A Grip on Sports: When the Pac-12’s re-formed basketball rankings hit this time next year, don’t be surprised if the conference members dominate the West

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A warm wind blew through the Inland Northwest on Monday. Not strong enough to move much but plenty warm enough, melting the old snow and making room for any new that might come down the road. A perfect analogy for college basketball on the West Coast.

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• To quote the moral compass of one of our favorite baseball movies, “Field of Dreams,” college hoops on the Left Coast “has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.”

Terence Mann may have been preaching about baseball and America, but what is more American than basketball? And more a feature of modern Americana? Basketball is ubiquitous in small towns and urban centers. It dominates on the world stage and in backyards. It features the underdog and favors the blue bloods for much of its most famous month.

It is special.

For decades Pac-12 basketball held sway over a large swath of the country. Was a major player throughout it. That ended when 10 of the 12 members decided to scatter in the early part of this decade.

But it will be reborn in less than a year. A new Pac-12. A melting pot of two holdovers, five of the best the Mountain West has, the Coast’s most-dominate program this century and new blood from Texas.

American resilience personified. Its ingenuity in its finest form. Heck, the Statue of Liberty’s calling of “send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door” seems apropos as well.

And what will the Pac-12’s new flag fly over? Only the best basketball conference with all of its members west of the Mississippi.

OK, caveat time. None of the Power Five hoop conferences have that geographic tilt. The Big 12 is close but the universities of West Virginia and Central Florida are also members, so there is that.

The farther west one goes this time next year, the more the Pac-12 will hold sway. Especially in hoops.

Pac-12 expert Jon Wilner took a look into the future in the Mercury News this morning. He used the NET rankings of the re-formed conference’s members this season. And then compared those to the conference’s old setup, along with the current Mountain West and current WCC.

The new Pac-12, even with a resume that isn’t quite as strong as expected, still is not far behind its previous incarnation. An average of 115.1 as opposed to 87.2. And a large part of the gap is supplied by Texas State’s awful 266 ranking (out of 365). Without the Bobcats, the gap shrinks from 27.9 to 9.1.

In other words, expect the new-look Pac-12 to be within touching distance of the conference a lot of us grew up with. Minus the history of national titles, of course. Then again, the old makeup last won a title before Y2K (Arizona, 1997). And UCLA (last title: 1995) was responsible for 69% of the group’s 16 championships.

The latest West Coast schools to reach the Final Four? San Diego State in 2023 and Gonzaga and UCLA in 2021. Funny, two of those schools will be part of the Pac-12 again next season.

Yes, former Pac-12 member Arizona – coached by longtime GU assistant Tommy Lloyd – was a near-unanimous No. 1 in this week’s Associated Press men’s basketball poll. But that’s it for old Pac-12 members. The new-look Pac-12? It has two teams in the Top 25. Gonzaga at nine and Utah State at 23.

The warm wind that blows through the West this time next year may very well signal what it always has. Change is one the way. And space needs to be made in the landscape for the new.

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WSU: The Cougar men’s basketball fortunes are not what anyone would like to see but there is hope for the future. Even the near future. One reason? Spanish import Adrià Rodriguez is acclimating to his new home. Greg Woods took some time to tell us how he is doing it. … The transfer portal news rolls on like a steamroller. And Greg has WSU covered with the latest highlight. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner’s rankings of next year’s Pac-12 members, included in the column I linked above, is on the S-R’s website this morning. … John Canzano answered questions, including some about WSU, in his Monday mailbag. … The NCAA Tournament selections show might just be dominated by the Bigs. As in the Big Ten and Big 12. … We mentioned Christian Welp’s jersey retirement ceremony Washington held recently. And linked the Times coverage. We link Percy Allen’s story today as it is on the S-R site. … Visiting Oregon will try tonight to hand No. 8 Nebraska its first loss. … USC will try to win its first game back home after a long trip. … Colorado’s Tad Boyle is trying to get the Big 12’s attention concerning a video review. … San Diego State is still undefeated in conference. … Yes, Utah State is ranked for the first time this season. … The Oregon State women have many new faces.

• In football news, Wilner has one more Mercury News column. It covers Arizona’s reversal this season of its football fortunes. And whether it will last. … Former Washington State punter Ryan Harris landed at Arizona. … There is more transfer portal news everywhere. Comings. Goings. And, often time more importantly, players who decide to stay at their school. Here is a smattering of the coverage, starting with Washington and the multiple stories. Oregon State news from another front too. And some from Oregon. Colorado, who is losing a star. Colorado State. Utah. Arizona State, whose former quarterback will be LSU’s next season. That’s happened before. … Boise State is still paying a former head coach.

Gonzaga: Jim Meehan has this coverage of the A.P. poll drop from Monday. He also mentions GU’s NET ranking, which rose overnight from six to five.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, it seems like a good time to pass along the standings for the women and men. … In football news, Montana is saying goodbye to a longtime assistant coach. … Montana State is keeping two key players, quarterback Justin Lamson and receiver Taco Dowler. … Northern Colorado lost two players to Big 12 schools.

Seahawks: Much of the rest of the week will focus on the Hawks’ NFC semifinal game with the visiting 49ers. We learned the starting time late last night. The rematch of a game from two weeks ago will kick at 5 p.m. Saturday on Fox. … The question is simple. Are the Seahawks ready for the big stage? They are the Super Bowl favorite after all. … The past might just inform the present. … Watching a Hawks’ game in person? You are also being watched. … A couple players may return this week from injuries. … Jon Ryan always has been a smart guy. And worth listening too. … For five games and three quarters of a seventh, Wild Card Weekend was tighter than the turns on Stevens Pass. Then Houston turned up the pressure, the Steelers’ offense melted and the Panthers won 30-6.

Kraken: A rare recent loss was followed Monday night by Seattle handling the Rangers 4-2 in Madison Square Garden.

Golf: The PGA Tour moved quickly. Decisively. It allowed LIV defector Brooks Koepka to rejoin. There is a financial penalty, part of which was something we favored, a large charitable contribution. But it’s mostly in future earnings. And he can play this season. The terms of the deal are also available for three other former Tour members, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith. But they have to decide by Feb. 2.

Sounders: Seattle is going slowly with Paul Arriola’s return from his ACL surgery. The MLS season is a long one, so there is time.

Mariners: Cal Raleigh. A Jeopardy category. It fits. 

Bloomsday: Time for another of Nina Culver’s stories on a Bloomsday perennial. This one is a friend, former S-R Outdoors editor Rich Landers. 

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• I don’t know if you saw the video of a bunch of youth hockey players in an on-ice brawl the other night, but we did. And are not a bit surprised there is an investigation of the incident. Until later …