A Grip on Sports: Everything is set for this Saturday to be a shining moment for EWU and Gonzaga fans

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The ball is tipped. And there you are. In your chair, on the couch, pacing the living room floor. It’s time for your one shining moment, the Saturday you have been waiting for since eighth grade. Turn on the TV and enjoy two Spokane County schools playing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on the same day.

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• Saturdays are made for doughnuts, right? After all, following a workweek from perdition (aren’t they all?), a good fried pastry is just the thing to kickoff a relaxing weekend.

Which makes today’s TV-watching schedule even more appropriate. Especially if your predilection favors rooting for the Spokane County schools. Today’s NCAA schedule is sort of like a doughnut, featuring a large hole in the middle of the day.

First up are the Eastern Eagles, with their game scheduled to tip at 10:15 a.m. on TBS (oops, I had a typo earlier. This time is correct).

Shantay Legans’ team has the tougher assignment today, facing off with the West Region’s third-seed, Kansas. Oh, sure, the Jayhawks have been dealing with some virus issues and won’t have 6-foot-8 Jalen Wilson (still in the COVOD-19 protocols). But they did get some good news when 6-10 center David McCormack was cleared to play and arrived in Indianapolis. Kansas, a NCAA Tournament regular (and a school that has won three NCAA titles, which will match the number of tournament games for EWU after today), certainly has the pedigree edge on the upstart Eagles.

But past history shouldn’t mean anything. Nor should the seeding or the names on the uniforms. If Eastern plays at its best and the Jayhawks don’t, the Eagles will win. It’s that simple.

Upsets happen in the tournament’s first weekend. Always. Friday, second-seeded Ohio State lost to Oral Roberts, fourth-seed Purdue lost to North Texas and fifth-seed Tennessee was blown out by Oregon State. It’s time for a third seed to lose and it’s hard to imagine Texas losing to Abilene Christian.

Thankfully, there will be about six hours for you to celebrate Eastern Washington’s giant-killing ways. You don’t have to settle down until after 6 p.m., as Gonzaga begins its quest for a perfect season and its first national title at 6:20 on TBS.

The Zags don’t want to become the second No. 1 seed to lose a first-round game, even though the only other time that happened to Virginia, the Cavaliers rebounded to win the national title the next year. That’s not a road Mark Few and his team wants to travel, especially considering the high turnover that is likely to happen to the GU roster.

This is the year – at least until the next class of blue chip recruits enter. The Bulldogs have played seven games this season on neutral site courts, which the NCAA Tournament is the highest-profile example.

The worst opponent of those seven? Either Auburn, which finished under .500, or NIT first-round loser Saint Mary’s, in the West Coast Conference semifinals. Otherwise, the other five are all in the NCAAs. And all except West Virginia fell to the top-ranked Zags by at least double digits – in BYU’s case, three times.

It’s a strong resume, despite the coronavirus-caused loss of a Baylor showdown. And it should pay dividends. Starting tonight.

It’s all part of a sweet day in the Inland Northwest for college basketball fans.

• If you’ve wondered why I haven’t weighed in on the inequities between the men’s and women’s facilities, it’s pretty simple. I’m not all that surprised.

Look, Title IX was implemented in the early 1970s. When my wife Kim played college basketball in the late 1970s, the women’s team didn’t even have an assistant coach. Or a locker room. Or much of anything. And that attitude has prevailed for the past four decades.

But that isn’t why I’m not surprised. That is more built upon decades of observing the tone-deaf nature of the NCAA hierarchy. Didn’t anyone look at the weight room in Texas and say, “hey, this isn’t right?” Even if the facilities in Indiana were crappy (spoiler alert: they aren’t), the offerings in Texas aren’t good enough for Division I college athletes – no matter their gender.

For some reason the bureaucracy that is the NCAA can’t see past its nose. And it seems incapable of critical thinking, as in how circumstances will be perceived by its members and the public. The dichotomy between Indiana and Texas was visible days ago. And yet no one with the organization saw it. Or worse, someone did, tried to get someone’s attention and was ignored. We have our bet down on the latter circumstance.

We wrote a couple weeks ago on how each NCAA men’s tourney victory is worth millions while the women’s tourney doesn’t include a financial reward. (It’s the subject of a Sally Jenkins column today.) And that’s all you need to know. Money matters. It’s not only the root of all evil, it is the root of all college athletics. There is far fewer dollars generated by the women’s tournament, so there is little in the way of power allocated to those who run it.

Only when there is a public outcry do things change. And maybe not even then.

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Gonzaga: There will be a few fans in the stands when Gonzaga plays tonight. That’s one of the few differences for the Bulldogs in the tournament. Jim Meehan has that story as well as a look at the key matchup with Norfolk State. … John Blanchette takes a look at the Spartans, who don’t seem to be lacking in confidence. … Corey Kispert’s latest award nomination? He’s a Naismith finalist. Jim has that story. … We can pass along another Washington Post story on the Zags – and Baylor. … We can also pass along a roundup of yesterday’s games and a notebook from the tournament. … Elsewhere in the West Coast Conference, BYU has some experience. And a burning desire to win. Will it be enough to hold off UCLA today?

WSU: The baseball team opened Pac-12 play by easily handling 23rd-ranked Oregon State in Corvallis. Not only can we pass along a game story, we can link some photos as well. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, we mentioned Oregon State in the section about upsets above. But the Beavers played so well, the game didn’t feel anything like an upset. It was OSU’s first tourney win since 1982. … Oregon opens its tournament with an aggressive VCU team that likes to apply constant pressure. … Colorado is hoping for a March to remember. … So is USC and the Trojans have the horses inside to make a lot of noise. … UCLA has one game under its belt and a hankering for more. … Is Mike Hopkins in trouble at Washington? … In football news, we can pass along another preview of Arizona’s spring practice. … The NCAA still hasn’t made a decision on all football transfers, not just Utah’s.

EWU: The Eagles don’t lose players to the NBA after their freshmen year. As Ryan Collinwood tells us, that experience may be an advantage for Eastern today. … Ryan has a key matchup from this morning. … He also spoke with Larry Weir yesterday for the latest Press Box podcast.

Preps: Dave Nichols was privileged enough to watch a good high school football game last night. He was at Central Valley as Mt. Spokane rallied to edge the host Bears. … James Snook adds a photo gallery to the coverage. … Dave also has a roundup of Friday’s Greater Spokane League football action and one from around the area.

Chiefs: Spokane opened its truncated season with an overtime loss against Seattle. Kevin Dudley has the game coverage from Kent.

Mariners: Logan Gilbert won’t pitch anymore this spring. …The Mariners have a blueprint for building success. It’s just really old. … The M’s have won two consecutive games.

Seahawks: Chris Carson is back. And will be the Hawks’ lead running back again in 2021 as long as he’s healthy. The team and Carson agreed on a new contract. … That moves caps the first week of free agency.

Sounders: Brian Schmetzer needs to revamp the Seattle offense. Problem is, one of the players he’s going to feature isn’t around just yet.

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• We will be back tonight with our TV Take from the Gonzaga game. We’ll be listening to Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce on TBS. The game, in Bankers Life Arena, is being held at the site of the only game this season the Zags had that didn’t result in a double-digit win. Not sure that West Virginia game has any relevance tonight, though. By the way, goodbye winter. Hello spring. Today is a great day. Until later …