A Grip on Sports: It’s finally time for everyone to download every piece of information they can and put together a bracket that will be dead by Thursday afternoon

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Do you have a strategy? A way to ensure your NCAA bracket stands out among those you compete with over the next three weeks? A naming strategy, I mean. That’s the most important part, right? Having the most outlandish and memorable team name?

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• Would you like to know mine? It’s pretty foolproof. I use my name. With the number two next to it if I decide to splurge and have two entries.

No one laughs. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why. My name is funny.

So is my bracket. I have a strategy there too. Though there is no way I’m sharing that. It’s proprietary. It propelled me to a close-to-the-money finish last year. Heck, if Houston had won the title game instead of, shoot, I can’t remember who won. Oh, ya. Florida. Right. Anyway, if Kelvin Sampson had reached his unreachable goal, then I would have been even closer to the money.

I wouldn’t have won. Probably never will. The strategy I use ensures that. It’s why I call it proprietary. I own it. No one else would ever want to.

But if ensures I’m a loser, why use it? Because it’s easy, duh. And reliable. I may not ever win but my newly instituted strategy – I came up with it last year – ensures I won’t finish last. That was a real possibility when I actually tried to pick each game based on my nearly always fallible instinct. Now I rely on someone else’s.

Wait, I’m getting dangerously close to revealing the secret behind my bracket challenge formula. Not going to do that. Unless someone wants to send me $100 for my “lock-solid” picks. Or should I call them my “put-’em-in-the-bank” selections? Which sounds more convincing? And would lead me to becoming an Insta influencer?

Do I need an Instagram account for that to happen? Probably.

As for my picks, not much is needed. Just access to … wait, not telling. I’m just going to gloat in this column for the next three weeks. How my foolproof strategy can be yours for just $75. Or, if you order now, just $49.99.

• Not sure I would put down $4.99 on the Zag men being given a third seed this afternoon. Not with what’s been going on in the “power” conferences.

It’s my understanding the Big East is considered one of them in basketball. How is that possible? That mainly East Coast Catholic (mostly) conference will probably only have as many entrants as the West Coast’s Catholic (mostly) conference, the WCC. OK, Big East schools have won a lot more NCAA titles than the WCC has, I’ll give you that. And all of them in the past 50 years. But still. If the conference wasn’t based in the nation’s media and power and money and Insta influencers corridor, it would just be another league. As dad used to say, if a bullfrog had wings and all that.

Anyhow, despite Gonzaga’s resume – 30 wins, 11-2 in Quad 1 and 2 games, sixth in NET, 17 in WAB, 10th in the KenPom and EvanMiya analytic ratings – ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped them to a fourth seed in his latest bracket. And moved up Purdue and Virginia, power conference tournament finalists, onto the third-seed line.

If you want to argue the Zags’ Quad 3 loss at 15-19 Portland is the reason, then why is UConn a two seed in Lunardi’s last bracket? The Huskies resume: 29 wins, 18-4 in Quad 1 and 2 games, 10th in NET, sixth in WAB, 12th in KenPom and ninth in EvanMiya. The Huskies are worse in all but two. And they also had a Quad 3 loss. At home to 15-17 Creighton, 91-84.

Did I mention Gonzaga walloped the Bluejays 90-63 in the Kennel? Huh.

We’ll find out the real bracket in a few hours. And that’s when the real howling will begin.

