A Grip on Sports: We are getting to the time of year when a weekend spent in front of the TV may be mandatory but also feels hard to do
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s going to be difficult to stay indoors this weekend. To watch all the Little Dance games from around the nation, including those of the Inland Northwest’s teams. After all, when the high temperature threatens to hit 60 in early March, heads start to pop out of doors like so many prairie dogs.
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• Sure, there is a chance of rain in these parts over the weekend.
But like in Camelot, it’s been ordered for the overnight hours. And, yes, I can remember seeing Richard Harris sing that movie’s title song on the big screen back in the day. My mother, in her never-ending-losing battle to wrest me away from my sports mania and inject some culture straight into my veins, dragged me to the Cinerama Dome to see it back when I was 11.
It didn’t take. Obviously. But I still remember the lyrics.
Thanks mom. And thanks dad for the example you used to set that it’s OK, raining or not, to spend a weekend sitting in front of the TV set watching sports.
• The brackets for the West Coast Conference’s postseason tournaments are not the most convoluted in America. But they are close. They stretch over six days, with two games each until Tuesday’s title matchups. That doesn’t mean each day lacks drama. Or interesting matchups.
Take today on the men’s side. The latest two former Eastern Washington men’s basketball coaches – WSU’s David Riley and Portland’s Shantay Legans – meet in Las Vegas. With their seasons on the line. The WCC tournament matchup on the not-glass Orleans’ floor tips at 6 on ESPN+.
Neither the 12-19 Cougars nor the 14-18 Pilots are a threat to win five more games and claim the automatic berth into the NCAA tourney, but the chance to play another day, and stay in Vegas for 24 more hours, is on the line.
The Cougar women have already pasted their name on the tourney’s big bracket once. They meet eighth-seed Pacific this afternoon (noon, ESPN+). The winner gets Portland on Saturday.
• The Big Sky’s tournaments are different. Not better. Not worse. Just different. But the result is the same. Not everyone plays every day. The madness that is starch – if you didn’t know, the Boise-based tourney has been labeled Starch Madness by the conference’s marketing folks – starts Saturday with games for each gender.
Idaho’s men tip against Sacramento State tomorrow at 7. That game is also on ESPN+. If the eighth-seeded Vandals win, they will face second-seeded Montana State on Sunday (7, ESPN+).
The Vandal women don’t begin until Sunday, due to winning the regular-season title. They will face Saturday’s Portland State/Weber State winner at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
Both the Eastern men and women start on Monday.
• The 22-5 Whitworth men are in the NCAA Division III tournament. Their game against 21-6 Trinity (Texas) tips at 2:30 today in Houston. There is only one way to watch. You have to go to the NCAA’s website (NCAA.com) and sign up for the organization’s streaming service.
• The best college hoops from outside the area? There are degrees that have to be parsed to answer that truthfully. Most conferences are still finishing up their regular season on the men’s side. The best of those Saturday? At least the most traditional? No. 17 North Carolina at No. 1 Duke (3:30 p.m., ESPN). Or maybe you prefer the old Pac-12 matchups on UCLA at USC (6, FS1) or Washington at Oregon (8 or so, also on FS1).
The top Sunday matchup? No. 3 Michigan hosts No. 8 Michigan State (1:30 p.m., CBS) to round out the Big Ten’s regular season. Nothing on the line, though, other than state and generational – 49-year-old Dusty May vs. 71-year-old Tom Izzo in the coaching boxes – pride.
• What else is there? Well, keeping with the time of year – nearly spring – there are baseball games – and there are spring training games and nearly spring training ones.
The spring training games are scattered across all time zones on the MLB Network. The nearly spring training ones? That would be games from the World Baseball Classic. They are on the Fox family of sports networks.
The United States faces Brazil in pool play tonight (5, Fox) and Great Britain on Sunday (5 p.m., Fox). There are also assorted games all weekend on FS1 and Tubi.
• Of course there is golf. From Florida. And the NHL. The NBA. And MLS soccer. Now that the league has decided to open up its coverage, all you need is a subscription to Apple TV and not a season pass. The Sounders continue their long road trip with a match in St. Louis (5:30 p.m. Saturday).
• The State high school basketball tournaments are going on in Spokane, Yakima and Tacoma. The B tournaments have been on SWX and will continue there Saturday.
The other tournaments are on NFHS Network, the streaming service of the National Federation of High Schools. And it comes at a cost.
