A Grip on Sports: Is college football’s future so bright we have to wear shades, or is someone just throwing it?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s a college football Saturday. Game Day and all that. Not what you would call a compelling schedule but, with almost every top-25 team in action, a day filled with games. You probably want to get it started, don’t you? Us too.

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• We won’t take a bunch of your time here today. At least digesting our thoughts. And, really, the only things that are front and center today to us are happening on the Front Range. When has the Colorado and Colorado State game seemed so important? To everyone not from Colorado or CSU, we mean?

How important? Both Saturday morning shows, ESPN’s and Fox’s are in Boulder. Sunglasses are sold out in the Denver airport. Even Colorado State coach Jay Norvell probably has a pair on, one that includes a fake nose.

Heck, there’s even a conspiracy theory floating around Norvell and Deion Sanders cooked up a Prime Time marketing opportunity. That Norvell’s comments were aimed at helping Deion sell sunglasses. Machiavelli is spinning in his grave.

Might as well have a made-up hype explosion. The top-25 schedule doesn’t support any. The best game is in East Lansing, Michigan, and it is going to be broadcast on Peacock. No. 8 Washington has a chance to make a statement against a controversy-riddled Michigan State program and there’s a chance more people will watch the competing broadcasts – including Washington State hosting Northern Colorado on the hard-to-access Pac-12 Network. If only because they are clicking through channels. Hard to click through to a streaming service.

As always, we delve into each of today’s Pac-12 games. The teams on upset alert? Cal, for certain, as Idaho’s FCS version, circa 2023, might just be better than just about any of its FBS versions, circa early 21st century. And Arizona, which hosts woeful UTEP. The Wildcats ride with Jayden de Laura, who is capable of throwing four touchdown passes to either team. And Stanford, where Cardinal coach Troy Taylor’s old team, two-time Big Sky defending champion Sacramento State, might be better than his new one.

If you are wondering why we didn’t mention Arizona State being upset by Fresno State, it’s simple. The visiting Bulldogs are favored.

• By the way, it’s too bad No. 6 Ohio State is playing at No. 9 Notre Dame next Saturday. We are pretty sure that game, and atmosphere, will trump the 23nd-ranked Cougars hosting No. 16 Oregon State. At least as far as Game Day is concerned.

In fact, with the possibility of six matchups pitting two top-25 schools (and No. 3 Florida State at currently unranked Clemson), it’s hard to envision the battle for the Pac-2 championship will attract either the pregame shows from either ESPN or Fox.

• The M’s, circa 2023, are confounding. Last night they were frustrating as well. Opportunity knocks often for them. They answer the door only occasionally.

A golden-tinged one was waiting Friday night. But they told the Fed-Ex driver to take the package and go away. They weren’t about to accept the gifts sent by Kansas City, which beat the Astros, and Cleveland, ditto with the Rangers.

Instead, Seattle gifted the Dodgers a 6-3 win and moved them closer to the National League West title.

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WSU: A day game in Pullman? Starting at the Cougars’ preferred time, 2 p.m.? How is that possible in this made-for-TV era? It does exist, however, and mainly because Washington State is hosting Big Sky also-ran Northern Colorado (Pac-12 Networks). The 0-2 Bears are expected to nothing more than a glorified scrimmage opponent for the 23rd-ranked Cougars. Greg Woods believes WSU will roll, tells us the Cougars want to run the ball better and gives us the keys to winning. As per usual. … Speaking of winning, the 11th-ranked Cougar volleyball team is marching through Texas this week. Wazzu stopped in Austin last night and handed a 3-1 defeat on the defending champion Longhorns, ranked sixth this season. … Former WSU baseball star Kyle Manzardo is back playing at Triple-A but that’s not the thrust of this story. The Lake City High grad’s mother, Windy, may need a heart transplant. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner answers questions and passes along a football recruiting summary in the Mercury News. The Cougars’ recruiting strategy is included. … Remember the most interesting man in the world? The Pac-12 is his college football conference offspring.

Today’s Pac-12 games (listed by time)

• Weber State at No. 12 Utah (11 a.m., Pac-12 Network): The Wildcats are a good FC team. The Utes are coming off two big games. It could be closer than expected but Utah should still win in a matchup that Kyle Whittingham thinks will be endangered by realignment. Also, will Cam Rising play?

