Grip on Sports: From GameDay to prime time, Gonzaga’s matchup with Saint Mary’s is a big deal

A GRIP ON SPORTS • One of the nice things about college basketball is big games can happen at any time. There aren’t rivalry weekends or an ordained matchup late in the season. A great game may occur any day of the week and at anytime. That being said, tonight’s Gonzaga game at Saint Mary’s has been circled in red since the schedules were released. And it happens to be on a Saturday night, late in the season. Read on.

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• The sheer volume of college basketball games makes it easy for a big game to occur at any time. There are just so many, some of them have to be big, right?

That’s not necessarily the case in the West Coast Conference. Everyone knew Saint Mary’s was going to be good again this season. They returned their top seven guys from a team that nearly won 30 games last season.

Gonzaga is always expected to be one of the conference’s best, even though the Zags headed into the season without two guys who made NBA rosters. So tonight’s game in Moraga was always going to be a big deal, and had all the earmarks of being the WCC’s biggest deal this season.

And yet it’s even more than that.

It’s the featured game of a Saturday that also includes … well, there’s only one other matchup featuring two top 25 teams, No. 2 Villanova at No. 24 Xavier. So the top-ranked Zags visiting No. 20 Saint Mary’s is the featured game by default.

But it would have taken a blockbuster matchup to blow it out of the water.

After all, the cozy confines of McKeon Pavilion is enticing to ESPN, which moved the game time up almost two hours just to give the East Coast a primetime look at the showdown. And the network sent its GameDay crew across the country as well.

If anything shows how important this game is, that’s it, right?

Well, no. It’s Gonzaga, 25-0 and 13-0 in WCC play, facing off with Saint Mary’s, 22-2 and only a bitter beatdown in Spokane behind the Zags in the conference standings. That’s enough.

But throw in the rivalry between the coaching staffs, the international flavor of the roster and the McKeon faithful doing their best Kennel imitation – it is already spring break at Saint Mary’s so it will be interesting to see the level of student turnout – and this game has enough going for it whether ESPN is in attendance or not.

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Gonzaga: Jim Meehan is in the Bay Area and he has everything you need for tonight’s game, including an advance. He also has a story on the GameDay crew in town and a look at the key matchup in the middle. … Randy Bennett has built a strong program at Saint Mary’s. Though Gonzaga still holds a solid lead in the series. There is even coverage of the contest in the Bay Area papers. … Jill Barta has been Gonzaga’s leading scorer pretty much since she put on the uniform. Jim Allen has a feature on the small-school product who has come up big for GU. … There are other games in the WCC tonight, including BYU still trying to figure out how to win consistently on the road.

WSU: Jacob Thorpe caught up with Mike Leach this week and talked with him about one of his former Texas Tech players who had another stellar Super Bowl. … The WSU women came close but couldn’t get past No. 23 Arizona State last night. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, we start with football and ESPN’s idea of the six easiest non-conference schedules in the conference. Oh, and the mailbag. … On the courts, or off them, Washington’s Malik Dime has been suspended after striking a student at Colorado on Thursday. … The Huskies are at Utah and everyone is wondering whether Markelle Fultz will play. … After their offense went missing down the stretch at UCLA, the Oregon Ducks have to regroup for surging USC. … California can burnish its NCAA resume with a win at Arizona.

Whitworth: Both the Pirate men and women won at Pacific Lutheran last night. … The softball team swept another doubleheader in California.

Empire: Though everyone in the Indoor Football League can usually score, the Empire expects to have an experienced, tough defense this season. Josh Horton has the story.

Chiefs: Spokane fell at Portland in a shootout last night and is 10 points behind the Winterhawks for the final playoff berth.

Preps: The weather-delayed playoff basketball games in Washington were finally played last night, with Greg Lee covering Central Valley’s easy win over Pasco in girls 4A play – Colin Mulvany aso has a photo report – and Kevin Dudley at Gonzaga Prep’s rout of Hanford. … We can also pass along roundups from boys and girls action last night from around the area.

Seahawks: The change at kicker has some interesting side notes, which Bob Condotta covers. … The Hawks are hosting a regional combine today. … Michael Bennett has pulled out of a trip to Israel.

Mariners: The outfield and the starting pitching are covered in today’s spring training previews.

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• Have a nice Saturday. We will return this evening with a column on the broadcast of the Gonzaga game and then be back here tomorrow with more links and thoughts. Until then …