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WSU: Rosemary Longisa didn’t win the NCAA indoor mile title Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. But the Washington State sophomore came within .15 seconds of titlist Wilma Nielsen of Oregon. … Greg Woods’ deep dive into the Cougars’ just-finished men’s basketball season was up on the S-R website yesterday morning. I linked it then. And I link it again today. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, I also linked Jon Wilner’s weekly mailbag in the Mercury News yesterday. It is on the S-R site today. I link it once more. … Wilner also has a preview of today’s selections and how they will play in the West. … Speaking of the NCAA selections, there are a lot of questions for the men’s committee, including the top seeds and the at-large ones. They will have to work through all of them before the 3 p.m. show on CBS. … One thing for certain, Arizona will be a No. 1 seed after the win over Houston on Sunday in the Big 12 title game. So will Duke. And Michigan. The fourth one? …Colorado won’t be playing but that doesn’t mean the spring isn’t crucial for Tad Boyle’s team. … If I had a dollar for every time I read someone has a plan to become the next Gonzaga, I wouldn’t be writing this morning. I would be on a beach. The latest? Utah State, which knocked off San Diego State last night to earn another Mountain West postseason title. … UCLA was already without one starter, Tyler Bilodeau, going into its Big Ten semifinal with Purdue. Then the Bruins most-important player, Donovan Dent, went out injured in the first half of their defeat. … Arizona’s win over Houston in the Big 12 finals yesterday showed how different this Wildcat team is. There is more depth. … The Washington women are waiting to find out who they will play. … So are their counterparts from Oregon. … Colorado State fits that description too. … In football news, the Oregon State defense is being taught how to create havoc. … Oregon needs to fill some holes on its offensive line. … There is competition at linebacker for Colorado.

Gonzaga: The Zags are ready to get back to work. As they have been in March since, well, Y2K was a thing. Jim Meehan kicks off the coverage with a look at the 2000 team, the one after the breakthrough NCAA run. The won that cemented the foundation. … Dave Boling has a column on Graham Ike and how far he has come in Spokane. … Theo Lawson does today what I have been doing for a while. Trying to figure out Gonzaga’s seed and who it might play. The latter could be Theo’s alma mater, Idaho. … Theo also has a story on Davis Fogle and his bright future. … Former GU assistant Tommy Lloyd was one of a handful of hires by major basketball programs this time five years ago. Turns out he was the best. By far. And to think, breaking the news first here earned me a phone call and a reprimand from his agent. Not because I was wrong but because the Arizona hierarchy was worried about the news getting out too soon. If they knew what Tommy would do in his first five years in Tucson, they would have been trumpeting his commitment themselves. As they should have doing anyhow. To think the alums wanted Damon Stoudamire. What a joke. … The Zag women returning to the NCAA tourney is no joke. Though it does feel as if the 10th appearance under Lisa Fortier marks a new beginning. Greg Lee delves into that and more in his notebook. The selection show is at 5 p.m. on ESPN. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Santa Clara’s men are ready for their NCAA drought to be washed away.

Idaho: The Vandal women can’t wait to find out where they will play this week. Greg looks at the possibilities for UI and Gonzaga. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, a Northern Colorado men’s player is up for a national award.

Chiefs: A 7-2 road win over the Americans on Saturday night lifted Spokane where it wanted to be for some time. Into the WHL playoffs. Dave Nichols tells us the Chiefs clinched a spot – and rose to fifth in the standings.

Zephyr: The spring season began at home Saturday, with Spokane winning 3-0 over Brooklyn FC at ONE Spokane Stadium.

Sounders: Seattle has a match today in San Jose. An MLS regular season one. But with a CONCACAF Champions Cup match looming Wednesday in Spokane, the lineup today may not be its strongest. The Sounders need their top players rested and ready for the appearance in Spokane. Why? Well I could jokingly tell you it’s because general manager Craig Waibel is from here, but that wouldn’t be correct. Even if that happenstance is the subject of Colton Clark’s story. The real reason is the Sounders want to win the Champions Cup, matching their 2022 Champions League title.

Seahawks: Seattle re-signed a corner and signed a free agent one.

Mariners: The tempest in a Gatorade bucket over the non-handshake seems to still be boiling for some reason. Randy Arozarena returned to the M’s training camp and issued a statement. Matt Calkins assigned blame in a Times column which is available on the S-R website. … Logan Gilbert didn’t have his best stuff Saturday. … The U.S. has a semifinal meeting with the powerhouse Dominican Republic team tonight (5, FS1). Raleigh should still be catching Paul Skenes – if the hitless Raleigh is in the lineup – when Julio Rodriguez comes to the plate.

Kraken: Seattle’s newest scorer did just that. Twice. And the Kraken topped Vancouver.

Reign: The season begins today against Orlando, which seems appropriate.

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• At least I don’t have to worry about UC Irvine’s men being matched up with Gonzaga. The Anteaters lost to Hawaii in the Big West final. No NCAA for them. Until later …