A Grip on Sports: Before we are overwhelmed by the runup to Rams/Seahawks Part III, we decided to take some time looking around the area
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are people I know, and know well, who are already ripping their fingernails apart due to what’s coming Sunday afternoon in Seattle. That seems like an eternity to me. Too long, at least, to spend too much time on the NFC title game today. Instead, let’s take a quick look at everything else happening, shall we? And leave the weekend to the weekend.
•••••••
• There are two Pac-12-to-be men’s basketball programs in the Inland Northwest. One is trending up despite two injuries that easily could have derailed the rise. The one with the Pac-12 history is, as its coach says, at the season’s low point.
• Gonzaga is ranked eighth nationally by poll voters. The Zags are seventh in my most-trusted analytical measure. They are a consensus two-seed by the myriad of bracketologists that dominate the discussion. And all of that has continued even without injured posts Braden Huff (at least three weeks away) and Graham Ike (game-to-game).
Maybe that’s because the healthy group Mark Few does have is 2-0, with stress-free wins over Seattle U. and, Wednesday night, WCC-cellar dweller Pepperdine.
Few played 10 double-digit minutes last night, something that hasn’t been on his dance card often in recent memory. The five who came off the bench doubled the point output of the five who started, 56-28. The result? An 84-60 win over the Waves, the 51st consecutive time Pepperdine has left a matchup with GU toting a loss.
• The yin to that yang? What’s happening in Pullman. The Cougars have lost four consecutive times. They have dropped games due to faulty offense, despite playing well on the defensive end. They have failed, as they did Wednesday at the University of San Diego, 96-92, due to a leaky defense.
As David Riley said on the postgame radio show, “We’re not gonna become a good team until we know what we’re getting consistently from guys.”
Will that happen Saturday after the Cougs fly home? Pepperdine (6-15, 1-7) visits, having lost seven of its last eight. It seems like an opportune time.
• It seems an opportune time to be a Cougar football player. New coach Kirby Moore has been aggressive in enticing Power 4 transfers to Pullman, filling holes on both sides of the ball with players looking to show they belong on the field.
Football’s portal resembles an elevator these days, with players popping on and either ascending or descending in hopes of finding a place to park their career for a while.
Moore has attracted 32 transfers thus far – though the portal is closed to newcomers, there are hundreds of entrants who have yet to find a new spot – and 12 of them came from Power 4 programs.
The Cougars’ class is considered the best in the rebuilt Pac-12 and makes them one of the West Coast’s winners in Jon Wilner’s eyes.
• Eastern Washington’s men will host the winningest team in the Big Sky tonight. Portland State, which has won every one of its first five conference games, visits Cheney. Looking at the records – EWU is 4-14 overall, 2-3 in conference; PSU is 11-5, 5-0 – one could easily see the 6 p.m. game (on SWX) as a mismatch.
But the Eagles are playing their best basketball of the season, having won two of their last three to double their win total.
• The biggest game of the night, however, might just be in Corvallis. The Gonzaga women face Oregon State with at least a share of the WCC lead on the line (6, ESPN+).
Both teams are 14-6 overall and 6-1 in conference play. Yet the Zags are ranked 65 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and the Beavers 84. The main reason? Gonzaga’s schedule. Lisa Fortier’s group has played seven Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, winning two of them. Tonight’s hosts have played just four of the tougher matchups, going 1-3.
The way games are defined by the NCAA, tonight’s will be a Quad 3 contest for both. And will also count the same in the conference standings.
