A Grip on Sports: Despite all the mud on the windshield, college hoops is still driving toward the finish line

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s hard to understand how we can be this close to the end of the college basketball season and have such little in the way of clarity. What happened to one or two teams dominating? That’s so 2021.

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• The lack of clarity isn’t just a national phenomenon either. It’s spread its tentacles, fungi-like, throughout college hoops. (Yes, we have been watching that HBO show.) Locally, too. Except out in Cheney.

That’s where the exception that proves the rule resides. The Eagles are one of only two undefeated-in-conference schools in America (Oral Roberts is the other), and are one win (or a Montana State loss) away from clinching the Big Sky regular season crown outright.

Oh, and securing the top seed in the conference’s postseason tournament. You know, Boise, the place where the NCAA’s automatic berth is decided.

But besides the Eagle men, everything else around here (and nationally) seems so muddled.

Yes, we like that word, muddled. Harkens back to Harry Potter. Or our youth, when every mud puddle was a challenge to see how high we could make the stuff fly with our feet. Or track-mud-in-the-house season, which has come and gone already but will be back with a vengeance over the next few weeks.

We digress, as usual. Where were we? Oh, right, college hoops.

Who is going to win the national title. A couple years ago in late February, if we took Baylor and Gonzaga and gave you the field, we would have felt confident of cashing. And would have, actually.

We wouldn’t have felt as confident last year but if we entered the tournament with the four No. 1 seeds on our ticket, we would have felt, at least, content. And cashed again, with Kansas.

This season? Heck, we can’t even tell, with any certainty, who will be the top seeds. And there are only a few weeks left before Selection Sunday.

Kansas, more than likely. Purdue possibly, though the Boilermakers are not the machine they were a month ago. Houston? Alabama? UCLA? Tennessee? Your guess is as valid as anyone else’s.

Heck, we’re not even sure what’s going to happen with the darn Zags. Is this their year? After all the hand-wringing and hair-pulling among the Gonzaga faithful, it would be just the type of Cinderella story Carl Spackler wafted poetic about. After all the No. 1 seeds and undefeated seasons, Mark Few lifting the trophy in Houston following this up-and-down year would be too Hollywood, wouldn’t it?

Heck, the 23-5 Bulldogs need to win Saturday against Saint Mary’s to even have a shot at being the top seed in the West Coast Conference tournament. And even a win in that game won’t guarantee anything until the NCAA’s byzantine NET rankings are determined.

That’s not even the most complicated aspect of the next few weeks. What if Washington State ends the regular season on a six-game winning streak? Besides the wow factor, would it earn the Cougars any credit toward Pac-12 tourney seeding? Maybe, maybe not. An 11-9 conference mark probably would still not be good enough to earn the fourth seed – and a first-round bye in Las Vegas. The two schools tied for that spot now (at 10-7), Utah and Arizona State, are an issue for WSU. Especially the Utes, who won both regular season meetings. Washington State split with the Sun Devils (and swept 9-8 Oregon, which has three winnable games remaining) which means tie-breakers aren’t the Cougs’ friends.

Still, a six-game winning streak would be hard to ignore. It would get the Cougars above .500 overall. It would mean a season sweep of the Huskies. And it would ensure WSU is the team no one wants to face in the first round.

In this season of nothing but favorites having a short reign at the top and mud splattering all over highly ranked teams, one thing is clear: Nothing really is.

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WSU: We are always here for stories about Mike Leach’s stories, like this one in The Athletic. Why? Days should always start with laughs. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, the best game last night was at Stanford, where the third-ranked Cardinal women held of No. 17 UCLA 71-66 before a crowd that included Steph Curry. … The Colorado men have had trouble making long-range shots this season. … A Utah player may miss the Arizona State game this week. … In football news, we can offer two Oregon State position previews, one offense and one defense. You’re welcome. … In the Mercury News, Jon Wilner examines Ohio State canceling its series with Washington and wonders if it portends an upcoming trend.

Gonzaga: Before we examine where the Zags are ranked now, let’s look to the future. Theo Lawson spent some time at the most overrated school in Southern California last weekend. (We say that because Notre Dame was our high school’s top rival and we hold a grudge to this day.) He watched signee Dusty Stromer play. And introduces us to next year’s freshman guard. … OK, the polls. Jim Meehan has the men’s, who moved up a spot to 12. And Jim Allen has the women’s result, which included a jump to 18th. … Speaking of the men, five of them made a visit to Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital on Monday. Treva Lind has the story. … The baseball team had a tough opening weekend at Texas Tech. … Former GU sports information director Oliver Pierce will be a hall of famer in June. That news leads off the S-R’s latest local briefs column. … Elsewhere in the WCC, is it time for Mark Pope to make some big changes at BYU? Past time, maybe?

EWU: We are among probably a handful of Spokane County folks who can say they watched Olympian Maxie Parks run in person. Now we have to figure out a way to get out to Cheney to watch his grandson Cedric Coward, play hoops in person. Dan Thompson shares Coward’s legacy today in a great story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, a Colfax High alum is going to spend another year helping the Montana women win. … The Griz men have a big week ahead. … In football news, a former Montana quarterback commit is walking on at Montana State.

Preps: The Spokesman-Review’s High School Basketball Showcase is right around the corner. Dave Nichols has the lineups to share. … There is a storm brewing on the West Side having to do with a late-game incident. Lawyers are involved.

Chiefs: Vancouver scored in the final minute of overtime to top the visiting Chiefs 4-3 on Monday.

Mariners: Marco Gonzales will more than likely be the fifth starter. He’s earned that with his veteran status. … On the other side of the coin sits catching prospect Harry Ford.

Kraken: Seattle had a day game in San Jose yesterday. They didn’t show up, figuratively. The Sharks rolled to a 4-0 win.

Seahawks: The Jamal Adams trade hasn’t been Seattle’s best. Can it still pay off? … It looks as if the Hawks have found a new quarterbacks coach. … Geno Smith could have to stay with Seattle. If the Hawks put the franchise tag on him. Will they?

Storm: The team signed another veteran player yesterday.

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• We have the feeling Kansas is going to enter the NCAA Tournament as the odds-on favorite. But will the Jayhawks go back-to-back? We doubt it. Our pick? Wait, didn’t you read what we wrote above? We have no idea. It’s just a big muddle. Until later …