A Grip on Sports: Yes, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s meet tonight but that isn’t the only Western showdown today, though only true hoop junkies might know it

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Pretty big night in West Coast college basketball. As if that matters. To us, yes. To most of the college hoop establishment? Sorry, not sure if showdowns at the top of the region’s two best men’s conferences mean a thing. Other than trying to identify who will upset their fourth-place finisher come March.

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• We all know college basketball rankings are flawed, right? And they ultimately mean little, other than as a basis for Greg Sankey or Brett Yormark to politic come March Madness selection weekend. But there are other aspects of the Associated Press and coaches’ polls that do matter.

Building public interest. Eyeballs for televised games. Money in media deals.

When a Gonzaga, unranked in the top 25 polls but 10th and 16th national in the two most-respected analytical formulas and 11th by the NCAA’s own mechanism, plays Saint Mary’s (23, 25 and 21), one would think it would be a big deal. Trumpeted from Bristol to Los Angeles, from Miami to Spokane. OK, that last one does believe it is a big deal – and treats it as such. Elsewhere? The teams aren’t even ranked, are they, so why care?

Sure, ESPN will be there. After all, Gonzaga still enjoys favored-nation status with the self-proclaimed World-Wide Leader. But an 8 p.m. start on a Saturday night, while good for ESPN’s West Coast followers, doesn’t move the needle nationally. Unless the network has been putting its hype machine in high gear.

Without a 2 or an 8 or some other number next to their names on graphics, that’s not going to happen.

Fine. But it’s just another nail in the coffin that carries the remains of West Coast hoop.

Look at what’s happening tonight in Logan, Utah. The Aggies of Utah State, on their 75th coach in the past half hour, are once again 19-2 overall, 9-1 in the Mountain West. They host New Mexico, who is actually coached by a Pitino, albeit it the younger, non-hyped version. Richard’s team is 17-4, 9-1 in conference – a record comparable to dad’s 18-3, 9-1 mark at the Big East’s St. John’s.

But did you know those two Mountain West teams play tonight? Maybe not. That might be because the 6:30 game is on FS1 it has passed under your radar. Maybe. Or maybe it’s because the game itself is struggling on this side of the nation.

Those almighty rankings? Oregon’s men are the only one listed this week. They will not be next week. Will UCLA’s five-game win streak, including a blowout of the Ducks, help them jump in? Probably. It is UCLA after all. The Bruins’ NET ranking of 28th, its Ken Pom of 27th and Bart Torvik’s 24th won’t preclude some person in Iowa, coach or writer, from voting for them. Unlike Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s. Or any other West Coast school without 11 national title banners in their arena.

The worst part? We’re afraid this is just part of a trend. A slow-motion landslide. With most of the West Coast’s name schools scattered throughout three of the power four, their impact on the national scene has been diminished. And will continue to retreat into a mass of mediocrity that defines the game, at least as seen by those who matter in the sport’s hierarchy.

• Sorry to go all Negative Nelly on you. It’s just all the changes in college athletics, mostly forced upon all sports thanks to the Red Hulk that is football, holds the potential to diminish the West Coast’s stature. In every sport.

How long can women’s basketball hold on to the region’s players before the bright lights and big bucks entice them across the Rockies? How about swimmers, volleyball players, soccer stars?

If you don’t think other coaches are whispering negatives about the travails of the travel athletes at Stanford and Arizona and Oregon have to endure, your head is way too deep in the sand. Or pointing out to Gonzaga or Washington State or Boise State recruits the second-fiddle nature of their soon-to-be reborn Pac-12.

Football may be able to overcome it. Maybe. After all, the travel factor is negligible compared to other sports.

But when you are playing 30 games a season, with a third of them demanding a trip across the Rockies and the rest starting times that corresponded with last call at East Coast bars? It is all going to chip away at the foundations. When that happens, sooner or later the place collapses.

Even if there is a rebuild in 2030 or whenever, the damage will be done. The palaces that were once sparkling, like Stanford women’s hoops or California swimming or USC baseball will be akin to Charles Foster Kane’s Xanadu. And about as relevant to modern athletes.

