A Grip on Sports: If you are working today, sorry, but that was poor planning considering what begins to unfold on the TV all day

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is one of the best two days of sports TV each year. Not because of the diversity but because of volume. Sixteen NCAA Tournament men’s basketball games, starting at 9:15 in the morning and running until, well, whenever the Idaho game with Houston ends after 9 p.m.

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• Which games are worth watching? At least parts of all of them. But there are at least six I have my eye on – and not just because they are on CBS.

– The first tip is between Ohio State and TCU. And, yes, it is on the network with the big eye logo. But more importantly it features a Big Ten school and one from the Big 12. An eight seed vs. a nine seed. No upset possible. Whoever wins faces No. 1 overall seed Duke on Saturday. And will get a shot at destroying 7.35 million brackets.

– The next can’t-miss-for-me? It’s on TBS at 1:25 p.m. Arkansas, the fourth seed in the West, faces Big West champ Hawaii. A 13 can take out a four, right? If so, this is the one I want.

– At 4:25 I’ll be glued to TBS for 11-seed Texas, which won in Dayton on Tuesday by the thinnest of margins, against sixth-seeded BYU. The winner gets Gonzaga (more than likely).

– At almost the same time, over on truTV, Saint Mary’s, a trendy pick, faces Texas A&M (4:35 tip). The Gaels are the higher seed. I wonder if they can keep up with the Aggies.

– Of course, the 7 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. games are can’t miss TV in these parts. The Zags are on TBS at 7, the Vandals vs. last year’s runner-up Houston on truTV in the final game of the day.

• It’s odd. Before Selection Sunday, the amount of information available about injured college basketball players seemed meager at best. Oh, sure, the guys sitting were known, but the extent of their injuries? And their status for the tournament? Cold War-era state secrets in some regard.

Gonzaga’s Braden Huff is a prime example. Everyone everywhere all at once knew he was out for a couple months. That was obvious that January night in Pullman, when he came off the Zag bus on crutches, his knee in a brace.

But the nature of the injury and, more importantly to the Bulldogs’ seeding future, how much of the rest of the season he would miss, was lost in the fog of competition.

Turns out all that had to happen for the information to come out was the Selection Committee’s decision. The Zags earned a three seed. Boom. Coach Mark Few revealed on a national podcast Huff suffered a dislocated kneecap. A pretty significant injury, though one that can heal without surgery. And his return this season?

Huff himself shed some light on that in Portland Wednesday, a day he did a light workout in the Moda Center as the Zags prepped for their tournament opener tonight. He is hopeful he will play before the season is over. If his teammates do their part and continue to win. He’s not ready yet. Won’t be this weekend. Maybe not next. But there is a chance.

That’s not the case with some of Huff’s contemporaries around the nation. The national spotlight shone on the NCAAs also revealed many “minor” injuries were anything but.

Why not own up right away? Call it the lesson of Kenyon Martin. In 2000, the Cincinnati Bearcats were in line for a No. 1 seed. Until Martin’s leg injury in the Conference USA tourney derailed that. And their season. The Selection Committee cited his injury when it dropped the Bearcats a seed line.

Martin’s injury was too public to hide. Ever since, if there has been a chance to stay optimistic until the bracket was done, just about every school has taken that route.

North Carolina couldn’t with Caleb Wilson. Neither could Texas tech with JT Toppin. But Duke and the foot injuries of Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba? They may be back. Same with Mikel Brown Jr. of Louisville and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn. Maybe no one knows for sure. But one thing is certain. No one was in a rush to tell the committee if it was bad news.

• Don’t forget. You can find all the S-R’s stories about the NCAA Tournament at this one handy-dandy link.

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WSU: The basketball roster changeover began Wednesday with the news point guard Adria Rodriguez is headed back to Spain to play professionally. Greg Woods has all the particulars in this story. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s column in the Mercury News outlines the challenges Arizona faces in navigating the NCAA Tournament. Bottom line? The Wildcats have a great chance to win. Making the Final Four seems to be the minimum positive outcome. … John Canzano has an NCAA tourney-related column that really isn’t. … What went wrong for the Oregon men this season? A lot. … Very little did for Utah State. The Aggies are in San Diego. … Byron Scott would love to be the next Arizona State coach. … Colorado State’s season ended with a home NIT loss. … The Washington women have become winners quickly under Tina Langley. … The Oregon State women will host Wisconsin in the WBIT today. … Colorado has an NCAA challenge ahead. … The challenge for Arizona State just got tougher as its head coach had to stay home. … The Pac-12’s best programs have not done well since the league broke apart. … San Diego State is playing a home game at USD. … Colorado State has a rich NCAA tourney history.

