A Grip on Sports: There may be clear skies currently playing on your TV set but the clouds are gathering, especially for baseball

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is little better. On a weekend in which the snow piles high enough to challenge a Great Dane (like this one), it’s always nice to have a weekend filled with sports to watch on the TV. But all that could be changing. Shifting drastically in the next few years. Thursday brought some chilling news.

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• Yes, we are going to get to what’s on in the here and now. Including the biggest college basketball game in these parts in, oh, about three days. But there was news in the past 24 hours that holds the potential to crash the there and later.

What news?

– Major League Baseball and ESPN announcing a divorce after the upcoming season ends;

– The Big Ten and SEC going all-in with proposed College Football Playoff changes that hold a potential to alter solid regular season matchups as well;

– Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-off final was such riveting TV, it just may give hockey a boost it hasn’t seen since 1980 – and an unmatched cable rating;

– And, as the Pac-12 tries to close in on a media deal, Jon Wilner delves into its valuation, using the past as a foundation for the future.

• Each of those will not impact today. Or tomorrow. But some will have viewing consequences before your kindergartner enters second grade.

Especially baseball. ESPN and MLB had a seven-year deal. There was, however, a clause allowing either side to opt out of the last three. It had to be exercised by March 1. It was. Who opted out? Both did.

A mutual decision? Fine. The money was too much (for ESPN) and just right (MLB’s take). ESPN wasn’t giving baseball enough coverage (MLB) and baseball had added other broadcasters at a cheaper rate (ESPN).

Whatever. It means baseball has to find a new national partner by this time next year. All the while most local teams, including the Mariners, are dealing with depleted (or disappearing) revenue from regional networks and issues with streaming games for their fans.

Two things are guaranteed to come out of this. It will be harder to watch games next season. And ESPN will give baseball highlights less time on SportsCenter than it does now – as well as dropping its talk shows covering the sport.

• The CFP headlines this week concerned the Power Two’s plan to grab up to four automatic berths each in a 14- or 16-team playoff starting in 2026. Rightfully so. But the SEC and Big Ten have another motive. With berths in hand, they can hold their own play-in tournaments – and sell it. More money for the rich. Plus, the SEC can add a ninth conference game and the two can put together a scheduling alliance.

That will leave just two nonconference games for both. The ACC, the Big 12, the Pac-12, as well as all other FBS conferences, will be aced out of high-profile nonconference games that would help build a CFP at-large resume.

• The NBA All-Star weekend is a dud. Same with the NFL’s Pro Bowl exhibitions. The NHL’s All-Star game wasn’t much better. But this year, hockey’s players pushed for, and got, a four-team tournament with national pride on the line.

It worked. Better than expectations. Thursday night’s overtime final, pitting the U.S. and Canada, had everything the NHL’s bean counters could have hoped for – and more. Heck, who would have thought there would be national anthem booing in the event? And pregame fights? Expect to see the NHL continue this – and capitalize it in some way.

• Wilner tried to delve into the ratings numbers behind the financial number the Pac-12 is probably seeking in its search for media partners with the reconstituted group. And came up with a total about three times as large as the one the five former Mountain West schools are leaving behind. An interesting exercise, for sure, but the larger question is, who will be willing to meet the price and how will the conference’s followers be able to access it?

Cable? Streaming? Paywalls? That’s what matters to viewers. The answers will have to wait.

• OK, enough of the future. How about the now? How about college hoops?

Saint Mary’s annual Kennel visit tips Saturday at 5 p.m. It took the WorldWide Leader a while to decide which of its networks would do the honors, but settled on ESPN2. Santa Clara’s visit to Pullman (a 3 p.m. tip) will be televised by CBS Sports. All the other local games will be streamed on ESPN+.

The best national games Saturday? No. 6 Tennessee is at No. 7 Texas A&M (9 a.m. ESPN). That’s the only top 10 vs. top 10 matchup. But third-ranked Duke is at Illinois (Fox) if you like to root against the Blue Devils. Too bad it tips at 5.

The women have a lot of ranked matchups Sunday, the best of which may just be No. 3 UCLA at Iowa (11 a.m. on Peacock).