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WSU: We mentioned above the Cougar women already posted a win in Las Vegas. They topped last-place Seattle U. 80-58 in the WCC tourney opener. It was also their third consecutive win. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, John Canzano has a notebook on his website. It is mostly Oregon-based. … Jon Wilner wants to know if anyone take out Arizona in the Big 12 tournament? It won’t be easy. Nor will it be easy for Colorado in the regular season finale. … Oregon honors senior Nathan Bittle this weekend. … Can Arizona State keep rolling against No. 6 Iowa State? … Colorado State feels it has momentum. … Senior Night at San Diego State feels like a changing of the guard. … The NCAA women’s tournament bracket will be led by UConn and UCLA. After that? Who knows. … Washington will be UCLA’s first opponent in the Big Ten tournament. The Huskies earned a trip to the quarterfinals for the first time by handing USC a loss Thursday. … Oregon also moved on in the tournament with a win over Maryland. … California fell to Syracuse 70-59 in the ACC tournament. … Colorado won in the Big 12 tournament and will face Baylor. … Utah lost to BYU and may not make the NCAA tourney. … Arizona State punched its ticket with an upset of Iowa State. … In football news, Wilner has some thoughts on Pac-12 starting times, and the games’ network coverage, in the fall. … How has Washington fared in Jedd Fisch’s first 26 games in charge? … Oregon State’s spring practice dates are set. … Colorado State will have a new coach in charge this spring.
Gonzaga: Do we ever type “recruiting never stops?” Sure. And we just typed it again, but in a different context. As Theo Lawson’s story tells us, Mark Few had to be recruited, hard, to even take a meeting. A meeting that led to a documentary about the Zags’ run to national prominence and their ability to stay there. The movies premiered this week. With Few giving it two thumbs up. One more thing. It should help in the recruiting that never stops. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Santa Clara’s standout freshman Allen Graves is drawing NBA attention. … The Saint Mary’s women are not up to the men’s standards just yet.
EWU: We mentioned above Eastern’s teams don’t begin Big Sky tournament play until Monday. Dan Thompson has a preview of what the third-seeded men should expect. And how their recent hot streak has them ready for whatever that is. … Dan also has a preview of the women’s path ahead. As the No. 6 seed, it should be a bit tougher. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Sacramento State’s men have not won a game on the road this season. … Idaho State wants to start over in Boise. … An injured Montana State player is going to give it a go. … Montana sees the tournament as a chance at redemption. … The Montana women also have the same goal. … In football news, Montana has welcomed back a former quarterback, giving Dalton Sneed a coaching spot.
Idaho: Cal Poly revealed its 2026 football schedule Thursday and the first game caught our eye. The Broncos, under first-year coach Tim Skipper, will open at home Aug. 28. In a Big Sky Conference game. Against the Vandals. No easy start for UI this season.
Whitworth: We also mentioned the Pirates’ NCAA tourney game above. Ethan Myers has a lot more in this preview.
Preps: Dave Nichols is in Tacoma for the 4A and 3A tournaments. He has three stories today. Gonzaga Prep’s boys won on a Dylynn Groves layup in traffic with less than 2 seconds left in double overtime to move into the 4A semifinals. The other two GSL teams, the G-Prep girls and the Mt. Spokane boys, each lost. The Richland boys are also in the 4A semifinals after topping West Valley of Yakima. Why mention that game? It’s personal. In 2022, I coached a travel group that included Groves and Carter Nilson of Prep, Landen Northrup from Richland, Parker Mills of West Valley, Mt. Spokane’s Jaden Ghoreishi and three other standouts, Coeur d’Alene Caden Symons, Brady Thornton of Mead and Colby Jessup, who plays his high school basketball for Phoenix power Valley Christian. Yes, they were successful. Even I couldn’t screw them up, as their high school success attests. … In Yakima, the Pullman boys, in 2A play, and Deer Park girls, in 1A, both lost. … Over at the Arena, Dan Thompson has coverage of the boys tournaments as well as the girls 2B and 1B games. … There is also this Garrett Cabeza story on the Colfax boys’ assistant Ben Aune, who has had to take over following head coach Reece Jenkin’s death.
Mariners: It was a bad day in Arizona for the M’s pitching staff. Awful might be a better description. … Josh Naylor’s signing was the first domino to fall in the offseason. Others followed. … There is a rookie showcase game on tap for Seattle.
Seahawks: We linked this Athletic mock draft story yesterday. It is on the S-R site today. We link it again. … The Hawks’ blueprint for success won’t be easy to follow. … There was a smart, inexpensive signing yesterday on the defensive side. … Could the Hawks be part of the Maxx Crosby derby?
Kraken: Winning faceoffs is important. How does Seattle do it? With a plan and quick hands.
Sounders: Seattle is the defending Leagues Cup champion. The Sounders will defend that crown, starting with a match with Liga MX in Mexico.
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• We will be here tomorrow. Though the report might be short and early. We have a busy day. Until later …