A Grip on Sports: With all the rain headed our way, why not spend the weekend enjoying the fruits of your cable bill?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Friday. Time to look ahead to the weekend. With rain in the forecast for most of it, for many of us that means hunkering down and allow the big rectangle in the TV room to entertain us. Football, basketball, soccer, whatever. What have you got, oh magical box of light?

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• Finding out, for sure, was a bit more difficult today. My usually reliable schedule was unavailable this morning, so mining other sources was required. You know what I found? It’s more of the same. The usual late-November fare: A lot of great options – and an occasional turkey.

With basically only two weeks left in the FBS’ regular season, there are bound to be at least a couple of great games. As everyone in the nation expected back in August, the best one is in Columbus, Ohio. The second-ranked Buckeyes of The Ohio State University hosting, checks schedule, fifth-ranked Indiana. Really? OK, no one had that during the summer. And, once again, we are reminded why college football is so great.

And why all the doom and gloom about transfer windows and endorsement money is so misplaced. Except when an exodus happens to the school you’ve supported since the cradle. If your school is, say, Indiana, and the new coach brings in a bunch of transfers from his old school, kindling something that hasn’t been seen since, say, the hippie days of the 1960s, then it’s really cool.

That’s also the story written in Bloomington. Does it end Saturday at 9 a.m. on Fox? Probably. But here’s hoping it doesn’t. If the football gods could give us one thing this weekend, could they please give us a Hoosier win? Run the picket fence Curt Cignetti and make us all proud.

Indiana’s dream of a playoff berth is still alive today. Washington State’s? Nope. They expired late last Saturday night in the oxygen-deprived altitude of Albuquerque. A crushing late loss to New Mexico.

Will that loss carryover? Maybe. At least the Cougars have a rivalry game – of sorts – to help them bounce back. However, they are on another road trip. This one to Corvallis. The Pac-12’s only showdown. WSU, with its glossy 8-2 record, is favored by 12.5 points over the 4-6 Beavers, losers of five consecutive games (4 p.m, The CW Network). A lock, right? Well, the Cougars were favored by 10.5 points last week. Just saying.

Those two games cover most of your day. The night? Can I suggest a real rivalry game, one that’s meant something from before the time of freeways and traffic jams? USC and UCLA. The Rose Bowl. The Battle for the Dented Fender (7:30 p.m., NBC). At least, that’s what the trophy should be. The winning team gets to take home a banged-up piece of a 1996 Ford Taurus. Such a trophy not only would symbolize the freeways that tie the schools together but also the busted-up nature of each’s season. Neither come in ranked. Neither are bowl-eligible yet. Neither fanbases like each other much. Or attend many games but this one.

There are other games, sure. Like sixth-ranked Notre Dame hosting No. 19 Army (4 p.m., NBC) in a game that hasn’t mattered this much since athletes had cool nicknames like Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside. The loser gets a thanks-for-playing certificate instead of a CFP berth.

Same for No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State (12:30, ESPN). And while the entire nation’s eyes are on Columbus, unranked Florida will be destroying No. 9 Ole Miss’ playoff chances in the Swamp (9 a.m., ABC).

That about covers the college football schedule for the weekend. How about my favorite, basketball?

The best game is tonight. Duke at Arizona. No. 12 vs. No. 17. A 7:30 tip in raucous McKale Arena. ESPN2. Nearly perfect. Well, other than both teams, expected to be among the nation’s best, have already suffered a defeat in an intersectional matchup – Arizona at Wisconsin, Duke to Kentucky in one of those neutral-site games that are all the rage.

Other games worth watching this weekend include today’s matchup between No. 13 Baylor and No. 11 Tennessee (3:30 p.m, CBS Sports Network) and … well, that’s about it for battles between ranked teams. At least for now. There are some tournaments that may bring us more, but they are of the TBD variety.

Nothing TBD about the NFL. Unless you are referring to whether the 5-5 Seahawks are actual NFC West contenders. That question should be answered in greater detail Sunday, starting at 1:25 p.m. That’s when current division leader Arizona – ya, you read that right – visits Lumen Field. The game is on Fox.

