using that ever-growing list of streaming services you subscribe to since cutting the cable cord? Plenty. Starting the one Friday each year those not employed by the service industry seem to have the day off work.

Today: There is one men’s college basketball game worth checking out. The one remaining undefeated West Coast Conference school plays at 10 a.m. on ESPN2. Saint Mary’s meets Vanderbilt in the finals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, filling a couple roles Gonzaga did for so many years. (By the way, there were two undefeated WCC squads until last night, when Santa Clara lost 71-70 to St. Louis in the California desert.)

Other than that game, though, today is basically reserved for college football. With one notable exception.

The best of the college ranks? It could be No. 7 Mississippi at rival Mississippi State (9 a.m., ABC), if only to see if Lane Kiffin’s current team ends up being his future team as well. Kiffin is rumored to be flying the Oxford coop for Florida. Or LSU. Or maybe even Oregon State. OK, just kidding about that last one.

After that, there is a key Mountain West showdown, with soon-to-be-Pac-12 member San Diego State trying to ensure itself a title game spot at New Mexico (12:30, CBS Sports), also still in the running for a berth. The same dynamic is in play, at least at the start, for the 1 p.m. CBS Mountain West game, Boise State at Utah State.

Both of those contests conflict with the NFL’s third invasion of what has been college football’s home turf, a matchup on Amazon Prime between the Bears and Eagles (noon). How nice of the league, putting its Black Friday game on a shopping site. One stop service.

There are also two great college games on after the NFL ends. Those of us with West Coast connections have to wait until 6 to watch Arizona and Arizona State battle for the Territorial Cup on Fox. Those of you without them can focus on third-ranked Texas A&M and No. 16 Texas, once and current conference mates meeting on ABC (4:30), with the host Longhorns trying to make one final argument for CFP inclusion.

Saturday: Can No. 15 Michigan hand top-ranked Ohio State another loss in the Midwest’s most-impactful rivalry? Sure. But sooner or later the Buckeyes have to have a few bounces go their way, right? If you want to watch the Wolverines stretch their winning streak in the series to five games, turn on ABC at 9 a.m.

At least it will be over by the time No. 6 Oregon and Washington kick it off in Husky Stadium (12:30 p.m., CBS). Though there is no guarantee those two Big Ten schools will be finished by the time the Pac-12 title game starts. Washington State tries to ensure the two-team conference one bowl berth with a win over visiting Oregon State (3:30, The CW).

Sunday: The NFL schedule is predictably light, what with Thanksgiving’s tripleheader and today’s pay-per-view matchup. No matter. The Seahawks are on. Sam Darnold’s new team hosting one of his old ones, the Minnesota Vikings (1:05 p.m., Fox). With the Rams and 49ers playing early games against overmatched foes, Carolina and Cleveland, respectively, the stakes will be clear by kickoff. Heck, the stakes are clear now. The Hawks need to keep winning. And Darnold? He needs to show his old team they made a mistake.

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WSU: Tucker Large was one of the most-important transfers Jimmy Rogers brought along from South Dakota State. He’s a crucial piece of a successfully revamped secondary. Despite not being on any major college’s radar when he came out of high school. Greg Woods details Large’s surprising journey from then to now. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his weekly picks. He has WSU winning but not covering. Seems about right, though the Beavers having a bye last week still bugs me. … Recruiting never stops, even when your football program just hired a new head coach. Ask Oregon State, who the Oregonian is reporting decided on former WSU assistant JaMarcus Shepard. … John Canzano stepped away from sports yesterday for a Thanksgiving-themed column. Today, Canzano has his weekly picks. … We mentioned yesterday how much fun we had following the Brian Kelly battle with LSU for his multi-million-dollar payout. The school officially surrendered Thursday. Kelly will get his money.

• 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. today, ESPN): How does one become a leader? Practicing with your siblings, as Devon Dampier did, is one way. … The transfer quarterback has one more chance to help the Utes’ offense break records today.

– Air Force at Colorado State (noon today, FS1): It seems as if the Rams have no shortage of in-state rivals to play.

– San Diego State at New Mexico (12:30 today, CBS Sports): It’s been a good season for the Aztecs. But it may just come down to today’s showdown in New Mexico. The road has been rough at times for SDSU.

– Boise State at Utah State (1 today, CBS): Playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving has its preparation challenges.

