Grip on Sports: Will the Eagles find a way to earn another NCAA berth tonight?
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Saturday morning again. Which means you probably have a lot of fun things planned. Me too. But first we have to get this darn work thing out of the way. Read on.
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• Let’s keep it simple, OK, so we can all get out and enjoy the warm weather. Yes, I know, it is only going to be in the high 40s or something, but that’s warm for now.
Before we do, though, we need to acknowledge a couple things. We should start with Eastern Washington’s basketball teams.
The women worked their way through the Big Sky Tournament bracket this week, coming this close yesterday to qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Maybe, after playing day after day after day, they finally ran out gas in the finals.
That’s where the men find themselves tonight in Boise, in the tourney’s finals. And they play Montana with a berth in the NCAA on the line. Hasn’t this happened before?
Sure it has, and recently. Last year, in fact. In Reno, where the Grizzlies earned the automatic bid with an 82-65 victory. And it happened in 2015, in Missoula, when the Eagles flew to only their second NCAA berth ever with a 69-65 win.
If Eastern wins tonight, they will ensure its third NCAA visit. If Montana wins, it will be about its 500th, and probably ensure fifth-year head coach Travis DeCuire will be back in Berkeley next season, coaching the Golden Bears. (He was a Cal assistant for six seasons.)
So, I guess, either scenario is probably OK for Eastern’s long-term outlook.
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Gonzaga: Math was never my strong point – I started college as a poly sci major and switched to English only after failing to get through statistics – but I understand its importance in sports. Especially college basketball. John Blanchette delves into the newest analytical tool the NCAA is using to pick between teams, the NET ranking, and how it helps the Zags. … Jim Allen spent some time this week looking back on the women’s season and today he examines the best performances. … If you wondered who the guy with the beard is behind the Gonzaga bench, wonder no longer, thanks to Justin Reed. … The baseball team lost to BYU.
WSU: So Ernie Kent is out the door, dragging a big bag of money behind him. Theo Lawson is obligated, by beat-writing rules established years before either of us were born, to come up with a list of possible replacements. The next Cougar coach could be among these 10 names. Or maybe not. … Around the Pac-12, Washington will face off with Oregon tonight for the conference NCAA berth. The Huskies got past Colorado while the Ducks defeated Arizona State in overtime. … Utah may be headed to the NIT. … So USC had no idea the college admissions scandal was operating in its athletic offices. … UCLA is out looking for a basketball coach.
EWU: As we said, the Eagle men won their semifinal game against Southern Utah, and won rather easily. Ryan Collingwood has the game story. … The women led by seven late, saw Portland State go on an 11-2 run and failed in their bid for an NCAA bid. Ryan also has that story. … Around the Big Sky, could Montana State be looking for a new coach?
Chiefs: Jake McGrew had a hat trick and Spokane won in Kennewick, 5-3 last night. One regular season game remains, tonight at home against the Americans.
Preps: The snow that is slowly melting outside? It’s still wrecking spring sports schedules. Dave Nichols takes a look at just how in this notebook.
Mariners: The M’s are in Japan. They have two exhibition games and then open the regular season against Oakland.
Seahawks: How is free agency going?
Sounders: Seattle is on the road today for the first time this season.
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• My choices this morning were either take the day off and sleep in or put together this truncated version of the column. When the dog got sick at 2:30 this morning and didn’t settle down for a couple hours, the former looked like the right call. But, you know, commitment and all that. Until later …