A Grip on Sports: As the season winds down, there is a lot on the local college basketball programs’ to-do lists, though winning is still at the top

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Ever look outside your window on a Thursday morning and sigh? The weekend is just around the corner, it’s going to be gorgeous – for March – and there is so much post-winter work that has to be done. That’s true of our local college basketball programs as well. Their to-do lists are just packed.

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• One of the toughest questions when wandering the yard on the first 50-degree weekend on the year? Where to start. There are so many tasks to wade through. Same here. Everyone has something to accomplish, though there are degrees, as with anything. It’s pretty much of a pull-one-out-of-a-hat situation. With one huge exception.

Too bad Gonzaga’s showdown with USF isn’t until Saturday, the last day of the West Coast Conference’s regular season. I’m ready now.

The Dons, though, are not. They played last night in Corvallis, hit their last shot, survived a nearly uncontested layup at the end and handed Oregon State its first home loss of the season, 74-72.

Now comes Saturday night’s battle for second place in the Chase Center, home of the Warriors. Appropriate, no? A game that means everything to USF’s small NCAA at-large hopes, much for the Bulldogs’ almost locked-in NCAA status and, for either, an extra day of prep in Las Vegas before they probably meet again in the semifinals.

• The Zag women are in action tonight, trying to regain momentum gained in a 14-game winning streak – and squandered last weekend with a Senior Day defeat to USF.

No matter what happens in their final two games on the road, Gonzaga has earned a bye into the WCC semis. All that will be determined is what color jersey the team will wear in the finals – if it gets there. Oh, that and the pride of winning another regular season title. It would be coach Lisa Fortier’s ninth in 11 seasons.

The Bulldogs, who are tied with Portland atop the WCC after having defeated the Pilots twice, face Pacific – tied for sixth in the conference standings – tonight. Saturday, they travel to the Bay Area to finish up with eighth-place Santa Clara.

Portland, which has to hope GU falters at least once, is at fifth-place USF tonight and at Pacific on Saturday.

• There is a little less on the line in Pullman. The Cougar men will finish up their first (of two) WCC regular seasons not looking to ensure anything against ninth-place San Diego other than an uptick before the postseason tournament. Well, that and saying goodbye to their senior teammates.

Washington State’s finale? That’s Saturday night at last-place Pepperdine. Seems like a good weekend to build some momentum, no?

• The Coug women, already locked into the third seed in Las Vegas, are at Pepperdine today in a weird, 1 p.m. Thursday start. Not sure why the Waves are playing their Black History Month recognition game midday, but maybe they are hoping to attract students of all ages? At least it allows WSU to get back to Pullman at a decent time. And with the WCC regular season over, enjoy the weekend?

And get ready for the WCC tourney, which starts for the bottom two schools March 6.

• The Big Sky tournament doesn’t start in Boise until March 8, when the bottom four seeds face off. For Eastern Washington’s men to avoid that fate, they’ll have to win their final three – after two home games over the weekend, they finish at Montana on Monday. Idaho, with one more win in hand, need a little less help to earn a later start.

• The Vandal women are close to being assured of a March 10 start in Boise, while the Eagles could use a couple wins in their final three games to avoid a final four finish.

• One would think a college team with a 23-3 record, winners of its conference regular season title after posting a perfect nonconference record and ranked 21st nationally, would have little to fear heading into its postseason tournament.

Not true. It’s Whitworth’s men in the NCAA Division III ranks. The postseason is about money. The NCAA’s money. If the Pirates sweep Friday and Saturday night at the Fieldhouse, they’re in. And may host the NCAA’s first round.

But lose to Lewis & Clark on Friday night? Or against the Pacific Lutheran/Whitman winner on Saturday? Then it gets a little dicey.

