A Grip on Sports: Who knew the Bulldogs would have trouble with Alabama yesterday? Anyone paying attention
A GRIP ON SPORTS • A couple of college powerhouses with Bulldogs as their mascot went down last night. And both of them lost to Alabama. Weird, huh?
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• Of the two defeats the Crimson Tide handed to Gonzaga (in hoops) and Georgia (in football), the one that surprised us the least happened in Seattle.
As we mentioned here yesterday, Nate Oats’ team checked all the requisite boxes for an upset.
The Tide defends. Not only with ferocity but with physicality as well. It cost them in one regard, as foul trouble limited a handful of players’ time on the floor, but Gonzaga’s ragged foul shooting – it was just 13 of 25 from the line – reduced its impact.
The Tide attacks. Alabama doesn’t just fly around on the defensive end. It also is a high-volume 3-point shooting team. When they fall near 40 percent – it shot 38.2 (13-of-34) against GU – the Tide is tough.
The Tide rolls. How often does anyone outscore the Zags in transition? Rarely, right? Last night, Alabama was credited with 13 fast-break points, Gonzaga nine. The Tide was willing to run with GU mainly because it is the way they play. But also because they knew they could go blow-to-blow with the Bulldogs with a fast pace. Not many teams can say that.
The loss leaves Gonzaga with a 7-2 record. The Zags will drop in the polls, maybe even out of the top 10. Losing to Duke is one thing. Losing to a football school – America’s perception of 16th-ranked Alabama will never change – is another. And it leaves the Bulldogs with precious few chances to rise again, if not in the polls at least in the NCAA Selection Committees’ eyes.
Texas Tech may provide a boost in Phoenix, though since Chris Beard left the Red Raiders have once again retreated into obscurity. Though Ken Pomeroy’s rating system has them 19th, they are unranked in the polls. Undefeated USF (9-0 and ranked 32nd by Pomeroy) has a chance to emerge from the mid-major shadows and give the Zags a bump. Same with 7-1 BYU (24th by Pomeroy) and Saint Mary’s (38th). After that, it’s a long way to the Santa Claras and Loyola Marymounts of the WCC.
Which means the critics will have their ammunition come Selection Sunday – as they always do.
But by then the Zags should be different. Most of Mark Few’s recent teams have featured veteran lineups that were ready to compete at their highest level early in the season. This group doesn’t have that. Gonzaga is melding in so many newcomers – that showed last night and against Duke – that the WCC schedule should be a test ground for March. As long as the youngsters pass the tests, the Zags will be much improved by then.
• Here we go again. The four-team college football playoffs will include two SEC schools. Why can’t that conference produce one great team like everyone else?
We’re joking of course. But after Alabama’s 41-24 dismantling of Georgia maybe the answer is we didn’t really rate the Bulldogs correctly. After all, throughout the season, with the loss at Texas A&M and close calls at Florida, at home against LSU and Arkansas and an undeserved win at Auburn, we knew Alabama wasn’t, well, Alabama.
It’s just that we all thought Georgia was this behemoth that couldn’t be dented or scratched. Turns out, the Bulldogs hadn’t really defeated anybody.
Clemson? This was the Tigers worst team in years. The SEC schedule? All the truly decent teams in the conference were in the West. The Bulldogs didn’t beat anyone this season with less than three losses. That’s not a recipe for success despite their domination.
When somebody finally pushed back, Georgia folded.
If the Bulldogs were in any other conference, there would be incredibly deep discussions today about whether they deserved to be in the final four instead of one-loss Notre Dame. It would be a toss up considering the schedules, neither of which were all that taxing. But that conversation won’t even begin. Not with the sway the SEC holds over the sport.
Michigan and Cincinnati will join the two SEC schools in the playoffs. And Alabama will probably win the title. Especially if Nick Saban lets Nate Oats run his defense.
