A Grip on Sports: Saturday’s CFP games were disappointing, though that did not stop us from spending way too many hours watching

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Back in the day, the term “veg” was a thing. It meant you spent your time just sitting around, like a crisp carrot or a crunchy piece of celery, all day. I must admit the term was in play Saturday, at least in my house, thanks to a crowded TV sports schedule. Too bad the three College Football Playoff games turned out to be overcooked and limp. And not healthy at all.

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• Pretty disappointing, right? Not a tight game among the four first-round matchups. However, if you bet your lettuce solely on the home teams, you reaped great profits. And, also, good for you.

The non-gamblers? They were losers anyhow. Because excitement was non-existent. Heck, the most interesting aspect of the day was trying to determine what percentage of The Ohio State’s horseshoe was decked out in The Wrong Color. About 40% were wearing orange I would say. Though they didn’t have much to say after about 10 minutes of game time.

Why give the top four teams byes? Expand the darn thing to 16 schools, let the top eight play at home and your quarterfinals will feature the best matchups anyhow. Home field advantage means that much.

• One sort of good thing came out of Saturday. January 1, the Rose Bowl will pit top-seed Oregon vs. way-too-low seed Ohio State in what some will label a “traditional” matchup. A Big Ten power vs. … darn it. Ya, I’m still ticked off the Pac-12 isn’t around, so we’re not going there. But you get the picture.

Sorry, but there is nothing traditional about any of this year’s postseason. Well, one thing. In the most time-honored tradition of college athletics, the NCAA made a change to its calendar and screwed up college football royally. In a weird attempt to re-inject academics – tyring to get new players on new campuses for the spring semester or quarter – into what has turned into a professional enterprise, the organization’s decision makers moved up the transfer portal and ruined our enjoyment of the local team’s bowl game.

It’s not just a Washington State thing, though that’s what matters in the 509. It’s everywhere. The Cougars’ roster disembowelment stands out, that’s all. The same thing is happening to Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas A&M, just to name a few SEC schools that are proving the adage that it – as in jumping ship – just means more in the conference.

• The most-exciting athletic endeavor I watched yesterday? Not the Chiefs’ win over the visiting Texans. It was interesting, sure, if only to see how Kansas City was going to keep it close. The other NFL game was worse, as the Steelers tried to keep it close against Baltimore and failed, killing our interest in that game.

That left college hoops to carry the banner, and two games stood out. No, not Gonzaga’s expected stampeding of the Bucknell Bison. I’m referring, in part, to the Zags’s next opponent, UCLA. The 18th-ranked Bruins built a 16-point lead over North Carolina in New York and gave it all away, losing 76-74 to a not-so-good Tar Heel squad that had lost four of its last six.

But the best game of the day was just up I-95 in Hartford.

The upstart vs. the blue blood. The young star vs. the wise sage. No. 7 USC vs, No. 4 UConn. A crowd of 15,684 screaming. A Fox TV audience doing the same, if only because the network still needs to fine-tune its basketball presentation.

USC’s JuJu Watkins was really good. So was the Huskies’ Paige Bueckers. The Trojans built an early lead and then hung on down the stretch. It was exciting, entertaining and excellent.

• Before we head toward the exit marked “links,” we want to draw your attention to John Canzano’s column this morning. He spoke with Jake Dickert yesterday. Asked the former Washington State coach a lot of questions. Probed about his departure, the past couple years, the Cougars’ future and his in North Carolina.

If you read it, mix in the truth Jacob Thorpe identified in his S-R column this morning – simply put, coaches never speak truthfully about their tenures until they are over, and then rarely even then – and you get a pretty clear picture.

It sure seems as if Washington State’s Regents are ready to downsize the athletic department. Some would say right-size it. Others would term it a decapitation. However you look at it, change has come. And more is coming. Financial adjustments are in the offing. The rising cost of doing business in the world WSU has occupied in the past will be out of the program’s reach in the future.

You can’t argue that Washington State (and Oregon State) were left behind when the old Pac-12 was scavenged for its parts. Now it seems the WSU board that controls the purse strings is contemplating – or has already decided – to force the Cougar football program to compete with fewer resources than its new brethren.

