A Grip on Sports: The Final Four is upon us, along with Gonzaga’s chance at history

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Saturday is finally here. Didn’t think it would happen, did you? A Final Four Saturday in 2021 we mean. After all the COVID-19 pauses, all the quarantines and cancelled games, getting here is 75 percent of the battle. Now we get to reap the reward. Four teams. Two games. One national title matchup.

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• Who knows if the best four teams are in Indianapolis today. Probably not. But that’s the beauty of the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga and Baylor? They are among the top four. They may not be Blue Bloods, in the capitalized – or historic – sense of the word, but they are these days. Houston is the outsider, the athletic, well-coached team with a puncher’s chance. And UCLA? The bluest of blue turned Cinderella by decades of ups (three consecutive Final Fours more than 10 years ago) and downs (many of the other years since the turn of the century).

It’s so 2021 that Gonzaga is the favorite, overwhelming today over the Bruins and a pretty good one over no matter who wins tonight’s early semifinal. Spokane’s team has turned into America’s best team, not overnight surely, but quickly. A remarkable freshman point guard. A better-than-expected sophomore center. A developed-from-nearly-scratch junior wing. An unexpected return for a senior All-American. And a few role players, one a hometown kid and the other two transfers.

It’s a recipe that cooked from the very beginning and chef Mark Few should be proud. Heck, if Guy Fieri came through town and sampled it, his head would explode from all that offensive spice and a pinch of Triple D.

UCLA offers the first hurdle. none of its challenge comes from its history. The John Wooden era is as dead as Julius Caesar to these players. So is the Adam Morrison meltdown. History for the 10 guys on the Lucas Oil court tonight is the last possession. Or at least it better be if they don’t want to be history after 40 minutes.

The Bruins’ games are, as one friend called it, sh … uh, ugly. That’s the way Mick Cronin wants it. He believes his team plays, uh, ugly, better than you do. Muck it up and win. That seems to be his motto. But if UCLA can force Gonzaga to play an ugly game today, they will be the first. Not the last, though, if the Bruins can’t seal the deal.

Houston does the same thing, albeit in different ways. Kelvin Sampson, the long-ago Washington State coach, puts a bunch of tough, athletic, physical and, yes, admirable players on the court, they get in your face, attack for 40 minutes and then see what’s what. Handle it or you lose.

Baylor is similar, but the Bears have much more offensive skill, from shooters to players who can get to the rim with the bounce. They stress opponents on both ends of the floor. If Gonzaga is No. 1, for much of the year Baylor was 1A. A coronavirus pause derailed that narrative as much as GU’s one COVID-19 run-in derailed the early season matchup between the teams. The Bears have bounced back in the tournament, however, and if not their old self, a pretty darn good facsimile.

If there is any justice in the world – spoiler alert: there rarely is – Monday night’s title game will feature those schools.

That’s the end game. Literally. This evening we get the prelims. And they could be marvelous.

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Gonzaga: We’re not going to try to count all the GU-related content in today’s publication. (You may notice we didn’t write “paper,” because, on Saturdays, there is no printed edition of the S-R. It’s all online.) We start with Jim Meehan’s pregame pieces, the preview, a look at the key matchup and, today anyway, a look back at when the Zags played the first basketball game in Lucas Oil Stadium. He also has awards stories, with one on Corey Kispert and another on Mark Few rightfully being named coach of the year from a couple respected organizations. … John Blanchette takes a look at life in the Indianapolis bubble and how the Zags are dealing with it. … Theo Lawson examines how UCLA is prepping for the game. … In the ancillary aspects of a Final Four, Ryan Collingwood has a story on a fundraising event for Jeremy Eaton. … Ryan also checked in with other Gonzaga graduates in town, a story visualized by Tyler Tjomsland’s photographs. … Dan Thompson, from back in Spokane, has a story of a mask maker with plenty of GU connections. … The Zags practiced yesterday and Tyler has a photo gallery. … Jimmy Kimmel is still at it. … Larry Weir talked with former Gonzaga assistant (and EWU coach) Ray Giacoletti about the weekend. It’s part of the latest Press Box podcast. … Jalen Suggs is part of a long tradition of point guards from Minnesota. … The baseball team shut out Pacific again. … Of course, there will be picks from some, with the big spread – Gonzaga is favored by 14 points – an enticement for many to put their money on slow-it-down UCLA. … The story of how Few almost left for Oregon is told once again. … Bill Walton is in love with how Gonzaga plays. Which leads us perfectly into the next segment.

WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, the L.A. area is all in with the Bruins, who don’t play a Woodenesque brand of hoops. That honor, as we’ve been saying for a long time, goes to their opponent, Gonzaga. And, remember, UCLA went to the Final Four in 2006, 2007 and 2008. By 2013, Ben Howland had been run out of town. The Bruins have stars, but so did those teams. … No chance of that happening in Corvallis, though Oregon State might want to see what it can do to show Wayne Tinkle some love. … The new Utah coach had a few things to say. …. In the women’s tournament, Stanford survived a weird last couple minutes and defeated South Carolina. The Cardinal, with Spokane’s Hull sisters, are headed to Sunday’s final, where they will meet Arizona. The Wildcats made Connecticut play their style and they were better throughout. Arizona is in its first final while Stanford, under Naismith winner Tara VanDerveer, has been there often. … In football news, a couple more receivers are leaving Washington. … Oregon’s offensive line depth is being tested already. … Colorado’s defense is making an impression. … There is something flawed at the core of Utah football that needs to be fixed quickly. The Utes held their first scrimmage.

EWU: Around the Big Sky in football, Weber State travels to Southern Utah today and expects a battle.

Preps: Friday night football was headlined by the Battle of the Bell. Mt. Spokane won over Mead, 16-9. Dave Nichols has the story and James Snook the photo report. … Dave also has a roundup of other action.

Mariners: Though Yusei Kikuchi threw well in his first start of the season, the M’s fell to the Giants when the bullpen didn’t hold up. Same story, switched teams from the night before. … An M’s reliever, Will Vest, made his debut in the first one. … Ty France was the centerpiece in last year’s big trade.

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• We will be back tonight with our TV Take from the game. Our pick? Until later …