A Grip on Sports: The names change, the stakes change, but Gonzaga and BYU in Provo will always be a red-letter game

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s a given when Gonzaga shows up in a West Coast Conference gym not named after the McCartheys, the game will be the biggest of the season for the host team. If people still used paper calendars, the date would have been circled in red long ago. Today is another of those red-letter days.

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• What’s the equivalent in an iPhone? I guess it would be programing the darn thing to remind you about the game in Calendar every day for a week or something. Whatever it is, BYU fans have been doing it for a while now.

See, this is the biggest home game for the Cougars since, well, last season when Gonzaga came calling. And that was the biggest one since the year before. And the year before.

You get the picture. Most WCC teams know the NCAA Tournament is a pipe dream, only accessible by an odds-defying, magical run in Las Vegas. We all know how often that happens. Those glittering glass casinos were financed and built on such foolish hopes.

But BYU, like Saint Mary’s, feel they have NCAA at-large chances each year, based on a full-season’s performance. And this year it is actually true. Both are pretty much locks to join GU in March Madness.

The Cougars’ seeding, however, can be improved greatly with one mighty effort tonight on ESPN2.

Upset Gonzaga and college basketball’s national consciousness takes notice.

Which makes tonight’s game obviously important. Maybe too important. The Cougars haven’t defeated GU on their home floor since 2014. Heck, since that last win in Utah, BYU is 3-3 against the Zags in Spokane – and 0-9 everywhere else, including five consecutive losses at the usually packed Marriott Center.

Weird, huh?

It’s not the type of home success the Cougars envisioned when they joined the West Coast Conference. But it’s what they’ve earned.

That’s ancient history, though. Tonight is all that matter. It’s TJ Haws’ and Yoeli Childs’ last chance to take down the Bulldogs in Provo – and seal the deal for an NCAA berth.

They will be helped by a team that is nearly as efficient on the offensive end as Gonzaga, the nation’s leader. And they will be helped by the more than 18,000 in attendance, all of which circled this game on their calendar months ago.

It should be fun.

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Gonzaga: Let’s see. Jim Meehan, who visits Provo once a year, has a preview of tonight’s game. He also has chosen Childs as the key matchup. … Mark Few is once again a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award. He’s won one before. Jim has that story too. … The women are also on the road, though where they are playing, Pepperdine, I’m sure the weather is a bit nicer. Jim Allen has a preview. … The baseball team fell once again at seventh-ranked Arkansas.

WSU: No matter what you think of first-year basketball coach Kyle Smith, and Theo Lawson tells us today about one college coach who thinks Smith is the best, you have to admit he needs to attract his type of players to Pullman to be successful in the long run. The Cougars took a big step in that direction yesterday with the commitment of Canadian guard Jefferson Koulibaly. … The women’s team put a scare into No. 8 UCLA last night on Friel Court, but fell 70-62. … The baseball team is in Hawaii, so the results are a bit late. … Around the Pac-12, the Huskies will host California today, hoping to avoid their 10th consecutive loss. … Whoever wins the battle of the boards in Boulder will probably win the showdown between surging UCLA and Colorado. … If it keeps losing, USC is going to have to win the Pac-12 tournament to make the NCAAs. … Oregon State is next up for Arizona State. … The matchup between No. 14 Oregon and No. 24 Arizona should be fun. … In football new, with Colorado still looking for a head coach, another assistant heads to Michigan State. … There is more tough news coming out of Salt Lake City. … The Utes have a lot of openings at safety. … The idea of a “free transfer” is gaining momentum everywhere. … UCLA’s athletic director search shows where athletics fit in Westwood.

EWU: Northern Arizona’s basketball program has changed a little. It’s better. Ryan Collingwood has this preview of today’s game against the Lumberjacks at Reese Court.

Whitworth: The Pirates’ football schedule for the fall has changed a little. It’s better. Dan Thompson has more in this notebook.

Preps: It was a long day of District 8 basketball yesterday, with championships decided, teams eliminated and the number of state-eligible teams winnowed down. Dave Nichols was in the Toyota Center for all of it and has a number of stories. He has coverage of the 4A boys title game, the 4A girls championship, and title games in the 3A girls and the 3A boys. There are also stories from loser-out games in 4A girls and boys. … We can also offer boys and girls roundups from around the area. … The State wrestling championships are underway at the Tacoma Dome and we have a roundup of 4A and 3A action as well as one covering all the other classifications. … Mead finished fourth in the State 4A gymnastics meet.

Chiefs: A big second period lifted Spokane to a 5-1 road victory over Swift Current.

Mariners: The M’s have plenty of relievers, but do they have plenty of quality relievers? … Dee Gordon isn’t shy about assigning blame for his struggles. He looks in the mirror. … Sam Carlson wondered if he would ever see a pitcher again when he did that. He does.

Seahawks: If you watch the combine, here are five Seattle-related things to watch.

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• We’ll be watching tonight as Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham, one of ESPN’s best crews, describe the action. (I wonder if the Marriott in Provo has imported some of the Davenport’s shrimp flatbread for Farnham?) Then we will put together our TV Take. Talk with you again then …