A Grip on Sports: As Bay Area schools beg the ACC for a landing spot, WSU and OSU are left with fewer options

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The weekend is coming. By then we may know more about a couple subjects. Not if Wednesday’s Mariner loss was the season tipping point – either way – but Washington State’s future conference home? That could be on its way to being decided.

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• Funny thing for the poor Cougars. They don’t seem to have much choice in the matter. Less, even, than the folks in Berkeley, who are just along for the ride with archrival Stanford. That has to hurt, right?

But if the two Bay Area schools, along with always-orphaned SMU, find a way to latch on to membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference, nothing will hurt more than what WSU and Oregon State will suffer.

Of course, the ignominy of being the two left to turn out the lights on the Pacific Coast’s premier conference might be assuaged by a few million dollars in parting gifts, but still. And, heh, maybe Kirk Schulz can team with the Beavers and resurrect the Pac-8 (or 10 or 12) in some way. If that happens, give the man a Nobel Prize. He will have earned it more than any physics prof at Cal ever did.

Let’s recap, though everyone here knows particulars as the Pac-12 fell apart in the past 14 months. Since the defections of the mountain and richer Northwest schools a couple weeks ago, the final four have been trying to find landing spots. Together? No, not really. Stanford, a school with more than a billion dollars in endowment funds, isn’t about to go out of its way to help “State” schools in the wilderness (anything north of Napa is wilderness to Cardinal fans). The only reason Cal is along for the ride is geographic.

Don’t big media bucks matter? Not as much to Stanford. Did we mention the school’s endowment? California? Sure, but beggars and choosing and all that. (As an aside, SMU has boosters with way too much cash, too, so it can offer its services for free as well.)

The ACC, despite being on the other coast – hence, the name – seems to be biting – as long as the trio is happy with a greatly reduced share of conference payouts. That would allow grumpy Clemson and Florida State to be bought off with whatever financial bump the additions would bring to the conference coffers. Got it?

If not, just remember this one word. Money. In college sports, it’s all that matters. Heck, you could even drop “sports” and it would still be true.

• There have been reports the ACC may just offer a landing spot for Stanford and Cal’s football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs. The rest would have to fend for themselves in the California’s crowded ecosystem. That’s not a problem for the Cardinal. Their teams can play, and dominate, anywhere. The Bears? Maybe the administration, which already dropped baseball and a couple other sports not that long ago, only to bring them back when boosters ponied up a few bucks, might use the change to streamline the books. Drop a few costly programs and use the money to help pay the debt on the stadium remodel. The accountants would love that.

• Where does that leave Washington State? Adrift, mainly. The Cougars and Beavers could have some short-term money to play with in NCAA basketball payouts and the like, but no home.

There were reports Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez was in Pullman yesterday. Maybe there can be a way found to fold the Mountain West schools into the Pac-2, keep the Pac name (and trademarks) alive and position the schools as the deepest secondary conference available for the next round of realignment.

Who knows, when the next Black Friday comes, some of the western schools who crossed the Rockies to play, will want to be home. It may not be as part of a Super League, but it would make a lot more geographic sense. And might even be worth a few bucks to some streaming service. Maybe even the by-then Apple subsidiary, ESPN+. How about $25-to-$28 million a year, with a chance at really big money if enough subscribers are found?

No one with their student/athletes’ interests at heart would turn down that deal, right?

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WSU: We linked above Greg Woods’ story on Wednesday’s developments and we do so again here. But, remember, everything changes quickly, seemingly, after moving slowly for so long. … Greg also has this story on the six Cougars named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list. … Volleyball is one of the more successful sports at Washington State. And that should continue this season even if it is the final one in the Pac-12. Jim Meehan looks at Jen Greeny’s squad today. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, the two left-out Northwest schools aren’t giving up, as John Canzano passes along. … Jon Wilner in the Mercury News today looks at the quarterback depth charts at the conference’s schools. … Chris Petersen has thoughts on Washington’s next AD. He just doesn’t want the job. … Bo Nix may not be bodacious, but the Oregon quarterback’s billboards are. … As happens so often in college, once rivals are now teammates at Oregon State. … Every school would like to have an electric running back. … Utah know who Florida is starting at quarterback in the opener. Does that help the Utes? … California has a defensive lineman returning who has missed almost three years. … As we passed along yesterday, former USC star Reggie Bush did file a lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday. He wants his good name back. And his Heisman as well. … How did Jaden Rashada win the Arizona State starting quarterback spot? … In basketball news, it will be a long season, literally, for Arizona thanks to its overseas trip. … Oregon picked up another late transfer.

Idaho: Landon Tatum was a good player at UI. And his folks always thought he would be a good coach, too. Listen to your parents, kids. Theo Lawson has this story about Tatum, who is now coaching in the NBA. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana has sold more football season tickets than ever before. … Montana State has a new look in the secondary. … One Northern Colorado player is ready for his break-out season.

Indians: Spokane found a way to defeat league-leading Vancouver. Throw a no-hitter. Dave Nichols has the coverage of the 4-0 win north of the border.

Mariners: The video of J.P. Crawford’s 10th-inning throw hitting Tim Anderson in the back, and Anderson scampering home with the White Sox’s winning run, made all the highlight reels yesterday. But the 5-4 defeat actually was ensured in the bottom of the ninth. Andres Munoz, still trying to learn the closer role, couldn’t shut it down with a one-run lead. And that led to the end of the M’s eight-game winning streak. … The newest reliever in the M’s bullpen, Luke Weaver, showed off a hard cutter in his debut. … Lazaro Montez is carrying a lot of expectations as a Seattle prospect. … The biggest baseball news broke late last night. Shohei Ohtani has a torn UCL and will need Tommy John surgery again. An expensive medical bill for him, as he’s a free agent after the season.

Seahawks: Kenneth Walker III was back in pads and going hard Wednesday. … Free agent rookie receiver Jake Bobo is going to be hard to cut.

Kraken: How well Andre Burakovsky rebounds from his season-ending injury may decide how well Seattle does this season.

Storm: A bad season can have a silver lining. In Seattle’s case it is the rookies getting a chance to play. A lot.

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• The blown save and blown throw could be the moment we look back upon as the back-breaker in the M’s failed postseason run. Or maybe it’s the blip that incites another long winning streak. With the Royals and A’s coming to T-Mobile starting Friday, it better be the latter. Until later …