A Grip on Sports: An ill-wind seems to be blowing away the Pac-12’s rebuilding efforts after the realignment storm

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Wind and rain and dust and smoke blew through Spokane last night, leaving, in its wake, a cold, wet landscape on this Thursday morning. For some reason, it reminded us of the Pac-12’s realignment efforts the past week.

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• Ya, lots of smoke. Little in the way of fire, but a bunch of wind and, in the end, the Mountain West may just rain on Washington State’s and Oregon State’s parade.

OK, that may be a little harsh. As a young Kevin Bacon once said, “Stay calm. All is well.” Oops. That movie was made in Eugene, home of one the Pac-12 turncoats. Not a good omen.

Where does the conference turn for its eighth member if commissioner Gloria Nevarez today pays off UNLV and Air Force – ironically using the money the five defectors will give the conference to leave in 2026 – and entices them to band together with the other five remaining MWC schools?

Well, Idaho has experience changing levels. Montana has a stadium that isn’t much smaller than WSU’s. If all else fails, Sacramento State seems interested in moving up. We jest, of course, because the NCAA has made it prohibitively expensive – demanding a $5 million vig up front – for FCS schools to ascend to the FBS ranks these days. The process is laborious, with little chance of quick success. The big football schools wanted a closed FBS shop and got their way.

Never say never though.

Mainly because outside the Mountain West, there isn’t much in the way of current FBS options in the Mountain or Pacific time zones. And that begs a few questions.

Would the current Pac-7 be willing to throw more money at Memphis and Tulane, in hopes of turning them un-American? How about once again trying a Texas invasion with the intent of popping Rice free? Or invite Texas State just to get a foothold in the state? None of those routes seem agreeable to the current membership. Rightfully so.

Which means there are few options. And even fewer if the seven remaining Mountain West schools actually sign an unbreakable agreement today. Over the next few months, both conferences will, in theory, be looking at the same schools to fill their final seat. What a disjointed process. With only rare winners.

It fits perfectly with the realignment hurricane that’s blown through the West the past few years, doesn’t it? Clear skies? No one can predict when they will come.

• All the Pac-12/MWC crud is playing out within a backdrop of a football season that pits all the combatants on the field. Just this Saturday we have WSU traveling to Boise for a late night – 7 p.m. PDT start – battle with the Broncos. In two years, supposedly, that will be a conference matchup. This week it’s nothing more than one of the seven remaining games the Cougars have with current Mountain West schools.

This one may mean more than all of them, though. Boise has lost just once, a last-minute 37-34 decision at then seventh-ranked Oregon. Last week’s bounce-back 56-14 eased-up win over Portland State boosted the Broncos into the A.P. Top 25, albeit in the final spot.

Washington State would love to be ranked. Its 54-52 double-overtime home win over San Jose State late last Friday didn’t impress enough voters to get them there, though. Would a win on the blue turf do the trick?

Certainly. And would boost the Cougars’ pie-in-the-sky playoff hopes. Especially if Boise State goes on to win the Mountain West and contends for the CFP automatic berth basically earmarked for the highest-rated Group of Five conference champion.

Let’s face it, though. The college football hierarchy is rooting for BSU this week. There is no way the Power 4 conferences want to see a 12-0 or 11-1 Cougar team have to be considered for an at-large spot by the playoff committee. Sure, a WSU playoff game would draw a lot of eyeballs – a plus – but it would take a spot the SEC or Big Ten thinks is for their teams – to the four conferences, a much-larger negative. The longer the Cougars stick around, the more intense the Rocky Balboa vibe grows.

A feel-good story? This is college football 2024. We can’t have that.

