A GRIP ON SPORTS • Spring isn’t officially scheduled for a few more days yet. But the way the sun has been shining around here, you would think it has already arrived. We're speaking literally, of course, but metaphorically as well. Read on.

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• One word that always seems to be linked to spring: hope. And that's one thing that is in abundance around here on this Tuesday. Let's look at each of our local teams and measure their hope index.

– Gonzaga: After a dominating second half in their 79-61 WCC semifinal win over Pepperdine, the Zags' hopes for a No. 2 seed come Sunday seem to be pretty well-founded. Next up today are the BYU Cougars – and a chance for revenge.

– Washington State: The Cougars are still about 24 hours away from opening the Pac-12 tournament so hope is still an option, even for a team that hasn't been above .500 for a while.

– EWU and Idaho: Ditto for these two, who will face off in the first round of the Big Sky tournament. They both feel the renewed hope the postseason brings. Win three games in a row and you go dancing. And, no matter what, Eastern knows its season will continue. That's always hopeful.

– Mariners: Heck, what is spring training for other than to build hope? OK, to get ready for the regular season. I understand that. But hope is a byproduct, right? And, right now, there is more hope than any year in recent memory.

– Seahawks: Free agency signings will be made officially beginning today, so everyone on the league will begin to rebuild hope. And, after two consecutive Super Bowl trips, who has more hope than the Hawks? (And less than the 49ers?)

– Sounders: A 3-0 win to open the MLS season Sunday. That's a recipe for unlimited hope as far as I can tell. And unlimited optimism, which might not be a good thing.

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• WSU: The Pac-12 handed out its awards yesterday and DaVonté Lacy earned first-team honors. Josh Hawkinson, as expected, was the Most Improved Player. Jacob Thorpe has that and more in this story and blog post. ... Jacob also begins coverage of the college baseball season as the Cougars open Pac-12 play at USC this weekend. ... Bill Moos is out looking for a new soccer coach again after Steve Nugent resigned yesterday. Jacob has all the particulars in this story. ... ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog has a Q&A with new defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. ... It also has a look at the quarterback position battles in the North.

• Gonzaga: With Byron Wesley asserting himself – and earning a starring role in John Blanchette's column – the Zags rolled over Pepperdine. Jim Meehan has the game story and a blog post. ... Colin Mulvany has a photo report from the game. ... The women collapsed on the offensive end down the stretch and lost to BYU, 61-55. Jim has the game story and Colin the photographs. ... That win was greeted with joy in the Salt Lake City area. ... The BYU men also won and will meet the Zags in the finals. Portland may have lost to the Cougars, 84-70, but the Pilots will play in the postseason. ... Bud Withers was in Las Vegas and has this game coverage. ... The Bay Area schools turn their thoughts to next season. ... A Gonzaga baseball player picked up a WCC honor.

• EWU: The Big Sky also handed out its all-conference awards yesterday and Tyler Harvey, who leads the nation in scoring, wasn't the MVP. That award went to Sacramento State's Mikh McKinney. Harvey and Venky Jois were first-team all-conference. Jim Allen has this story, which details the other awards bestowed on the Eagles.

• Idaho: Sean Kramer takes you on a walk down memory lane with a look back at some UI publications from the early 1980s.

• Chiefs: Nothing from Spokane, but Everett and Portland have a showdown scheduled for tonight.

• Seahawks: With Byron Maxwell gone, the Hawks are moving to shore up their corners, signing Will Blackmon and reportedly about to do the same with Cary Williams. ... The free agent market, as well as the draft, will be crucial to the Hawks' depth in the upcoming season. ... It looks as if Julius Thomas is going elsewhere. ... The Hawks did some roster reshuffling yesterday. ... James Carpenter won't be back either.

• Mariners: I usually don't do a lot of re-tweeting during the day, but there were special circumstances yesterday. Tyler Olson, the left-hander who pitched for U-Hi back in the day, had another good outing for the M's and thrust himself in the running for a bullpen spot. So as the tweets concerning his accomplishments started to flow, I just continued to hit retweet. Sorry if I clogged your timeline. ... Ryan Divish writes about Olson today. Ryan also wrote about the second consecutive strong outing from Taijuan Walker (pictured). ... That came as part of the M's 4-3 win over Cleveland. ... The M's best prospects are getting a decent look this spring. ... As we mentioned yesterday, Seattle has decided to vacate its digs in Venezuela. ... The M's signed another veteran pitcher.

• Sounders: The 3-0 win Sunday not only was a good omen for the MLS season, it also helped wash away some bad feelings in Seattle.

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• And, no, I didn't play golf yesterday. I watched basketball and did stuff around the house. But with the high forecasted to be in the upper 60s today, I have to get outside. Not sure what I'll do, though. Until later ...

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