• San Diego State at No. 16 Oregon State (12:30 p.m., FS1): The Aztecs aren’t the Aztecs of recent history. Neither are the Beavers but we mean the latter in a good way.

• Idaho at California (1, Pac-12 Bay Area): The Bears may be overlooking an FCS opponent. That would be a mistake. The Vandals are good. The big question for the Bears is whether star running back Jaydn Ott is completely healthy. He makes their offense better.

• North Carolina Central at No. 24 UCLA (2, Pac-12 Los Angeles): The Bruins make it a point of pride to host HBCU teams often. One of these days they will get upset. We don’t believe today is that day.

• No. 8 Washington at Michigan State (2, Peacock): There is a lot of outside noise to this one, though it’s not from the Huskies’ camp. Michael Penix Jr. and UW just want to improve their record to 3-0 and get back for conference play. The Spartans are dealing with an off-field mess.

• Hawaii at No. 13 Oregon (5, Pac-12 Network): If this game is still in doubt in the fourth quarter, Duck fans won’t be happy. Nor will Dan Lanning.

• Sacramento State at Stanford (5, Pac-12 Bay Area): The Cardinal are under Taylor but this one may just be a test of their focus. Tougher tests await.

• Colorado State at No. 18 Colorado (7, ESPN): The networks’ hype machines are working overtime. And the game, appropriately enough, is in prime time. But will the Rams be able to keep up? Their only other game was against WSU and they failed miserably in that one.

• Fresno State at Arizona State (7:30, FS1): Last week the Sun Devils had a great first half, then sort of disappeared. They’ll have to put two good ones together to get past the Bulldogs.

• UTEP at Arizona (8, Pac-12 Networks): Former Cougar de Laura has tried to play like Superman in the Wildcats’ first two games. They need Batman. This is a great game to show off the wonderful toys the offense has to work with. But, then again, Pac-12 After Dark is still a thing, right?

Gonzaga: It became official yesterday. This year’s Maui Invitational will be played in Honolulu. In a much-bigger arena. Which means more tickets will be available. Just saying. Jim Meehan has more, including some information on the stellar field. … Cal State Bakersfield is making another trip to Spokane to play GU. Theo Lawson has all the details about this year’s nonconference matchup in this story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, a new USF player has traveled a long way to end up in San Francisco.

EWU: Three weeks into their season, the Eagles finally get to play a home game. Dan Thompson has these three things to watch as Eastern takes un 0-2 (but ranked) Southeastern Louisiana this afternoon. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, this is the last nonconference weekend, with Montana welcoming Division II power Ferris State to Missoula. … Stetson visits Montana State, where there probably be a lot of the namesake hats worn in the Bozeman crowd. … UC Davis plays at home for the first time today, hosting Southern Utah. … Cal Poly welcomes Lincoln to San Luis Obispo. … Northern Arizona has its home opener.

Idaho: We mentioned the Vandals above and delved into the game in the Pac-12 section. We also linked Colton Clark’s three things to watch, but we do it again here if you happened to just skip down to the UI section.

Preps: Like most Fridays, last night was busy. Dave Nichols traveled to Union Stadium where host Mead fell to Ridgeline, 20-17 in an early season 3A showdown. Colin Mulvany also has this photo gallery from the game. … Liam Bradford covered an early 2A showdown as well. West Valley handed Shadle Park its first defeat, handing the visiting Highlanders a 13-7 loss. … We can also pass along this roundup.

Chiefs: Spokane was down in Kennewick last night and defeated Wenatchee 6-3 in a preseason matchup. Dave has that story as well.

Mariners: An opportunity wasted. That’s about it. … Marco Gonzales is awed by being the M’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee.

Seahawks: Seattle is in Detroit tomorrow. Here is what to watch. … The starting offensive tackles won’t play as the Hawks try to bounce back but Devon Witherspoon might. … Evan Brown will play an outsized role for the offensive line.

Sounders: Seattle is back at it, traveling to play FC Dallas today.

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• We ran last week’s format past our highly paid focus group and they were unanimous in their approved. So, it’s back. Tweaked just a hair, but back. Enjoy the football. Until later …