A Grip on Sports: Who will win today? No one can say for sure but that doesn’t stop every one from giving their opinion, even us

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The preliminaries are over. Kind of. Sort of. But in a few hours they will be. All that will matter is what happens on the field in Santa Clara. As it should be.

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• You know, this season has been a Cinderella story for the Seahawks. Kind of. Sort of. They have come out of nowhere, the football equivalent of a former groundskeeper about to become Masters champion. Two years ago the franchise seemed dead. And here it is, 760 days after Pete Carroll was kicked to the curb, and the Hawks are about as close to total consciousness, in the football sense, as anyone can be. So they have that going for them. Which is nice.

But will it be enough?

No one knows for sure. It’s possible to see a path to victory for the Hawks. And for New England. The 60-minute journey, which seems to take a lifetime, could play out in so many ways. Just trying to decipher them is akin to Doctor Strange trying to figure out a way to defeat Thanos. At least Mike Macdonald, the offensive line and the Dark Side – not sure if I like that nickname at all – have more than one scenario that leads to victory in Super Bowl XL (3:30 p.m., NBC).

But as far as I can tell, every one of them runs through one guy.

Sam Darnold. The oft-maligned quarterback whose redemption story’s final chapter should be published about 8 p.m. tonight.

All week I have searched the Web looking for Darnold stories. Passed them along in this space. For one reason. He’s the Hawks’ crucial Infinity Stone. Kind of. Sort of.

It is football, after all. Every piece fits together. But for the Seahawks to survive the gauntlet today, they have to take care of the ball. And if this season has taught us anything, Darnold’s decision-making is key to that. Take care of the ball and the Hawks win. Give it away, well, when your record is 16-3, you still win sometimes. But it certainly is harder. And more stressful.

New England’s offense, led by NFL MVP runner-up Drake Maye, is solid. But not as good as, say, the Rams’. But the L.A. film has been out there for a while – Sean McVay’s offense scored 64 points in the last two meetings with Seattle – for all to see. And to imitate. Kind of. Sort of.

The Hawk brain trust has broken it down as well. Hopefully, in the past two weeks they have figured out how to patch any holes it may have revealed. And the Pats will have trouble marching the length of the field and finding the end zone.

If that scenario plays out, and it seems the most likely out of the 14,000,065 available, then all the offense needs to do is take care of the ball.

It sounds easy. It isn’t. But it certainly seems necessary.

Darnold can’t throw it to the guys in the white jerseys. Kenneth Walker III can’t let it hit the ground. Jaxson Smith-Njigba can’t fight for the extra yard and lose it. AJ Barner can’t bobble a Barnyard snap.

Take care of the ball. Treat it like your most-important loved one. Keep it safe. And take home a second Lombardi Trophy.

• Does it happen? Why are you asking me? I don’t know any more than Carl Spackler knew how to kill a darn gopher. Everyone’s picks always blow up the Interweb on Super Bowl morning, but it’s the vanity of mankind, thinking it’s possible to predict the future, that keeps sports books raking in millions.

We’ll take a shot, of course. Predict the final score. Be wrong. And blame it on someone else. Isn’t that the way it’s done? I’ll pass on that last part. Admit up front to lacking Biff Tannen’s inside knowledge of the future. And pick a final score of 27-16. Who wins? You know, right? Kind of. Sort of.

• One last note. A few names for you.

Jalen Hurts. Nick Foles. Joe Flacco. Brad Johnson. Trent Dilfer. You don’t have to have an all-time great quarterback to win a Super Bowl. All you need is one that does their job in the biggest game of their career.

That may just be Darnold today.