Whomever fills Dickert’s office next will unlock the door knowing this. Good for them. And good luck. They will need it.

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WSU: We linked Jacob’s column above and here as well. … More importantly, to many of you, who will be available to play for the Cougars in this Friday’s Holiday Bowl? Greg Woods tries to make sense of that in this story. … The Cougar men’s basketball team faced Northern Iowa in Las Vegas last night and did everything it needed to do, especially winning 76-68. Greg has that story as well. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the weekend’s four playoff games engendered much in the way of over-reaction (or hot takes if you will). The next round will probably include the same. … There were winners – Texas among them – and losers – Lane Kiffin’s Twitter feed is an example – during the first round. … Washington has a couple guys who stand out, mainly because they finished their entire career with the Huskies. … Oregon defeated Ohio State by one in the first meeting in Eugene. It’s easy to think the Rose Bowl rematch will be different. … Oregon State just keeps rebuilding. … Arizona State will have to handle Texas and its rushing attack in the Peach Bowl. … Boise State will face Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. … The Colorado fans had one more chance to cheer its football heroes at home Saturday. … No one seems to be rebuilding faster than Arizona. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, Colorado State doesn’t have a worry about losing its quarterback to the portal. And it is welcoming back an old running back. … San Diego State is adding to its defensive depth chart. … In basketball news, we kind of ignore the future Pac-12 schools in this part of the links but what the San Diego State men went through Saturday to earn a 71-50 win at California is worth mentioning. Travel issues forced some of the Aztecs’ party to drive to Cal. … No. 10 Oregon showed one thing yesterday. Even with Kyle Smith in charge, even with new conferences, the Ducks own Stanford. … Oregon State is spending the holiday week in Hawaii. … Washington has added an import from France to its recruiting class.

Gonzaga: Christmas looms. So does UCLA on Saturday. The Bulldogs made the crowded week better with a relatively easy 86-65 win over visiting Bucknell at the Kennel last night. Theo Lawson and Jim Meehan were there and they have the game story and buzzer beater, respectively. … Tyler Tjomsland was also there and he has his usual descriptive photo gallery. … The women continued their West Coast Conference opening road trip with a 66-59 win at San Diego. Yvonne Ejim led the way with 29 points and eight rebounds.

EWU: The Eagles rolled over Division II Lincoln of California 107-63 at Reese Court. Dan Thompson used the game story to introduce us better to Andrew Cook, a key part of Eastern’s success. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State is headed to the FCS final game Jan. 6, when the Bobcats will face North Dakota State.

Idaho: Kolton Mitchell scored a career-high 32 points Saturday as the Vandal men shot down Pacific in Stockton 95-72. … The UI women also won at home.

Preps: Besides Samantha DiMaio’s feature story on Mead gymnast Dezlyn Lundquist, we can pass along two roundups from Dave Nichols. The first covers GSL contests, the second the smaller schools in the area.

Seahawks: The home-field advantage seems to have flown out of Lumen Field. Matt Calkins has a way for the Hawks to get it to return home. … Finally winning a game against one of the NFL’s better teams would help. The Vikings present that opportunity this afternoon.

Mariners: This story ran in the Times and we linked it. We also link it today in the S-R. With Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez making the decisions, Seattle will change its hitting focus to a time-honored approach. … Everyone has a Rickey Henderson story. I do too, but it’s second hand, coming from Dave Henderson, who I worked with the first couple years of M’s and A’s fantasy camps in Arizona. It made me laugh, as did most of Dave’s stories. Suffice to say, Rickey was special in his own way. And the greatest base stealer of all time. Dying at 65 seems way too early for one of the most chiseled athletes we’ve ever seen.   

Kraken: Four consecutive losses? Seattle is a streaky team.

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• The next week will be rough for me. I am dog sitting at home. Holding down the fort so everyone can enjoy a Christmas on the road. Three dogs, one of the ancient variety, will be zooming around the homestead – though the old one doesn’t zoom anymore. Anyhow, the mornings will be different, that’s for sure. We’ll keep you abreast of how it’s going and if I need to skip a day here or there – besides Christmas of course. We never write on Christmas. That’s my present for you and yours. Until later …