A Grip on Sports: September’s last gasp, and its final day, has an deep-into-October feel to it, doesn’t it?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s not October. Not just yet. But it seems as if the month of fall foliage, ghosts and goblins is starting a day early. And not just because this last day of September will not hit 70 degrees in Spokane. Nope. It’s baseball time. Playoff baseball time. Wild, huh?

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• It should be. It’s Wild Card Week. Or Wild Card Three Days, to be precise. Maybe even Wild Card Two Days, if four teams sweep.

That last one would be Disney’s latest nightmare scenario, as the Mouse Ears have paid many dollars to MLB to fill the gaps in ESPN’s – and to a much-lesser degree, ABC’s – daily schedule.

The gap stuffers begin this rainy Tuesday morning. With the one game the region is interested in. Sixth-seed Detroit at third-seed Cleveland. A 10:08 a.m. starting time on ESPN. Seattle U’s Tarik Skubal facing Washington State’s (and Lake City High’s) Kyle Manzardo and Oregon State’s Stephan Kwan. Who knew there was so much baseball talent in the Northwest?

Anyone who has been paying attention, actually.

But the local boys are not the main reason to tune it. More like whipped cream on your milkshake. A “who-will-the-M’s-face-in-the-Division-Series?” shake.

Yep, Seattle’s bye will end Saturday, as the second seed in the American League will host (fill in the blank with your best guess).

Recent performance would favor the Guardians. By a lot. A 20-7 record in the month that ends today lifted Cleveland from 10 games back of Detroit in the Central to the title. That included a Mariner-like 15 wins in 16 games. Two of three in the last week over the Tigers. A last-day walk-off hit-by-pitch against the Rangers that won the Central (and, in a circumstance that made me smile, eliminate the Astros from the postseason).

So M’s fans should root for the Tigers? Well, sure. If you have Dory’s memory. Wasn’t it just two years ago the Rangers collapsed down the stretch, lost three of four in a season-ending series at Seattle and the A.L. West to Houston? Yes it was. And what happened to the 2023 Rangers? They traveled across the country, swept the Rays, did the same to Baltimore, topped the Astros and won the Series over the Diamondbacks.

Momentum in baseball is fickle, isn’t it?

So be careful who you choose to root for the next three days. Whoever emerges will give the M’s a test. Root for three extra-inning games that tap out the winner’s bullpen. That’s the best scenario. And then say a few prays for Brian Woo’s right elbow.

• But baseball isn’t America’s top sport anymore, is it? Still its pastime, sure. Not the favorite. That would be the NFL. Lucky for those of us that live in this corner of the country, the NFL franchise is playing well. Real well.

Which of course means Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers will be a fiasco.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield, Mr. Grit. A 3-1 team – as is Seattle – coming off a near-comeback against the defending league champs. In Philly.

Besides, thanks to the M’s success, the Seahawks may have to make a game-time switch. Which, thanks to the M’s, might just be a good thing.

What’s that again? Yep, playing at a weird time may just be what Mike Macdonald’s team needs this week. Make the Lumen Field home game feel more like a road contest. After all, in the 21 games the Hawks have played for Macdonald, they are 4-7 at home and 9-1 on the road.

Pretty weird, huh? Lumen Field was once the most-intimidating place to play in the league. Not anymore. You can blame Seattle’s recent blasé attitude about the Hawks. Or the growth of safe places to re-sell tickets. Or whatever you want. But the fact remains a team that seems to coalesce on the road has fallen apart way too often at home. Including the season opener against the 49ers, in which it found a way to misplay two late passes and choked on defeat’s bile once again.

A weird starting time? An off-kilter home pregame schedule? Tough traffic for the fans? Fine. Bring it on. Call it a quasi-road game if you wish. And hope the Hawks do what Macdonald’s team has done on the road all but once. Win.

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WSU: With the Cougars’ first bye this weekend, we start with a look around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation. Where Jon Wilner ranks the Big 12 and Big Ten teams in the Mercury News. … Or where John Canzano answers some questions in his weekly mailbag. … Congress is moving forward on a couple bills concerning college athletics. … This week’s schedule doesn’t include an Oregon game. The second-ranked Ducks have a bye before hosting No. 8 Indiana. … Utah State also has a bye but that didn’t keep coach Bronco Mendenhall from opining about nonconference schedules. … Arizona State is off this week, as the Sun Devils prepare for even more challenges ahead. … Here is the schedule for (current, old and future) Pac-12 teams this week, listed chronologically. All games this week are on Saturday unless noted. The schedule below also includes any game in which mining news about turned out to be nearly impossible.