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Gonzaga: The Zags’ defeat won’t fly under the radar anywhere. They never do. But the coverage from the S-R was outstanding, starting with Theo Lawson’s game story and continuing through his three takeaways from the game. … From there, Jim Meehan jumps in with the difference makers and a story on the Alabama backcourt’s domination. … Tyler Tjomsland was also in Seattle and he covers the visual report. … Former Spokesman columnist Dave Boling returns to the pages with a column. … The folks in the office put together this recap with highlights. … There was a little coverage in Seattle. … Around the WCC, BYU’s men won at Missouri State while the 21st-ranked Cougar women remained undefeated by edging Utah. … USF hammered visiting UNLV to improve to 9-0. … Pacific fell at Cal State Fullerton. … Loyola Marymount won a Southern California battle, topping Long Beach State.
WSU: Undefeated USC came to Pullman yesterday and left the same way. But that unblemished record was in doubt until the final buzzer. That’s when Noah Williams’ possible game winner just missed and the Trojans had earned a 63-61 victory. Sydney Berger has this story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Colorado had a chance but lost to No. 13 Tennessee in Boulder. … Arizona State could use a win. So could Oregon. … Arizona hasn’t played in a while thanks to Washington’s coronavirus issues. The Wildcats face Oregon State. … In football news, Jon Wilner has his usual Saturday night Mercury News-based look at the action. … He also ranks the 10 best players in the conference. None were quarterbacks. … There was one final conference game last night in Berkeley, a makeup game from the Bears’ COVID-19 postponed matchup with USC. Except the Trojans didn’t show up – literally. Nine players didn’t play for non-injury reasons, USC gave the ball away often and Cal won 24-14. … Oregon will have to bounce back from another blowout loss to Utah. And the Ducks may have to do it without their head coach. … The Utes will hear their name announced today as the Pac-12 representative in the Rose Bowl. It will be a first for Utah. The opponent? Ohio State, a team Oregon dominated early in the year. … Arizona lost another player.
EWU: Rylan Bergersen’s 32 points led the Eagles to a 92-81 road win over Nebraska-Omaha, lifting Eastern back to .500 overall at 4-4. … Around the Big Sky, Northern Colorado is 2-0 in conference after another tight one. This time the Bears topped Montana 78-75. … Montana State got back on the winning track by getting past host Sacramento State. … Weber State is still undefeated after an easy win against Portland State. … In the FCS playoffs, Montana State rode the lift of a new starting quarterback and its usual stifling defense to a 26-7 win over visiting UT-Martin. … Sacramento State fell behind 24-3 at the half, rallied but fell just short, losing 24-19 to visiting South Dakota State. … Next up for Montana is James Madison.
Idaho: The Vandals gave Southern Utah everything it could want and more, falling 81-75 in Moscow. Peter Harriman has the game coverage.
Preps: Almira/Coulee-Hartline rolled through the 1B State football playoffs with Saturday’s final against Quilcene proving no different. The Warriors won 50-20 in a game that featured a running clock. Dave Nichols has the story. … Dave also can pass along the basketball roundup from Saturday. … We can share the All-GSL pictures from the fall sports as well.
Chiefs: Last night was the Teddy Bear Toss game at the Arena. Spokane won – in more ways than one. The Chiefs picked up a 3-2 victory and the Christmas Bureau picked up 5,175 stuffed animals. Kevin Dudley has the story and Colin Mulvany the photographs.
Seahawks: The Hawks host San Francisco today. Can Russell Wilson play like Russell Wilson?
Kraken: Seattle is slowly crawling back into the Pacific Division race.
Sounders: Portland will be playing for the MLS Cup. In Portland. The Timber topped Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
Mariners: The labor deadlock shut down the M’s offseason spending spree. For now.
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• I am thankful for the early Christmas gift the Seattle Seahawks gave me. The gift of time. Four hours or so every Sunday afternoon the next few weeks. With their boring play, they made it easy for me to schedule other things on Sundays. Until later …