•••
WSU: We linked above Greg Woods’ story on the Cougs basketball loss from last night. We link it again here. … The same can be said about his story on the transfer portal results. There is a link in our thoughts above and one here. … After last season, the Cougar women lost six players to the portal within a week. But Charlotte Abraham stayed. Greg Lee has this story that explains why and how this season has turned out for the French national. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Saint Mary’s took apart Oregon State in Moraga, limiting the Beavers to 28.6% shooting. … Colorado has to regroup quickly from another tough loss. … Utah meets BYU again Saturday. It’s in Provo this time. … Stanford has lost an injured player for the season. … USC got a player back from injury but Alijah Arenas shot poorly and the Trojans lost at home to Northwestern. … After losing to West Virginia last night, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley sounded like a man ready for a change. … Tommy Lloyd has made his change. And Arizona is better for it. The top-ranked Wildcats stayed undefeated by rolling Cincinnati in the second half. … San Diego State is the latest Mountain West team to lose at Grand Canyon on a disputed call. … Utah State is trying to figure out why it couldn’t finish off UNLV. … The Washington women, with Colfax’s Brynn McGaughy leading the way, topped Penn State. … Oregon has lost for consecutive games and is puzzled why. … Third-ranked UCLA is the team that leaves opponents grasping for answers. … USC is searching for some as it heads on the challenging Big Ten road.
• In football news, we linked above Wilner’s ratings of the West’s transfer portal activity. And once more here. … Wilner also has a column in the Mercury News on the Big-12’s outside-the-norm scheduling philosophy. The conference released the 2026 schedule yesterday so we can pass along stories on Utah, Colorado, Arizona State and Arizona. … Oregon State is going to hire an experienced defensive coordinator. … USC is too. The Trojans are hiring a Hall of Famer, actually. … Oregon has some questions to answer.
Gonzaga: Theo Lawson’s game analysis is linked above. And here too. … Jim Meehan has his three takeaways and another story on how the Zags’ offense clicked last night. … Tyler Tjomsland’s photo gallery has a lot of shots of Gonzaga baskets. The Zags did score quite a few. …Theo posted a story earlier Wednesday. It is about Drew Timme and his newest fan in Los Angeles, LeBron James. … Greg Lee’s preview of tonight’s women’s game vs. Oregon State was also linked above. And here as well. … Greg has one more story to pass along. Lauren Whittaker, the standout Bulldog freshman, is on the midseason Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award watch list. … ESPN has a story on Tyon Grant-Foster’s long college career. Hey, at least he didn’t sign three NBA contracts.
EWU: Dan Thompson has a preview of the men’s home game with Portland State tonight. It also has a section on the women’s contest in Portland. We linked it above. Might as well link it here too. … Elsewhere the Big Sky, former EWU and Montana receiver Michael Wortham will play in the Shrine game. … Montana State celebrated its FCS title in Helena and said goodbye to an assistant coach.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a couple of stories today. There is this news feature on two local cross country coaches earning nods into the Washington State track and field and cross country coaches associations’ joint Hall of Fame. And Dave has a roundup of Wednesday night’s GSL wrestling action.
Kraken: The four-game losing streak is over. Seattle took down the Islanders 4-1 at home last night.
Mariners: Where do the M’s prospects rank in Baseball America’s highly anticipated top 100?
Seahawks: We are not ignoring the Hawks. We have links to stories in the S-R that ran in the Seattle Times recently, including this one on Riq Woolen’s turnaround and another on Rashid Shaheed. … Sam Darnold is managing his oblique injury this week but expects to be full-go Sunday. … Mike Macdonald saw this coming. … Who will Seattle turn to at backup running back? … There is also some worry about the health at tackle. … Jaxon Smith-Njigba earned a top offensive award. … There is a Seahawk fan quiz in the Times today. … Matt Stafford and the Rams’ offense, which includes Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, will test the Seattle defense like no other team. … The smart money in Vegas seems to be on the Seahawks, for whatever that’s worth.
Storm: The upcoming schedule was announced yesterday. Now all that has to happen is for a CBA to be agreed upon. That seems to still be a 3-point-length shot right now.
•••
• There is little doubt Sunday’s NFC title game will dominate the discussion the next few days. And then, if Seattle wins, the Super Bowl will be play the role of 500-pound gorilla. Seemed like a good day to look elsewhere. Until later …