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WSU: The Cougar men had their shots. Made a lot of them, actually. But so did Santa Clara. The WCC-leading Broncos made just enough more to earn a 96-92 victory in Pullman on Saturday. Peter Harriman has the coverage. … The women were in Malibu, where the weather might have been better but the result was even worse. Pepperdine picked up a 78-62 victory. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, it’s been a good weekend thus far for North Carolina and others. … The Washington men had a chance. But squandered it against UCLA on the road. … Speaking of chances, Oregon had a great one at 12th-ranked Purdue but couldn’t get over the hump. … California lost to No. 20 Clemson. … Stanford snapped its five-game losing streak. … Colorado got a much-needed win. Arizona State suffered another tough loss. … Utah State barely got past Wyoming on the road. … USC is dealing with more injuries. … Top-ranked Arizona flattened visiting Oklahoma State, 84-47. … Boise State won in its last trip to New Mexico. … San Diego State won its last game against Air Force. … Colorado State earned a needed win over San Jose State. … The Oregon women face Ohio State today.

• In football news, Jon Wilner offers his formula for fixing the college scheduling issues. Is anyone listening? … John Canzano tells us it seems as if North Dakota State is listening to the Mountain West’s offer. … Fresno State has no idea who its starting quarterback will be.

Gonzaga: Graham Ike was overpowering. Man, zone, whatever. It didn’t matter. Ike rolled over the Oregon State defense like a steamroller again and again, en route to a career-high 35 points in the Zags’ much-needed 81-61 victory in Corvallis. Theo Lawson has all the particulars in his game analysis. He also worked with the folks in the office on the recap with highlights. … One more story from Theo. He updated Braden Huff’s status. Actually, he asked. There is really no update. … Jim Meehan has his three takeaways from the win. … Tyler Tjomsland again has his photo gallery though once again the link is not working. At least for me. Maybe it will for you. … The women had little trouble with visiting Pacific on Saturday afternoon. They breezed to a 72-44 win that propelled them, along with Portland’s win over Oregon State, back alone atop the WCC standings. Greg Lee covers all that in this story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Portland handed Seattle University’s men another loss.

EWU: Efton Chism III is a rookie receiver with the Patriots. And he’s playing in the Super Bowl. Greg Woods caught up with him in the Bay Area for this story. … The Eagle men are on a roll as well. They finished a sweep of the Montana schools on the road last night, topping Montana State 72-71 in Bozeman. … The women fell to visiting Montana State. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State alum Rashid Shaheed hopes to give the Seahawks a boost with his speed. … The Idaho State women continued their roll, topping Northern Colorado in Greeley. … The Weber State men figured out a way past Northern Arizona. … Idaho State lost again at home. … Portland State remained atop the standings with a one-point win at Sacramento State.

Idaho: The Vandal women are atop the conference standings after their 89-65 win over visiting Montana. … The men lost for the fourth time in five games, the latest in Missoula, 73-68. The Griz put together a 19-0 run at one point.

Preps: Mead’s wrestling team put on a show at the District 6 meet Saturday. Madison McCord was there and he has this coverage. … There were District playoff games in the B ranks Saturday. We can pass along a roundup.

Chiefs: Spokane recovered from a bad loss in Vancouver to post a 4-1 win at Wenatchee on Saturday. Dave Nichols has the coverage.

Olympics: Lindsey Vonn crashed just seconds into her downhill run today and was airlifted to a hospital. American Breezy Johnson won the gold medal.

Seahawks: As one could expect, there are plenty of stories this morning. The S-R had a special Super Bowl section, highlighted by a trio of Dave Boling columns. Let’s start with the one on Cooper Kupp, who is in the twilight of his illustrative football career. … It is appropriate the Hawks won their only Super Bowl 12 years ago. Because the late Paul Allen dedicated it to the 12s. Dave was there and has his thoughts on Allen’s ownership and the next owner’s must-have focus. … And Dave has a pick. It is, well, you have to read his column. … Local “celebrities” make their picks in this S-R story. … The ranking of the Super Bowl winners? We can pass that along. As well as a look at shared opponents for this year’s participants, Macdonald’s opportunity, key matchups, and more other stories than you will ever have time to read.

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• Two things. Yes, I believe the most plausible outcome is the Seahawks win today. Not betting the house on it, though. Never bet anything, actually. … The other note? Happy birthday Kent. I can’t believe you are 70. What were we, 13 when we met that first day of high school? Well, I was. You were already 14. Wow. That was a long time ago. Until later …