A Grip on Sports: The Gonzaga men hope to jump through an opening to the NCAA title, but they are not alone with local postseason dreams
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Wide open is probably the best term to describe this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Though there happens to be a local school that believes its path will finally be just wide enough.
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• There are many ways to envision Gonzaga winning its first national title early next month. Four or five easy wins en route to the title contest, like last season, culminated by a dominating championship game performance, again like last season. Except this time, the Zags see themselves on the dominating side of it.
It could happen.
The Bulldogs, the top overall seed, winners of 26 games, many of them against other NCAA contenders, could do it. In fact, they are one of about eight schools that could do it. Hence, the wide open label.
Is there a dominating team? No, not even the Zags who have looked the occasionally. Not Arizona, the second-overall seed. Not Kansas or Baylor, the other two No. 1s. Not Kentucky or Auburn. Not Villanova or Duke, the class of the Big East and ACC, respectively.
Whatever the reason – Covid? The transfer portal? Sixth-year seniors? – college basketball’s hierarchy has seemed to flatten out this season.
What does that mean? The next three weekends should be spectacular. New Orleans, site of this year’s Final Four, could welcome two or three surprise teams. And maybe, just maybe, the Zag men will be hoisting the trophy on a memorable Monday night.
• The women’s tournament isn’t as wide open. Once again South Carolina, the overall top seed, is just about everyone’s team to beat. But that was the case last season as well. And Stanford edged Arizona to win the title.
The Cardinal has a shot once again. So does North Carolina State. And Baylor. Louisville. But our choice, and this may surprise you, is Connecticut.
The Huskies lost five games this season. That’s a lot for UConn and a lot for a national title team. But many of those came when Paige Bueckers was out with an injury and Bueckers, like her good friend Jalen Suggs, is a special talent. Special enough to lift the Huskies to another title.
For the second consecutive year, two Inland Northwest teams, Washington State and Gonzaga, are in the tournament, though both have the unenviable task of having their region’s top seed waiting if they win their first-round game. For the eight-seeded Cougars, who play Kansas State in the opening round, it would NC State. For the ninth-seeded Zags, that would be Louisville.
Of those two challenges, and factoring in GU’s first-round opponent Nebraska, we give the Zags the edge to move on to the second weekend.
• If the NCAA tournaments were all we gave you Inland Northwest college hoop fans this morning, that would be enough, right? But we have more.
The Washington State men are still playing. The Cougars, who have defined roller-coaster play this season, are headed to the NIT. They will host a game Tuesday night. And the foe is a familiar one, at least to those of us who watch both WSU and Gonzaga play on a regular basis: Santa Clara.
Herb Sendek’s Broncos had an outside shot – literally – at meeting the Zags in the WCC finals but fell to Saint Mary’s in the semis. In other words, they were two wins short of an NCAA berth. Which is one closer than Washington State.
But the Broncos may be immaterial to the outcome tomorrow night, in this sense: If WSU brings its “A” game, it will win. No matter how well Santa Clara plays.
The Cougars are better. Though not so much better they can get by without their best effort. No matter what, Tuesday night’s game is a nice appetizer for what’s ahead this week.
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Gonzaga: There is a lot here. Jim Meehan begins it with the news story. The Zags begin Thursday afternoon against Georgia State in Portland. … Theo Lawson has a look at the other three teams in GU’s Portland pod as well as this piece on Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona team also earning a No. 1 seed, which was expected by Mark Few and the Zag players. … Kathy Plonka was at the Bulldog’s bracket celebration and has this photo gallery. … Justin Reed has a few travel tips for those heading to Portland. We have one as well: Coco’s Donuts. They are our favorites in the Rose City. … The women also watched the bracket reveal together and Jim Allen has this story on their thoughts. … The West regional games will be held in Spokane, which, as Jim tells us, could be a homecoming for Stanford’s Hull sisters, from Central Valley High. … There are local connections throughout the NCAA brackets, something Dave Cook delves into. … From there we can delve into the national picture, at least on the men’s side. After all, Gonzaga is the favorite. Overall and in the West. And Arizona plays that role in the South, which will be held in somewhat nearby San Antonio. … Can Duke upend the Zags in Mike Krzyzewski last go-round? … Kansas and defending champion Baylor deserve their lofty seedings. … Around the WCC, USF and Saint Mary’s earned NCAA berths. The Dons are ecstatic and Saint Mary’s loves being in Portland. … Both Portland teams are playing this postseason, which is an accomplishment. … The BYU women earned their highest NCAA seed ever. … The Cougar men are headed to the NIT and will host Long Beach State.
WSU: The Cougar women jumped for joy when their name was announced Sunday evening. It’s the second consecutive season they’ve been able to do that. Colton Clark was at the celebration and has this story. … He also has coverage of the men and their NIT berth. … Back to the women, the Cougars may be underdogs to Kansas State, which just happens to have ties to WSU’s president. … The baseball team took the final game of its home series with fourth-ranked Oregon State. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Washington didn’t get an NIT invite so the season is over. … Oregon did and will host Utah State. … UCLA will be playing in Portland though the Bruins were not happy with their seed. … USC’s lack of highly thought of nonconference wins may have led to a lower seed than the Trojans wanted. … The Colorado men are headed to the NIT. … The Oregon, Utah and Colorado women made the NCAA tournament. So did Arizona. The Wildcats will host. And, of course, Stanford is one of the favorites. … In football news, how will Washington’s offensive depth chart look heading into fall?
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana State earned a 14 seed in the men’s tournament and will play Texas Tech. The women will face top-seeded Stanford. … Idaho State men’s coach Ryan Looney has been given a contract extension.
Whitworth: The Pirate swimmers are headed to the NCAA meet again, after a couple years lost to COVID-19. Dan Thompson dives into their journey in this story.
Mariners: Spring training is finally beginning. So of course the M’s have questions to answer. … One of them is Emerson Hancock’s health. The pitching prospect is out for a while. … Another? When are they going to sign someone special?
Seahawks: The Hawks have a huge question looming now. Who is their quarterback? … Maybe we should pass this story along as well, though we sort of yawned when we heard the news. Tom Brady decided he’s not retiring yet after all. And his announcement launched a thousand memes.
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• Bonus golf! It’s rare the sport goes into extra time. This week though, with the awful weather on the Florida coast, The Players Championship is holding its final round today. And we have something to watch on a Monday. Popcorn will be popped, Diet Pepsi will be opened and the feet will be up. In other words, a normal Monday with just a slight twist. Until later …