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WSU: The women were in action last night. Hosted the University of San Francisco. Won another West Coast Conference game, riding Tara Wallack’s 20 points and 12 rebounds to a 67-59 victory. And clinched a semifinal berth in the WCC’s postseason tournament. … The Athletic takes a look at which football schools have the most pressure on their portal classes. The player with the most? Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we mentioned (and linked) Wilner’s column on Pac-12 media rights above. We link it in the S-R here again. … The Oregon State men picked up its second road win of the season last night, topping Pepperdine. … Arizona has faded a little recently and hopes some rest will help. … The NCAA selections are inching closer. … There is more and more evidence the expanded travel is hurting teams traveling cross country. Both ways. And after. … Boise State will play in the 2025 Maui Invitational. … San Diego State is welcoming back an injured guard this week. … The Washington women picked up an important Big Ten win. … Oregon State won as well, and moved closer to earning a bye into the WCC semifinals. … Third-ranked UCLA topped No. 25 Illinois as Lauren Betts set a school record. … In football news, which of Washington’s position groups will be the strongest in 2025? … Oregon made an assistant’s hire official. … John Canzano tells us Boise State has big plans. … The Broncos, like all the Mountain West schools, learned their conference schedule for the fall. … We can also pass along stories from Utah State, Fresno State, a couple from Colorado State and another from San Diego State. … Colorado has a lot of talent returning on the defensive line. … Utah has three transfers who have to make an impact. … Arizona State is returning more than a few good players.  

Gonzaga: Another Senior Night, another quintessential Zag makes the walk. This year it is Ben Gregg, whose dad Matt coached high school basketball in the area. The younger Gregg rooted for GU even as he matured in Portland. Earned his way to Spokane, watched a lot, finally getting a chance to be a major contributor. Now his career is coming to a close. Jim Meehan covers it all in this excellent Senior Night story. … Those emotions just add another layer to Saturday’s meeting with Saint Mary’s. Theo Lawson delves into how much the Zags have changed in the past few weeks. … The women were in action last night at McCarthey, and it was another rough-and-tumble WCC contest. Gonzaga prevailed 60-53. Greg Lee was there and has this game story. … Tyler Tjomsland was also in the Kennel and he supplies the photo gallery.

EWU: The Eagle men had been playing better. But not last night. Not at Northern Colorado, a team that just lost a grip on first place. The Bears won 95-76. It was the son of one of Monson’s former Gonzaga players, John Rillie, who did the most damage for UNC. … The Eastern women also lost at home. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State’s men have handled Montana often in Bozeman recently. … Idaho State’s Dylan Darling, a Central Valley High grad, led the Bengals to a win over Portland State. On the women’s side, Kacey Spink, a Ferris High grad, scored 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and added six assists as the Bengals won at PSU in double overtime. … Sacramento State’s men won at Weber State. 

Idaho: The Vandal men were in Flagstaff, where they rode Tyler Linhardt’s career-high 25 points to an 83-78 victory. … The Vandal women lost in Moscow.

Preps: The 4A and 3A District basketball playoffs continued Thursday night, with some teams punching their tickets to State and others seeing their season end. Dave Nichols went to Mead, where neither home team did the former – or latter. The boys won, setting up a 4A winner-to-state matchup Saturday at Richland. The girls lost the District 6 title game, which means they have to defeated Kamiakin on Saturday to earn a State berth. … Dave also has a roundup of the other action at all levels. … Madison McCord is in Tacoma and has a roundup of the State wrestling tournaments results from the first day. … We can over more coverage from Tacoma as well.

Mariners: We knew who the broadcast team is for a while. The M’s made the new group official. I will miss Mike Blowers. … The young position players in camp are already standing out.

Seahawks: It’s draft-speculation time. It’s in full swing. Bob Condotta checks out what national folks see the Hawks doing while we also can offer this Athletic mock draft of the first round.

Sounders: You want to know which two MLS teams are playing the most non-league tournaments? Inter Miami (with Lionel Messi) and the Sounders (with … well, a bunch of “guys”). … One of those guys is Stefan Frei, who is among the MLS’ best keepers.

Sonics: Maybe a Sonics’ return is not inevitable.

Kraken: All the thought of how important last night’s game (and the Four Nations tournament) will be for the NHL revolves around one thing. Just how good the game was. The teams going back and forth. Leads gained and lost. Great goaltending. And, finally, the best player in the game today scoring an overtime goal to give Canada a 3-2 win and the title. Conner McDavid everyone. … The U.S. team didn’t stink last night. But you know what does? NHL uniforms. And locker rooms.

Storm: Seattle is reuniting with former guard Katie Lou Samuelson.

Reign: The USWNT is playing in the SheBelieves Cup tournament. And showcasing the up-and-coming U.S. talent. It’s pretty darn good. The U.S. won 2-0 over Colombia on Thursday.

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• One more reminder. There will be no Grip on Sports column tomorrow morning. Taking the day. I’ll be back Sunday on the S-R’s website. Until later …