A Grip on Sports: At least starting today, the madness is of a somewhat normal variety
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. All over the place. After all, it is March. And there is madness everywhere.
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• Can we please settle down everyone? It’s too early in the month to get into a tizzy. We haven’t started the NCAA Tournament, the official (and trademarked) March Madness event. But when football and basketball collide, as is happening around here, it’s hard to keep the madness under control.
Take what happened Saturday afternoon in Cheney.
The Eagles banged around Northern Arizona’s defense to such a degree that, despite three turnovers, EWU still scored 45 points and won by 32. That’s madness of one sort.
Cheney was also the site of another type of madness, this one virus-induced. Which actually makes it sort of normal for this past year. The top seed at the Big Sky conference basketball tournament, which begins Wednesday in Boise, was determined by a game not played. Southern Utah finished with the same number of conference wins as Weber State and Eastern but suffered one less loss. That gave the Thunderbirds the No. 1 seed and the right to wear home uniforms all week.
We’re not saying that wrong, it’s just, well, sort of maddening. The West Coast Conference anticipated this a bit better. It came up with a formula that rated games played and weighted them, meaning a team with a better record could earn a lower seed. It happened. With that in place, the four semifinal teams were seeding 1 (Gonzaga), 2 (BYU, both of which got byes to this point), 3 (Pepperdine) and 4 (Saint Mary’s). By winning percentage, Saint Mary’s should have received the seventh seed and Pepperdine the fourth.
Was the Big Sky or the WCC right? Does it really matter?
(As an aside, I’m pretty sure if the Pac-12 had used the WCC’s formula, USC would have won the conference title over Oregon. I can’t tell for sure because the formula was proprietary, but the Ducks were 14-4, missing games against UCLA and Arizona State. USC, 15-5, played its entire conference schedule.)
The more sane type of madness begins today, for Gonzaga at least.
The Zag men and women, both regular season WCC champions, open tournament play in the usual spot, the Orleans in Las Vegas. (And, if the worst happens concerning COVID-19, that decision might be another sort of madness.)
All each is looking for, besides hardware of course, is improving or maintaining seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Both will participate, the women in the San Antonio bubble, the men in Indianapolis’ safety net.
The men have been the top seed in the committee’s eyes since the beginning of the process. A loss in the tournament could cost them that, though it’s not guaranteed.
The women, despite earning national recognition and praise, could use the two wins to move up a line or two, which could be the difference between playing a couple weekends or just one. In their case, however, there is one other factor: BYU. The Cougar men are going to the NCAA Tournament. They are locked in. The BYU women are on the bubble. They probably have to win the WCC title and automatic bid to be sure. That’s a huge motivating factor (though not an important financial windfall, as the NCAA doesn’t distribute millions for its women’s tournament as it does for the men).
Still if you happen to see BYU women playing like mad this next two days, you can attribute it to a lot of things, one of which is March Madness.
• Because we weren’t here yesterday, we are linking not only all of this morning’s news, but also some of Sunday’s as well. Might as well be on the record. Plus, if you missed it, you can catch up. At work. Seems like a win-win.
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Gonzaga: The Zags and Gaels play so often it may seem redundant. It isn’t. Jim Meehan has a preview of tonight’s semifinal meeting as well as a look at the key matchup. … Jim also has an examination of how the Bulldogs stack up by the numbers. … Domantas Sabonis won the NBA skills competition yesterday, using tools he honed at GU. … Over the weekend, we ran a bunch of stories and graphics concerning the Gonzaga men, including Jim’s story on Corey Kispert, Justin Reed’s look a bunch of different lineups using players Mark Few’s players and Charles Apple’s examination of GU history in this Further Review. … The women open this morning against Santa Clara, a team it has dominated on the boards recently. Jim Allen has a preview. … Jim also has a story on how they’ve performed recently.
WSU: Theo Lawson recently examined the football schedule, sat down and ranked all the games from least to most interesting. … The baseball team lost yesterday, snapping a six-game winning streak. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, Jon Wilner doesn’t think the conference’s way of determining the title was incorrect. … The final standings (and tournament matchups) were determined yesterday when Oregon shot the lights out from 3-point range and defeated host Oregon State. … Utah is so up-and-down, maybe the Utes will win the tournament. … USC defeated UCLA on Saturday night on a last-second three pointer. Sounds familiar. … Arizona finished its season in the top half of the standings, but the road ahead may include a few more losses (or games disappearing). … On the women’s side, Stanford is playing its best basketball, walloping UCLA in the tournament title game. … In football news, another Washington receiver is in the transfer portal. … Arizona State’s offense is set to produce big numbers.
EWU: Luke Byrnes put together this story on Eastern basketball player Grace Kirscher, who has overcome a lot in her career. … We mentioned the football team’s big win Saturday. Ryan Collingwood has the story and Tyler Tjomsland has the photographs.
Idaho: The Vandals’ football team was rolling against UC Davis until halftime. Then it all changed. The Aggies came roaring back and won 27-17. Peter Harriman has Saturday’s story.
Preps: It was a busy Saturday night, with Lake City losing the 5A basketball title game to Meridian and St. Maries winning the 2A title. Dave Nichols covered both in this story. … He also had a story on Pullman’s win over North Central and a roundup of other prep action. … We already linked the Pac-12 women’s basketball awards, but the Hull sisters’ haul leads off our local briefs for this week.
Mariners: The best story of the weekend is Ryan Divish’s interview with Kyle Seager. … Roenis Elias is back in a Mariner uniform, vying for a bullpen spot. … Logan Gilbert, who pitched yesterday in a Seattle spring training loss, is hoping to impress. … Mitch Haniger could win the comeback player of the year award.
Seahawks: You want to talk wild Russell Wilson trade scenarios? Here’s one. … Better protection would seem to be the better choice then adding another star wide receiver, but maybe that’s just me. … Before a final decision is made by anyone, maybe everyone should cool down a bit.
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• We will be working tonight. It’s a rare Monday night in front of the TV, watching Gonzaga play and commenting on the broadcast of the game. I wonder what we will see. Whatever it is, we’ll let you know. We always do. Until later …