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WSU: The Cougar men are in San Francisco tonight, facing the Dons, the WCC’s third-place team. With a chance to leapfrog Gonzaga into second if the Bulldogs falter across the Bay. Another tough test for David Riley’s faltering squad. And another opportunity to turn the season around. Build momentum toward next month’s WCC tournament. … The women have a much easier task, hosting a last-place San Diego squad that was beat up Thursday at Gonzaga. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we linked Jon Wilner’s 2025 predictions yesterday. They ran in the S-R this morning. … It’s Saturday, so we can also pass along Wilner’s weekly mailbag, which is on the Mercury News website. … John Canzano focuses on two smaller Oregon colleges and the opposite paths their women’s basketball programs are following. … Yesterday was defense. Today, Christian Caple takes a look at Washington’s two-deep on offense. … Does Deion Sanders really need to micromanage his quarterback son’s NFL future? … Colorado will play its spring game April 19 if you’re interested. … What does Utah’s new offensive coordinator bring to the Utes? … Arizona’s athletic department can’t be happy about this ranking. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, Boise State has locked in its assistant coaching staff for next season. … In basketball news, Washington must answer three questions if it wants to turn the men’s season around. … Oregon has been settling for 3-pointers recently and it shows. … I have a friend who might take exception to the headline on this USC story. … There is a rivalry game of some note in Arizona today. The Wildcats at Arizona State. Neither team ranked but each believing the other are rank. … San Diego State has to stop Wyoming’s 3-point shooting. … The Oregon State women are using a zone defense as a weapon.

Gonzaga: Tonight’s showdown in Moraga – ESPN’s best West Coast duo, Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham, will appropriately be on the call – is what it is. The best rivalry west of Pike’s Peak. And no one has covered more of them than our friend Jim Meehan, who has a preview as well as the key matchup.

Preps: We are getting closer and closer to the end of basketball’s regular season. And to playoff time. With that in mind, Dave Nichols took in the early game between host Gonzaga Prep and Lewis and Clark in girls’ action. The Bullpups won, keeping them tied with Ferris in the 4A playoff chase. … Dave also passes along a GSL roundup and one from the smaller schools.

Golf: We find it odd the PGA Tour, still in a fight with a more fan-friendly upstart, has decided to take one of its most popular events, the AT&T Pro-Am, and devalue the best part of it, the presence of entertainers. But that’s happened. At least the course is still beautiful and the weather can still roar. … And Scottie Scheffler is playing for the first time this year.

Chiefs: Dave had another event to cover in the later hours. He headed over to the Arena to watch as Spokane, finishing up a five-game homestand against the WHL’s best, topped Victoria 5-1. The Chiefs were 3-2 in the key stretch.

Seahawks: What have the Hawks seen at the Senior Bowl? … The NFL is basically giving up on marking the ball with computer chips and electronics. The league is talking about using lasers, though. Mounted on sharks? Maybe Dr. Evil will take over management of the officiating. … Yes, the Chiefs can become the first franchise to win three consecutive Super Bowls. But the second to win three NFL titles in a row. And the Packers did it twice.

Kraken: As playoff hopes dim, more and more prospects may get their chance.

Mariners: Jorge Polanco is back. What does that mean? The offseason improvements – if you want to call them that – are about over. And the lineup is set. The ’27 Yankees it isn’t. Heck it’s barely the ’59 White Sox, unless all the ancient Mariners string together career-best-equaling seasons and the younger generation blossoms. The front office hopes so. But when has hope been a viable strategy? … But hey, everyone thinks highly of the franchise’s farm system. Our guess it will yield offensive talent just as the starting pitchers start to scatter through free agency.

Reign: We love stories about athletes reaching a lifelong dream, especially pro athletes and the country’s national squad.

Storm: As expected, Seattle is bringing back Nneka Ogwumike for one more year.

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• What’s not to love about the first weekend of February? Lots, actually. And usually. But today is supposed to hit 40, the sun is expected to shine a little and any precipitation is expected to wait until tomorrow afternoon to arrive. There is a bit of wind but we can live with that. The idea of lows in the teens for the next couple weeks isn’t too exciting though. All I keep telling myself is there are fewer than 50 days until spring. Until later …