• In football news, Wilner takes a look today in the Mercury News at the challenges Cal and Stanford face in the new world of college football. … Recruiting never stops at Oregon State. … Opportunity abounds in Boulder. … Morgan Scalley is about to put his stamp on the Utah program. … Arizona is working toward the fall.

Gonzaga: What’s more important? The Zags’ 30 wins. Or their three losses? Dave Boling has an opinion on that and shares it in his column from Portland. … The Bulldogs and tonight’s opponent Kennesaw State were hit with adversity on the same day. Theo Lawson has that story. He also has a preview and the key matchup for the 7 p.m. matchup (TBS). … I linked Theo’s story on Huff’s injury above. And do it again here. … Theo also has a story on Wally Szczerbiak, who will serve as tonight’s analyst on TBS. And another on Graham Ike’s All-American status. … Dave returns with a story on Gonzaga’s experience with NCAA pressure. … Greg Lee is in Minneapolis for the GU women’s NCAA opener (Friday, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2). He has this story on how far the Zags have come this season – and not in the geographic sense. … The Athletic has a story on Tyon Grant-Foster. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Saint Mary’s is ready to show the nation the type of basketball it plays. It’s a lesson the Gaels have to teach every March.

Idaho: The Vandal men are in Oklahoma City for tonight’s NCAA tourney game vs. the Houston Cougars (7:10, TruTV). Madison McCord is there and has this story about tournament experience on the UI roster. … Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who in a long-ago time roamed the sidelines at Beasley Coliseum, hasn’t forgotten one Vandal legend that helped him back then. Madison shares Sampson’s recollections of Don Monson. … Madison also has a key matchup. … What are Idaho’s chances against the second-seeded Cougars? One former player, now wearing a BYU uniform, believes they can win. Theo has that story. … The Idaho women, who play their NCAA Tournament game Friday, will be rooting for the men in person. Peter Harriman tells us how that is possible. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State is ready for the WNIT… The Portland State men posted one of their better seasons. Though missing out on an NCAA Tournament appearance had to sting.

Preps: Spring sports are underway. All of them (and there are a bunch). Which means it’s time for Greater Spokane League preview stories. And capsules. Greg Lee takes care of track and field with a feature on the area’s best thrower and capsules from the girls and boys. … Justin Reed has coverage from boys soccer with a feature on U-High’s international contingent and Dave Nichols adds the capsules.. … Dave covers baseball with this feature on Caden Andreas and capsules. … Dave also has capsules from girls and boys golf and boys and girls tennis. He also adds this story about Lewis and Clark High’s turnout in the latter sport. In the former? Dave has a piece on a West Valley golfer. … Madison McCord has this story on Northwest Christian’s standout Kaitlyn Waters as well as softball capsules from the area. … There is also a roundup of Wednesday’s action to pass along.

Sounders: Seattle’s MLS team became Spokane’s for a night. A successful night. The Sounders topped Vancouver 2-1 at ONE Spokane Stadium and moved on to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. John Allison was there and has this story. … There is also coverage from Seattle, as there should be.

Seahawks: You have questions about the Hawks? Here are some answers. … If one of them is who they will take in the draft, the guesses vary widely. … Seattle re-signed a backup receiver.

Mariners: The M’s World Baseball Classic struggles? The Mike Vorel column that I linked yesterday in the Times is now on the S-R website. … Luke Raley is red-hot. … Julio Rodriguez is back in camp and autograph seekers are happy. … The news on J.P. Crawford’s shoulder was positive. … Harry Ford did not make the Nationals’ roster coming out of spring training.  

Storm: The CBA news broke yesterday in time for it to be included in this column. Today there are follow-up stories to link. 

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• I have one prediction for the games today. One you can book. I will fall asleep in the middle of games. The over/under has been set by the local oddsmaker – me – at 2.5. Right now I would take the over. If you are wondering, no TV Take from tonight. I’m not up to it. But tomorrow, I’m hopeful I can have one from the Gonzaga women’s game. Until later …