A Grip on Sports: You’ll have to stay up late or get up early to find out if the U.S. women move on in the World Cup

A GRIP ON SPORTS • By this time tomorrow, we will know the answer. Will the United States women, the favorite to three-peat as the World Cup began, advance from the group stage into the knockout rounds? The task is simple. Win and move on.

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• The women are favored over Portugal in a match you can only watch if you are willing to stay up until the wee hours of Tuesday morning (it kicks at midnight PDT on Fox 28). But not as heavy a favorite, it seems, as angst over the result in today’s discussion.

The U.S. team has become so dominant – back-to-back World Cup victories does that sort of thing – they were expected to waltz through the only group in the tournament featuring two teams ranked in FIFA’s top 10 worldwide. That expectation was built during the lead-up to the Cup, despite this group being a transitional one in many regards. Out with the old(er players) and in with the new(er stars), so to speak.

The expected dominance hasn’t materialized. At least in the eyes of the talking heads who trot out on ESPN and the like every couple years or so. Is it fair? No. And it ignores a basic truth. Women’s soccer around the world has, thanks to an example set by the U.S. and a couple other nations, improved mightily in the eight years since the United States won its 2015 title.

That improvement, and the expansion of the World Cup to 32 teams, means tighter matches, better competition and more hope for the underdogs. Besides, soccer is a tough game designed for tight results. That close matches are happening should not be surprising.

And yet, the U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world by FIFA, earned a 3-0 victory over Vietnam and rallied for a 1-1 draw against 2019 runner-up Netherlands. Now Portugal, one of those countries that have improved mightily in the past decade and made the tournament for the first time, awaits.

If the U.S. wins, it moves through to the knockout stage (or, to put it in context many American sports fans need, an NCAA-tourney like bracket). A draw and the U.S. will finish second in the group, still move through and more than likely play Sweden – ranked third in the world – this weekend. A loss? Pack your bags. And spend the next four years trying to explain it.

Which makes the goal for Tuesday’s early morning match pretty simple. Win. And win by as many goals as possible, hoping already eliminated Vietnam can either upset the Netherlands – not likely – or keep it relatively close – possible.

The first tiebreaker that comes into play is goal differential. The U.S. enters today with a two-goal edge on the Dutch. The reward for winning the group is not having to play Sweden. Instead, the opponent will probably be Italy, ranked 13 spots lower by FIFA. 

In other words, there is a lot at stake. Enough to keep you up until after midnight on a work night?

• Coffee is part of our plan. A nap too. A light dinner, so as to not get too groggy. Then snacks. Maybe a chocolate treat, mixing its caffeine with Dunkin’s.

All that being said, falling asleep is still a 1.5 goal favorite over staying awake. And you can get odds we’ll be out by halftime.

• The Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday will be more than a billion dollars. Or, if you want the money in cash up front, “only” $527.9 million (equal to the approximate free-agent contract Shohei Ohtani will sign this offseason).

What would you do with that type of money?

We thought about that a bit over the weekend. One thought we had concerns golf. How about if we used the money, or at least part of it, to build a Gozzer Ranch-like golf course somewhere in the region and make it open to the public? A beautiful, challenging track with exceptional views, great practice area, well-stocked and reasonably priced snack shacks, all available for any golfer with a USGA handicap. (The handicap? To help grow the game at public courses, the easiest place to get one.) And peg the price to that of, say, Spokane County courses.

Would you want to play a Pebble Beach-caliber course if you could afford it? Me too.

Then again, the $500 million would probably buy us at least a large piece of a tropical island somewhere. There’s always that.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, why have the changes to college football occurred? Greed and ambition. … How much do you want to know about Oregon’s early season opponents? Well, here you go. Something on Portland State, Texas Tech, Hawaii and Colorado, all courtesy of the Oregonian. And then there are position previews of tight ends, running backs and quarterbacks. … The breakout offensive player for Oregon State will be, well, you will have to read about it. … You know why we aren’t that high on Colorado? The offensive line is in flux. … Yes, Utah is the defending champs. But it has to answer some questions in preseason camp just like everyone. … Bill McGovern died last year but before he did, the UCLA defensive coordinator was able to bring the Bruins and USC together to fight cancer. … Arizona will be as good as its defense.

Idaho: No matter what happens this football season for the Vandals, it’s pretty exciting the expectations are high in Moscow. It’s been a while. Colton Clark has some storylines to keep your eyes on as preseason camp unfolds.

Indians: A two-game winning streak? Well, yep, if you call winning two consecutive games a “streak.” Spokane left Eugene on Sunday following its 6-5 extra-inning victory. But, as Dave Nichols tells us, it may have been a Pyrrhic one.

Seahawks: The best part of Sunday’s practice? Geno Smith threw a few touchdowns. And the defense also picked him off a few times. Success for both groups. … The running back group is pretty thin, already hit hard by injuries. … Devon Witherspoon was all over practice Sunday.

World Cup: If the U.S. were to lose, the career of one of the nation’s best players, Megan Rapinoe, would end in a pretty sad way. At 38, Rapinoe isn’t a huge contributor – thus far – for this group. A storybook ending would probably have to include a title and at least one moment of magic for the Reign star. … Others want to contribute as well.

Mariners: We’re starting to believe. A little. Another well-played game resulted in a 4-0 win over the hist Diamondbacks on Sunday and lifted our expectations a smidgen. Great pitching, a quick lead and no mistakes in the field will do that. Then again, the trade news from around the league – why is everyone sending players to the Rangers and the Angels? – has tempered the hopes a bit. … Hometown kid Corbin Carroll showed the M’s what he’s got over the weekend.

Storm: We wondered above whether two consecutive wins constitutes a streak. The answer doesn’t matter to the Storm, who are just happy to have won again. The second was a rout, defeating the host Indiana Fever 85-62 Sunday.

Sounders: An early two-goal lead made the needed three-goal victory seem possible. But that was a mirage as Seattle was eliminated in the Leagues Cup group stage by its 4-2 loss to FC Monterrey.

Golf: Another Spokane-area golf course has downsized. At least the Fairways didn’t disappear. Yes, the name changed. And seven holes are in the process of being turned into houses. But as Jim Meehan tells us in the column, nine remain to play and two are available for practice.

Auto racing: Nick Gibson won the Idaho 200 on Saturday at Stateline Speedway in Post Falls.

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• When we want to be up late at night or early, early in the morning (the U.S. match starts at midnight our time), we sometimes set an alarm. But it doesn’t work as well just taking a late long nap and doing something physical, like a nice walk, in the evening hours after. We can then fool our body into thinking we should be awake. But the darn eyes are too smart for that. They rebel, usually when we least want them to. See you in August …