– Arizona at Arizona State (6 tonight, Fox): It’s been more than a decade since both schools entered the Territorial Cup with at least seven wins. And both have eight this year. What will be the difference? The home field? An out-of-nowhere star? An officiating mistake? We’ll see.

– Colorado at Kansas State (9 a.m., FS1): If the Buffs want to turn their record around next season, Deion Sanders’ staff will have to handle the transfer portal better. Way too many misses this year.

– South Alabama at Texas State (noon, ESPN+): The Jaguars have won just four times this season. But three of them have come in the last four games. Meanwhile, the Bobcats are coming off consecutive wins.

– No. 5 Oregon at Washington (12:30 p.m., CBS): Winning in Husky Stadium seems to mean more for the Ducks. Just as winning in Autzen means a lot for UW. It’s one of those rivalry things. … Another rivalry thing: Coaches learning how to deal with it.

– UCLA at No. 19 USC (1:30, NBC): The Trojans have an entrenched starter and a talented backup at quarterback. Can that continue into next season these days? … The Bruins’ interim head coach had to show his team a video to explain the importance of this rivalry. That’s another indictment of the former coach’s recruiting. … Speaking of recruiting, USC didn’t even orginially offer scholarships to three of his team’s most-important players.

– SMU at California (5, ESPN2): Just where does Cal fit in the modern college football landscape?

– No. 9 Notre Dame at Stanford (7:30, ESPN): Frank Reich is looking at the Cardinal’s matchup with the Irish the right way. It is an opportunity. Maybe an opportunity to get pushed around, sure, but also one to throw a few haymakers as well.

– Fresno State at San Jose State (7:30, FS1): For the first time this century, the Spartans will start a true freshman at quarterback.

• In basketball news, the NCAA is proposing more limits on the transfer portal. Less time. Less freedom. When does someone sue and the courts tell the organization the limits it is setting goes against the spirit of earlier rulings? My guess? Not too long from now. … It was sort of neat to see two should-still-be-Pac-12 schools in the Maui Invitational final. Bittersweet too. … Washington’s men powered past Nevada in a tournament. … Oregon won the Las Vegas NIL tournament last season. This year the Ducks went 0-3. … Colorado State hit a lot of shots early and ran past Wichita State. … Colorado dominated the second half in a win over San Francisco. … San Diego State did not have a good showing in Las Vegas. … Arizona has an easy game at home today. … The Oregon women are 8-0 after topping Old Dominion. … Oregon State suffered its second loss of the year. … No. 3 UCLA, playing without its star center, bounced back in Las Vegas and topped fifth-ranked Duke to finish third in the Players Era Festival.

Gonzaga: The second Players Era Festival in Las Vegas was also the first the Zags have been a part of. It had something of an NCAA tourney feel, what with the great competition and Mark Few’s team falling in the final game. But the crowds, format and energy were not NCAA-caliber, though the end-of-season tournament has had nearly a century to iron out the kinks. Theo Lawson has his thoughts on Gonzaga’s appearance and what it might mean for the Bulldogs come March. And that other high-profile tournament. … There are other thoughts about the Players Era Festival’s future as well. … Most of the main holiday week men’s tournaments come before Turkey Day. The women? After is more of a thing. Greg Lee details where the local schools are playing in this notebook. … Former GU standout Corey Kispert broke his thumb this week. He is going to miss some time. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Saint Mary’s men won again on Thanksgiving and, as we said above, will play for a title in the Bahamas.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, The Athletic has a really good story on how the Dakota schools have come to dominate the FCS playoffs. … Sacramento State’s new coach expects to win. After all, Mike Bibby has won often in his life.

Seahawks: The Hawks battled Minnesota in the offseason for a free-agent offensive guard. The Vikings won. How is that working out for Will Fries? … The Vikes will probably start a rookie quarterback Sunday. … Byron Murphy had something special to be thankful for yesterday.

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• We had a special dinner last night. Our youngest son prepared and cooked his first Thanksgiving turkey. It was great. But it could have tasted like one of my Hokas and Kim would have been just as happy. Her smile from across the family table was just another in the long litany of items on my “thankful” list. It’s funny. After almost 70 years on this planet, I’m not sure I have felt more blessed than I have recently. But being a half-empty guy by nature, now I’m waiting for the other Hoka to hit the floor. Until later …