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WSU: Yes, Washington State had injury issues this men’s basketball season. But more troubling for first-year coach David Riley has to be something he articulated to Greg Woods on Wednesday. “I think we lost some competitive fire in our practices,” he said as a way of explanation. He said more, of course, and Greg touches on all of it in this story. … We linked Jon Wilner’s piece about players from Pac-12 legacy schools at the combine, including Washington State’s Kyle Williams, yesterday. It ran in the S-R today. … Former Washington State standout Morgan Weaver will miss the Portland Thorns’ season with an injury. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Wilner posts his Big 12 power rankings in the Mercury News. … We mentioned Oregon State’s loss to USF above. We link the stories here. … California has an outstanding freshman. Now the Bears have to worry about losing him. … Utah’s first game under an interim coach did not go well. Host Arizona won easily. … Aday Mara is playing more for UCLA. And the Bruins are winning more. … USC is not, including a loss last night to Ohio State. … BYU rolled past shorthanded Arizona State. Is this it for Bobby Hurley? … Boise State took a huge step toward a fourth consecutive NCAA tourney bid by running over visiting Utah State. … San Diego State’s win over New Mexico on Tuesday was built in part by rest. … Colorado State keeps winning. But few see it as an NCAA team. … The Washington women won again on the road. They have no more away games left. … The Huskies are 14th in Jeff Metcalfe’s West Coast power rankings this week. … California should make the NCAA tourney. Stanford? They will probably not. For the first time since 1987. … Northwestern decided to not head out to L.A. in the middle of the wildfires, even though Penn State played there at the same time. The Big Ten has decided the Wildcats have to forfeit the games against USC and UCLA. The latter defeated Wisconsin last night. … Colorado routed visiting Arizona State. … In football news, which schools and players did best in the transfer portal? … Washington has transformed its staff more than its roster. … Oregon State’s new veteran additions to the coaching staff, including a familiar name on the Palouse, will make a few bucks. … Colorado actually will have some veterans to count on in the fall. … It certainly seems as if Stanford has decided to put more emphasis on football.  

Gonzaga: Not only does Theo Lawson look back at Tuesday’s win over Santa Clara, he also touches on Graham Ike’s future. It’s something Ike said he hasn’t really thought about yet. … Gonzaga is still showing up in columns about the bubble. So is USF.

EWU: Sam Stockton spent a few seasons in Lewiston honing his craft at Lewis-Clark State. With another year of eligibility available, and family friend Dan Monson taking over in Cheney, he moved up the road to Eastern and has earned his way into the Eagle starting lineup. Dan Thompson delves into the last few games of his career, as the last of John Stockton’s children finish college athletics. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Montana State women, on an unprecedented winning streak, actually lost this week. A player, not a game. … Northern Colorado still hopes to catch Montana in the men’s standings. … Portland State will meet Montana this fall in Providence Park.

Idaho: The Vandal men will honor this weekend a couple seniors with varied resumes. Peter Harriman has a story about Kyson Rose and Jack Hatten.

Chiefs: It’s a busy weekend for Spokane. It started last night at the Arena, with Vancouver in town. And it started well, though there were anxious moments. Dave Nichols has the coverage of the Chiefs’ 4-3 win over the Giants.

Velocity: Spokane has signed forward Neco Brett to a contract. That news leads off the S-R’s latest local briefs column.

Seahawks: The NFL’s combine can serve many purposes. The Hawks used one day of it to assure quarterback Geno Smith, and anyone listening, how important his is to their plans. … It is a wise move. … It is also wise to have Mike Macdonald in Indianapolis. … It would be wise to bring Jarran Reed back. … The NFL is going to add more cameras in 2025 and more plays in which those electronic eyes can help the officials. But marking the ball? That’s still going to be a human task. For now. 

Mariners: Mitch Haniger’s 2024 season started strong. And then faded. He is trying to parlay a healthy offseason into a stronger start, with the goal of not allowing his strength and output to wane. … The M’s have a good problem on their hands. … They also lost yesterday. … Once again, the T-Mobile playing surface received an offseason makeover.

Sounders: Seattle is moving on in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, winning 3-1 at home last night.

Reign: The USWNT lost for the first time under new coach Emma Hayes. Japan won the SheBelieves Cup final 2-1 in San Diego last night.

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• I spent some time making mental lists of all I want to get done outside over the next four days. All of them are expected to be sunny and warm. A false spring? Probably. But also a chance to get a head start. Until later …