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WSU: If you love offense, then this Cougar team is for you. Even if only 3,854 folks wandered down to the Spokane Memorial Arena last night to watch. The 5-1 Cougars scored 96 points and walloped Eastern Washington by, well, only 15. But it was entertaining. As one might have expected. David Riley’s Eastern teams were always productive and many of his better players have joined him in Pullman. Including Cedric Coward who came close to a triple-double with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Dan Thompson was in the Arena and has the game story. … He also has a story on a future Cougar who is another former Eagle, Casey Jones. He’ll suit up for Riley and WSU after he finishes his LDS mission. In a couple years. … Colin Mulvany has been shooting a lot of basketball these days. He has the photo gallery. … Can’t forget the football game. Greg Woods asks, and tries to answer, a question. How can the 25th-ranked Cougars get better play from its secondary? … We can pass along previews of the game from Corvallis and Portland. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Jon Wilner takes a look at the weekend TV slate and explains how the Big 12 was handed a TV victory recently. … Wilner and John Canzano also have their picks for games. There are other picks to pass along, including some oddly specific ones. … Ohio State fans don’t like the Big Noon games on Fox. In person. Too hard to tailgate beforehand. But the school, as well as Michigan, don’t want to play night games either. And they get their way, which came as a surprise to NBC. … Washington has a bye this week. But a bowl game in its future. … Colorado will need a quarterback for the future. It may have found just the right guy – if he doesn’t change his mind again. And the Buffs will have to replace Heisman candidate Travis Hunter, who is headed to the NFL. For now, though, the focus is on Saturday’s game at Kansas. … Expect Utah to shop heavily in the transfer portal. … If Arizona State wins its final two games, it will play for a CFP berth in the Big 12 championship game. … The Battle for Los Angeles isn’t as catchy as my suggestion above. But that’s what USC and UCLA are fighting for. That and bowl eligibility. Is that enough, especially for the Trojan faithful? … Arizona is trying for the same goal as it travels to TCU. … In the Mountain West, all San Jose State would like to do tonight? Spoil UNLV’s conference title hopes. … Colorado State holds all the cards, though, and hopes to go all in against host Fresno State on Saturday. … Wyoming hopes to knock off Boise State and spoil the Broncos’ CFP chances (a loss in Laramie would do that). …The Hawaii Board of Regents reaffirmed the firing of the athletic director. … The San Diego State offensive line toughs out a tough season. … One Utah State defender has stood tall all season. … An Air Force player returned from injury faster than thought possible. … The debacle that is the San Jose State women’s volleyball team’s season continues. The Washington Post delves into the situation, which might become an even bigger deal today if a Colorado judge decides to force the Spartans out of the conference postseason tournament. … In basketball news, Oregon rallied in the second half, topped host Oregon State 78-75 and handed the Beavers their first loss of the season.

Gonzaga: Lisa Fortier knew Rice was bringing a solid team into the Kennel on Thursday night. How good? Four starters returned from an American Athletic Conference title-winning team. But more importantly, four starters from a team that gave the 32-4 Zags a battle in Houston last season. How would her least experienced squad respond? Pretty well, thank you, especially in the final minutes. The Zags outscored Rice 11-5 down the stretch for a 72-69 win. Greg Lee was there and he has the coverage. … Having a teammate at practice, or teammates, that push you is always a good thing. Jim Meehan shares one such circumstance at GU, with Graham Ike and Braden Huff doing it every day. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the USF men lost to Memphis 68-64.

EWU: If you are wondering if the Eagles’ third-consecutive losing season – this one 4-7 – puts football coach Aaron Best on shaky footing, the answer seems to be no. Athletic director Tim Collins gave Best his support in a conversation with Dan Thompson. That’s part of Dan’s look at Saturday’s road game at Northern Arizona that will end Eastern’s season. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, I guess I could have included the Montana State vs. Montana game in the TV highlights. It is an exceptional rivalry. …  Cal Poly will try to finish on an up note against Weber State. … Sacramento State is trying to spoil UC Davis’ exceptional season. … In basketball news, the Montana women won for the first time on the road. … Idaho State won at home. … Northern Arizona defeated Arizona on Wednesday night.

Idaho: Jack Layne hasn’t started a dozen football games for Idaho at quarterback. But he will make his third consecutive one against Idaho State on Saturday. How’s that possible? Peter Harriman explains in this preview.

Whitworth: Instead of winning a second consecutive Northwest Conference football title last Saturday, the Pirates fell 34-7 to Linfield at home. That loss didn’t cost them a NCAA Division III playoff berth but it did rob Whitworth of a bye to open the postseason. Instead, it hosts Pomona-Pitzer in a first-round game Saturday. Greg previews the contest, which starts at noon in the Pine Bowl.

Preps: The 3A soccer semifinals are this weekend, with Mt. Spokane playing in them for the first time in more than a decade. Samantha DiMaio has this preview, which includes a nice vignette about U-Hi’s helping hands.

Mariners: The future of M’s broadcasts is murky. But in 2025 at least the games will still be on Root. … It’s sort of odd to me. My entire life I could answer a trivia question with one answer. Ask me who has won MVP awards in both leagues and I would respond quickly with Frank Robinson’s name. He’s the only one, winning with the Reds and Orioles. Now there are two. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous choice in the National League, after winning two MVPs with the Angels. … Aaron Judge won the award in the American League, joining Mickey Mantle (1956) as the only Yankees to win the award unanimously.

Seahawks: The power is still out around the Puget Sound. And those outages include the Hawks’ training facility. Someone had the foresight to secure generators to keep the place humming. … Jaxson Smith-Njigba is playing like a No. 1 receiver. That makes the Hawks’ passing attack better. … The Legion of Boom continues to inspire another generation of Seattle players.

Kraken: Creating its own television network is paying off for Seattle.

Sounders: Soccer is kind of odd in one way. Pro players have to take breaks to play for their national teams. In the MLS, a league that doesn’t respect all of the international windows, that means playoff teams don’t get to practice with their full squad occasionally. Such was the case for Seattle in its runup to Saturday night’s Western Conference semifinal match at LAFC (7:30, Apple TV). … It is possible Spokane could host a World Cup team for the 2026 competition. Garrett Cabeza explains the process and the possibility it could happen.

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• I don’t watch Around the Horn. Not my thing. But you might. And this news might bother you. Until later …