A GRIP ON SPORTS • College football's national signing day is over. We can now return to our normal programming. Around here this time of year, that means college basketball. Read on.

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• You may also notice I'm done with the Super Bowl, though Kam Chancellor saying yesterday he played with a torn MCL and a bone bruise makes me appreciate his toughness even more. But tough comes in many forms and tonight our four local men's basketball teams all face tough road tasks. Idaho is in Bozeman to face Montana State, a team just about everyone has beaten up on this season. But the Vandals can't take anyone for granted right now. Idaho's story of this season may just be how close it has come to winning a whole bunch of games. Close, but not doing it. Eastern, the Vandals' travel partner, is also in Montana but for a much tougher assignment: Getting past the University of Montana in Missoula. Talk about Mission: Near-Impossible. The Griz have always been tough at home, a fact I learned covering a game there in 1981. That was so long ago, Mike Montgomery, the UM coach, was a young man. Now he's retired and doing color commentary on TV. The Eagles, tied with Sacramento State in the loss column, need a big road win to keep pace with the Hornets in the race for the regular season crown and the opportunity to host the Big Sky Conference tournament. Washington State doesn't have a huge postseason dreams but the Cougars would love to continue to show improvement in Ernie Kent's first season. One way to do that is to defeat the teams they lost to in the first round of the Pac-12 schedule. Oregon State fills that bill. Winning in Corvallis, however, hasn't been easy this season. Just ask Arizona. Finally, Gonzaga takes a trip that recently has been harder than it, seemingly, should be. The Bay Area swing facing Santa Clara and USF has been a test for the Zags lately. Though neither is battling for the WCC title, both can be a pain in the neck at home.

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• WSU: Putting a bow on signing day isn't easy, but Jacob Thorpe did his best, starting early yesterday morning on the blog. He put up a post with names, info and video and updated it as the letters of intent rolled in. He also posted WSU's official release, held a live chat and reported the news of assistant coach Dennis Simmons leaving for Oklahoma. Those posts only served as a precursor of his story in today's Review and his morning post today. The Cougars lost a lot of supposedly committed players recently and Simmons had been the main recruiter for many of them. ... Jacob also found time to get his basketball duties done, with a story on Kent's first trip back to Oregon where he played and coached, the weekly preview of what's ahead, as well as answering five questions for the Oregonian. ... Bud Withers has his column on the Cougars' signing class. ... By the way, recognize the guy tucked in the upper left in the Kent picture from his Oregon days? Here's a hint: The Ducks were playing Texas.

• Gonzaga: Jim Meehan has his preview of the week ahead. ... BYU and Pepperdine are battling for third behind GU and St. Mary's. They meet in Malibu tonight.

• EWU: A busy day in Cheney as well, with Jim Allen covering Vernon Adams' decision about a possible transfer to Oregon, one that Adams and Beau Baldwin feel will be made by Monday. ... Jim also has this story on the football recruits, a blog post on the guys, a couple of basketball notes and his weekend basketball preview.

• Idaho: The Vandals' recruiting class has a local flavor despite a handful of players from Florida. Sean Kramer has the story. ... Sean also has a preview of the basketball weekend.

• Preps: It's Thursday so that means we can pass along all the Prep Page items. But it's also playoff time for some in prep hoop, so we have a roundup to pass along as well. ... Greg Lee has a story and list covering local athletes who signed yesterday. He also has a feature on Freeman wrestling, which is in the limelight this year. ... There have been some job changes in the area and Greg covers them in this notebook. ... Bill Pierce has his weekly history lesson.

• Shock: Spokane has changed its starting time for the May 16 game as to not conflict with the Lilac Parade.

• Seahawks: Of course it's impossible to put the Super Bowl loss completely in the rearview mirror. We're still looking back. Art Thiel is in this column. Chris Matthews is, though some of his memories are found ones. And we all are in our own way. ... Doug Baldwin is a bit lighter in the wallet. ... Richard Sherman's and his girlfriend welcomed their son into the world yesterday. That's a positive. ... So was the news Marshawn Lynch received from the NFL. There will be no fines for how he handled the pre-Super Bowl runup. ... Russell Wilson will spend a little time at spring training again, though he'll probably have to endure a few jabs from fans and others. ... The Hawks signed almost all of their practice squad players from last year to futures contract. The offseason is underway folks.

• Mariners: Baseball America ranks the top 31 prospects in the M's farm system. No. 30 might just surprise you. It's a pretty familiar name.

• Sounders: Seattle opened preseason with a friendly against UCLA. It was no contest. ... The U.S. Open Cup format has been changed again.

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• Back on the radio this afternoon from 3 to 6 with the guys from 700 ESPN. You can listen here. Until then ...

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