A Grip on Sports: It’s not spring, but the weather is similar and, like a March Saturday, there is no WSU football game on today

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Our day is going to be simple. Lots of cleaning. We did the laundry yesterday. Vacuumed the tile floor upstairs. All well and good but a harder assignment awaits. Cleaning up the home office. Maybe we’ll take a nap instead.

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• We start with cleansing all the flotsam and jetsam in our mind from the past week. Not that there was all that much, other than a seismic shift in the West Coast college athletic landscape. OK, so there actually was a lot.

• The Gonzaga men take the court today – the annual Kraziness in the Kennel – for the first time since the move to the Pac-12 was announced. The decision to relocate has been universally praised (as a win for both sides), though some believe the conference needs to add at least one other basketball-centric school.

We’re not sure “needs” is the right word. Can’t think of a singular one that would cover our thoughts though. We have to settle with a phrase: We believe the conference “would be better served” with one more school that is on a Gonzaga-like (or -lite) trajectory.

The problem is those schools are few and far away. The University of Memphis sort of fits the bill, a basketball-dominated school – now and historically – with a tradition and outlook that, a few months ago, seemed on at a level just below the Zags. Problem is, Penny Hardaway’s program looks to be in trouble, with NCAA issues and coaching-staff turnover.

If you want to paper over how important Hardaway’s presence has been to the school’s recent hoop renaissance, please use the fact the school also offers an eighth football-playing institution to do it. Nothing else suffices. And if that’s the case, a regional football partner probably needs to be found, if only for the rivalry aspect.

On this side of the Rockies there are basically two choices and both have flaws.

Saint Mary’s comes with a built-in advantage, the Randy Bennett-built rivalry with the Zags. But the tiny school in Moraga – it’s still a college for goodness sakes – doesn’t move the needle enough for the current Pac-12 members to throw a full-share of the media revenue toward, and the proudly competitive Bennett – not to mention SMC’s administration – probably won’t leave a WCC that will no longer have Gonzaga gobbling up titles (and NCAA auto bids) without it.

The other choice is Grand Canyon University, which doesn’t give a darn about your stinking money. At least at the start. The school has always looked toward the future athletically, which is why we think the Lopes will be the choice – if and when the Pac-12 decides to add another basketball school. Being in the conference moves the school up one more notch on the credibility scale. That’s crucial for the Phoenix-based for-profit institution with a checkered past – and legal issues.

And there is no doubt Grand Canyon wants basketball success. The driving force? Former Phoenix Suns owner and USA Basketball leader Jerry Colangelo. We watched him work his considerable charm during last March’s NCAA Tournament first-and-second round games in Spokane, seemingly cementing the school’s conference shift with WCC commissioner Stu Jackson in a Davenport Tower restaurant booth as Yale’s upset of Auburn played on a nearby TV.

If the Pac-12 offered, we can’t see any reason why Grand Canyon wouldn’t make another move. Especially if Teresa Gould threw in a nice lunch.

• Ever hear about buying low? We have. We do it. Often. And we do it again. We are buying the Idaho Vandals.

Ya, we know they are coming off an upset at UC Davis. And that Jason Eck’s team is beat up, not just at quarterback – third-stringer Nick Josifek had to try to lead the comeback in the 28-26 loss. There have been offensive line losses and defensive absences.

Yet we’re 100% sure no one in the FCS will be happy when they see UI’s name come up as their opponent in the playoffs. As long as the folks over at Gritman Medical Center do their part.

The 10th-ranked Vandals need Jack Layne back. The starting quarterback suffered a broken collarbone against Oregon in the opener – another reason why FCS coaches hate the money games they are forced to play. He hasn’t been back on the field since. Barring his return, Jack Wagner has to get fully healthy.

Filling in, Wagner has been more than passable. It’s just he has been in-and-out of the rotation, dealing with his own injury issues.

We are banking on either Layne or Wagner being healed up enough to be on the field for all the snaps at some point. If that happens, Idaho is as good as any FCS institution in the region, which means they are as good as anyone in the nation.

• There are just a few key games in every Washington State football season. In the three this season, the Cougars are 2-1. Wins over Texas Tech – currently tied atop the Big 12 ­– and Washington. A disappointing 45-24 loss at Boise State.

In one week, they will play the biggest game to date.

Say what? You heard us. Saturday afternoon’s in California’s Central Valley is crucial for the Cougars – even if the Bulldogs are, at best, just fair to middling.

Both teams are coming off a disappointing – to be kind – loss. Fresno? They were humiliated by UNLV 59-14. And both have had a bye week to prepare.

But the Cougars have something else to overcome. Last year they started 4-0, just like they did this season. What happened next? Six consecutive losses.

Jake Dickert can’t afford a repeat. This year is too important, the schedule through October too soft. Unless it isn’t.