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WSU: Want a feel-good story anyway? We have one for you, courtesy of Greg Woods. He explores Jake Dickert’s playing career today, from his high school star turns to his Division III backup days. And correlates those experiences with his coaching career. … Greg also has a short story on the realignment news from Wednesday. We, of course, have a lot more to pass along on that front. We linked a couple pieces above and have a few more here, including this primer from The Athletic that ran in the S-R today. … Boise State has some hoegrown players that make an impact. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, John Canzano weighed in this morning on where the conference turns now. He thinks it’s time to solicit broadcast bids. … Oregon State drew decent viewership on The CW for the Purdue game. The Cougar game with San Jose State had a bit more. … The Beavers will play BYU in the future. … Washington is on its first road trip. It features a 5 p.m. (PDT) kickoff tomorrow night at Rutgers. It’s a Big Ten game. … Oregon opens Big Ten play on the road at UCLA. At 8 p.m. That is sort of weird, isn’t it? … It will be warm in the Rose Bowl. And the Ducks may be missing a couple players. … UCF will challenge the Colorado defense on the ground. … Dorian Singer has brought his unique talents to Utah. … Once again there seems to be a standoff between USC and defensive lineman Bear Alexander. … How has Arizona State done after a bye week? … There is one certainty. The game between Arizona and Utah will be physical. … In the Mountain West, could Hawaii hold out today when the conference members are scheduled to sign a stay-together agreement? … Boy there has been a lot of “He’s lying.” “No, he’s lying” in the UNLV NIL debacle. And now another Rebel player has decided to change schools for the same reasons. … Utah State is excited about entering the Pac-12. … At least one Air Force running back is healthy and productive. … A win over New Mexico could ignite New Mexico State’s season. … Wyoming has to rely on its leadership in this tough season.

Gonzaga: The Zags will reportedly play a charity exhibition game in late October with USC. The game will be in the Yakima of California, Palm Springs. Theo Lawson has more on the reported contest.

EWU: If there is one thing the Eagles’ football program is known for, it is an unending ability to throw the football. Wait, maybe that’s incorrect. The past three years, including this one, the passing game hasn’t reached the usual heights. Dan Thompson examines that and wonders if Eastern can return to its high-flying ways. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona will host Sacramento State this week. … His brother has inspired a Montana receiver.

Preps: It’s Thursday, which means we have quite a bit of high school news on quite a few sports to pass along. And not just Dave Nichols’ roundup of Wednesday’s action, including soccer, cross country and football news. … Greg Lee has a cross country notebook which includes teams big and small and from far and near. … Madison McCord – how’s the golf game Madison? – covers the undefeated Ridgeline volleyball team, a group that challenged itself in nonleague matches.

Chiefs: Berkly Catton has been reassigned to Spokane by the Kraken. When he will return to the Chiefs’ lineup – they play Friday at Wenatchee and Saturday for the first time at the Arena – is unknown.

Locally: The S-R’s latest local briefs column covers senior softball as well as college soccer and tennis.

Seahawks: Coby Bryant has worked his way into a key spot. … DK Metcalf did a lot of offseason work to limit drops. It shows. … His NFL peers feel John Schneider’s front office is one of the top seven in the league. … The Hawks received some good news on the injury front. … Who wins Monday night? The Lions are favored (by 3.5 points) but the Hawks may just cover.

Storm: Seattle made the postseason. But there is more to be done for a franchise that has won multiple WNBA titles.

Mariners: An 8-1 win in Houston did little more than keep the M’s fading playoff hopes alive. The wild-card is still out of reach and there are just three games left. … Once again, the Mariners stayed in the race until the last week. That’s not enough anymore – if it ever was. … For the third consecutive season, Julio Rodriguez has reached the 20-home run, 20-stolen base plateau.

Sounders: Jackson Ragen, a local talent, has signed a three-year extension with the franchise.

Golf: We wanted to be done by 8:30 this morning. It did not happen. But why that time? Because it’s when the Presidents Cup began on the Golf Channel. We may not chant “USA” over and over but we sure do enjoy the annual (along with the Ryder Cup) competitions between nations.

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• We had a great dream last night. Every dog we’ve ever been lucky enough to have in our life were playing together in our back yard. From Toodles, our little friend from our youth, to Donut, the little guy who sits with us these days, they were all running around together. It was a good glimpse of heaven. Hell? Maybe it has something to do with cleaning up after the group. Until later …