– Colorado State at San Diego State (Friday, 7:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network): The Rams will have a new play caller the week after the WSU debacle. Matt Mumme, whose dad Hal invented the Air Raid with Mike Leach, will take over from head coach Jay Norvell. … Will the Aztecs’ fans turn out for their 3-1 team?

– Oklahoma State at Arizona (noon, TNT): The Wildcats learned some much needed lessons in the Iowa State loss.

– No. 7 Penn State at UCLA (12:30 p.m., CBS): It looks as if the winless Bruins not only will be in for a beatdown, but that many players who might just redshirt to save eligibility will play.  

– Boise State at No. 21 Notre Dame (12:30, NBC): After we pass along Spencer Danielson’s thoughts on playing the Irish in South Bend, we want to call attention to the Mountain West’s defensive player of the week. That would be sophomore Boen Phelps, from Freeman High. And one of our former basketball players.

– Washington at Maryland (12:30, Big Ten Network): The Huskies will have to bounce back from their first loss in a game in which they hoped to impress the world.

– Oregon State at App State (12:30, ESPN+): The Beavers are 0-5 and there are calls for Trent Bray to make staff changes. He says he won’t. But will OSU win after its long plane ride?

– Texas State at Arkansas State (1, ESPNU)

– Colorado at TCU (4:30, Fox): Deion Sanders believes the Buffaloes’ cornerbacks have to play better. He should know.

– Duke at California (7:30, ESPN): The Golden Bears are an underdog. That might be a good thing.

– Nevada at Fresno State (7:30, CBS Sports Network): The Wolf Pack are struggling going into their conference opener.  

Gonzaga: Sports Illustrated has the Bulldogs ranked 24th entering the season. That’s a lot lower than most.

Idaho: The Layne brother who played quarterback, Jack, took New Mexico’s NIL offer and moved on with coach Jason Eck. The brother who played linebacker, Dylan, stayed in Moscow. Who is Peter Harriman’s story today focused upon? Dylan, of course. He’s having a special season. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, we can pass along a conference-wide notebook from the Missoulian. … Montana State, ranked fifth, expects a tough test from No. 13 Northern Arizona. … No. 7 UC Davis and Cal Poly face off this weekend in a all-California battle. … Southern Utah has played a tough schedule and has suffered some tough losses.

Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Monday’s slowpitch and soccer action around the GSL.

Chiefs: Dave has another fall and winter beat. That would be the local WHL team. He has a notebook today in the S-R. It includes a mention of Berkly Catton. … We can add some happy/sad news to Dave’s report for Chiefs fans. And we do so in the Kraken section below.

Seahawks: Bob Condotta makes a case for the Hawks being the best team in the NFC West right now (though others disagree). And for the West to be the NFL’s best division. … We asked this question yesterday. Could the Hawks send Riq Woolen packing? We have more thoughts today from The Athletic’s Michael Shawn-Dugar. … Macdonald doesn’t care much if the kickoff times for Sunday’s game at Lumen Field has to be adjusted due to M’s playoff games across the street at T-Mobile. In fact, he’s happy for the Mariners.

Kraken: Catton made a good case last night for staying with Seattle to start the season. The Kraken did lose the preseason game to Calgary though.  

Mariners: Julio Rodriguez’s track record of slow starts always cause a bit of grumbling among the M’s faithful, something even his exceptional second halves don’t seem to wash away. As Adam Jude tells us, that’s too bad. Rodriguez is special and his overall stats prove it. … We passed along this Ryan Divish story yesterday when it ran in the Times. It is on the S-R site today. … Who will win the Wild Card series? The Athletic predictions, which we shared yesterday, are also on the S-R site. …Today we pass along the prediction the Mariners will face Philadelphia in the World Series. …Cal Raleigh may not win the A.L. MVP award but he can shine in October.

Storm: Why is the WNBA’s poor officiating a huge problem? Multiple reasons but here is one from Monday. The league announced its All-Rookie team – Seattle’s Dominique Malonga was among the selections – and we could not find a story on any national news site. We did, however, find a lot of them on the league’s inability to put competent officials on the floor during the playoffs.

Bloomsday: The S-R is doing a series of stories on the folks who have run all 49 of the previous races. Fittingly, Nina Culver started with Sylvia Quinn, not only the oldest of the group but also the one with the deepest connections, having served as the race director. And the one we know the best, as her daughter Molly once worked in the graphics department we supervised.

Ryder Cup: Hall of Famer Tom Watson has had enough. He spoke out yesterday concerning the boorish behavior of the New York fans. … The Washington Post column on the U.S. team’s poor start is on the S-R site this morning.

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• I have a long to-do list today. But thanks to the overnight rain, I may just be able to put it off until the afternoon. Which allows some time to settle in and watch the Tigers take back home field against Cleveland. And, yes, that’s a prediction. Until later …