Winning in Fresno against the 3-2 Bulldogs – their other loss was by 20 at Michigan – would go a long way toward showing WSU of 2024 bears no resemblance to last year’s spiraling squad. And keep the Washington State fanbase, which has a lot of new members this season thanks to the school’s circumstances, engaged.

If the Cougars can clean up their tackling problems, learn to use John Mateer in the same manner Florida once used Tim Tebow, and get healthy in key spots, winning the remaining seven games is within the realm of the possible.

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WSU: With no game this afternoon – thank goodness it’s going to be a typically beautiful October day in Spokane – are top link is to Jon Wilner’s mailbag, which ran in the S-R this morning. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, there aren’t many great matchups today, though there are a few games worth watching. … There was one last night that held our attention. No, not 25th-ranked UNLV’s disappointing home overtime loss to Syracuse, 44-41. We are referring to No. 6 Oregon avoiding Michigan State’s trap, topping the visiting Spartans 31-10 a week before the Ohio State showdown happens in Eugene. The Ducks’ defense looked fast, strong and solid. The offense ran the ball with vigor against Jonathan Smith’s Michigan State team. Dillon Gabriel? If he plays like he did Friday night next week against the third-ranked Buckeyes, Oregon is in trouble. … Oregon State needs to bounce back off its bye week. It should, considering Colorado State is in town. … Washington may be in trouble today, as the Huskies face 10th-ranked Michigan. (Checks the line …) Wait, UW, which lost to Washington State and, last week, at Rutgers, is favored? OK then. The rematch of last year’s national title game doesn’t seem to be on the national radar all that much, does it? … We linked a Billy Joe Hobert story in the Times yesterday. We offer it again in the S-R and Christian Caple’s thoughts as well. … If you are watching College GameDay, it is coming to you from Berkeley. For those of us who are of a certain age, we remember crowds of college students in those streets for an entirely different reason. California hopes to use the excitement as a springboard for an upset of No. 8 Miami. … Stanford is looking to post an upset as well, though a home win over Virginia Tech wouldn’t shock the nation as much. … Travis Hunter and Colorado’s fans are having a love affair. … Utah has a Cam Rising problem. Again. … UCLA is a big underdog headed into Happy Valley. … Can the USC defense do enough at Minnesota? … Arizona State has a football history – if you did not know. … Texas Tech heads into Tucson for a key matchup with Arizona. … In the Mountain West, just how the heck did San Jose State turn a quarterback into the nation’s leading receiver? … Wyoming is off to an unexpected 1-4 start. … Boise State has dealt with an injury at center in an interesting manner. Utah State takes a 1-3 record to 21st-ranked Boise today. … Hawaii visits San Diego State today and has to get used to a grass field. … New Mexico’s offensive coordinator explained a few things recently. … Air Force has had a tough start to the season. But there is a new season of sorts starting today with the game against Navy. … In basketball news, Arizona held its only Red-Blue Game this week and Caleb Love shined.

Idaho: Peter Harriman has his usual Saturday preview of the game against Northern Arizona. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Colorado has its work cut out today, as the Bears are third-ranked Montana State’s homecoming foe. That’s never good news. … Weber State has a pretty tough assignment itself, traveling to Missoula to play eighth-ranked Montana. … Cal Poly has had a tough season. But the Mustangs can get right when they host Idaho State today. … Sacramento State sure has earned a lot of interest for its Pac-12 dreams.

Preps: There were two big Greater Spokane League football games last night. Dave Nichols attended one, Central Valley’s 66-35 blowout of district rival Ridgeline in big school action. … Greg Lee was at the other, West Valley’s 27-22 grind-it-out win over visiting Rogers. … Dave also put together this roundup of Friday’s other football games.

Chiefs: Shea Van Olm and Mathis Preston each had two goals and Spokane got past winless Kelowna 5-3 in WHL at the Arena. Dave has the coverage of that game as well. The Chiefs are back at home tonight, hosting Seattle.

Seahawks: We linked this Athletic story on Geno Smith and the offense yesterday. It ran on the S-R site as well. … Bryon Murphy II is out. Leonard Williams, and others, in. … Kenneth Walker III should see the ball more often against the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

Mariners. We agree with these Adam Jude assessments of what the M’s should do in the offseason, with two caveats. More power at second and third base is needed. But the only starting pitcher we would even entertain trading is Luis Castillo. … The M’s filled a front-office vacancy. … Is this the year Bryce Harper leads the Phillies to the promised land?

Kraken: The latest addition to the squad wants to show the best version of himself as often as possible.

Sounders: There is a playoff preview on tap tonight. Seattle faces Colorado.

Reign: A loss to Angel City last night may have sealed Seattle’s playoff fate. Non-playoff fate, actually.

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• We are going to interrupt our football-watching experience today with house cleaning. Between the interminable commercials and halftime breaks, we figure we should be done before we watch Cal upset Miami this evening. We better be. Don’t want to miss a moment of the Bears dusting – see what we did there? – off the Canes. Until later …