A Grip on Sports: Is Boxing Day appropriate for Gonzaga and Virginia to tussle again? Sure it is

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. There really isn’t anything better on TV this weekend – non-NFL version – than today’s top 25 matchup between Gonzaga and Virginia in Texas. That says a lot about how good those teams are, yes, but also a lot about this year.

•••••••

• The top-ranked Zags are worth watching no matter who they are playing. Their offensive flow is such as to be, when it is working well, a thing of beauty. Something akin to Renaissance art, actually. Solid as a Michelangelo sculpture, smooth as a Raphael fresco. The Bulldogs paint with short, quick strokes.

Virginia, the defending national champions ranked 16th this season, is more like a Jackson Pollock. Beauty is more in the eye of the beholder, but there is a sense of art in the chaos the Cavaliers’ defense creates. You just have to look deeply to appreciate it.

When Tony Bennett was making his bones down the road in Pullman, Cougar fans fervently appreciated it. They may not have totally in tune with the creation process but they certainly were thankful for the success it brought.

Included in that success were back-to-back wins over Mark Few’s Zags, the second of which in 2007 was a classic clash of styles in the Kennel as Bennett’s best team bested one of Few’s few NCAA first-round failures.

Jim Meehan has a story on the three matchups between the Zags and Cougs from Bennett’s Pullman head-coaching tenure (GU won in 2008 in Pullman in a rout). It’s worth reading if only for the nostalgia factor.

But my memories run a bit deeper, especially from the 2007 game. Watching practice that week and talking with Bennett, it was obvious the Cougars were out to stop Matt Bouldin. The WSU coach felt Bouldin was the key to the Zags’ offense that season and if you could slow him down, the whole machine would grind to a halt.

He gave the assignment to Kyle Weaver. And Weaver was near perfect.

Bouldin took nine shots. He missed them all. All were under pressure, as Weaver seemed to be in his shirt on every catch. It was the type of performance Bennett believed was a work of art.

• There is another connection between this year’s Virginia team and Washington State besides Bennett and others on the basketball staff, though it’s a sad one.  

Reece Beekman is a freshman guard who has started two games for the Cavaliers (4-1). His brother, Bryce, played a season of football for Washington State before his unexpected death last March 24 in Pullman.

The elder Beekman, who started 13 games for the Cougars in 2019, was known to brag about his younger brother’s basketball prowess and was in attendance that month as Reece led his high school to a state title game.

• It’s been a dozen years since Bennett left Washington State for Virginia. In that time Bennett and Few have both expressed a desire to have their teams play, though neither seemed in much of a hurry to match up in the nonconference.

But a couple times in the past half-decade, their teams seemed to be on an NCAA Tournament collision course – until one or the other fell just short.

In 2016, Virginia defeated Iowa State in the East Regional semifinals. Gonzaga, making the Sweet 16 as an 11th seed, couldn’t get past Syracuse, however, losing 63-60.

And in 2019, the Zags and Cavs could have met in the NCAA title game. Instead, Virginia defeated Texas Tech, the team that knocked GU out of the tournament in the West Regional final.

So why haven’t the teams met in nonconference play? Lots of reasons, but the main one is geography. The Cavaliers play in the ACC, so they don’t need a lot of tough nonconference games. When they do play them, it’s better they be in an area in which the school recruits heavily. Gonzaga, on the other hand, plays many high profile-ones all over. The way Bennett’s teams play, however, is so different than many of GU’s opponents, the risk is quite a bit lower than the reward.

In 2020, though, the matchup is on. And that’s a good thing.

•••

WSU: John Chaplin has an idea. And the former Washington State track coach isn’t going to let it go. He thinks the school should have statues honoring Henry Rono and John Olerud, the Pac-12’s athletes of the century in their respective sports. Peter Harriman has more in this story. … Remember when the Cougars’ basketball season ended in March? This story will help you to recall the final day. … Around the Pac-12 and college football, bowl season is underway. Jon Wilner has his picks. … Oregon State’s best player, running back Jermar Jefferson is headed to the NFL draft. … The Huskies have lost a few quarterbacks. … Oregon has bubbled up, in a new way to use that term, for its bowl. … The Alamo Bowl may not be crucial for Colorado, and may be a tough one to win, but the Buffs will enjoy the ride. … There are unconfirmed reports out of Texas that Utah freshman running back Ty Jordan was killed in an accidental shooting overnight. … How good was Arizona State’s season? … Jedd Fisch has a lot to do in Tucson. … A former Arizona quarterback is headed to Memphis. … In basketball news, can Washington rebound this season? … Arizona has yet to have a positive COVID-19 test.

Gonzaga: Of course Jim Meehan has a preview of today’s game and he concentrates on the contrasting styles of play. … Jim also has a look at the key matchup. … Elsewhere in the WCC, former USF star K.C. Jones, who had NBA success as a player and coach, died Friday. He was 88. … How did BYU do in the offseason?

EWU: The Eagles have had a lot of success with locally grown talent and talent from about as far from the Inland Northwest as one can get: Australia. Ryan Collingwood has a look at the players from Down Under on this year’s roster.

Seahawks: The key to the Hawks on Sunday will be their running game. Even the Rams know that. … If it’s on point, Russell Wilson won’t have to be great for Seattle to win the NFC West. … The Hawks’ special teams have been great. … The defense has improved. … Depth is important this week.

•••       

• We will watch the Gonzaga game with Virginia on CBS at 1 p.m. It is the makeup, for the network, of the lost Baylor game. Then we will have our thoughts in our TV Take, which will be up on the site soon after the final horn. Until then …