The Front Row with MARK NELKE Jan. 15, 2012

My apologies to the kind woman who was reporting the score of the Grace Bible Academy's boys basketball game Saturday afternoon around 5 p.m.

But things got a little crazy in the newsroom as the 49ers-Saints playoff game was nearing its wild conclusion.

Then the sports phone rang. Picture the cell phone commercial where the young couple is out to dinner, and the woman is happy to have some quiet time with her guy - but her guy can't help but keep sneaking a peek away to check out the game on his phone.

I was trying to listen to the kind woman from Grace Bible as she was rattling off the names of her players for the box score.

Her: " ... Schaefer 17, Thruman 17, Connelly 7, Nordhausen 6, R. Mad ... "

Me (as quietly as I could): "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAH!"

I had heard a noise from the TV, and looked up in time to see San Francisco hit on a big pass play to put the 49ers in scoring position with the clock winding down.

Her: " ... Collier 2, Chersin 0, Peabody 0, M. Mad ... "

Me (again, as quietly as I could): "YEAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAH!"

I glanced up at the TV just in time to see Vernon Davis catching the winning touchdown pass with nine seconds left.

Then Davis cried as he ran to the sideline, much like Terrell Owens did when he caught that game-winning pass against the Packers in the closing seconds of a wild-card game in 1996.

Moments later, final - 49ers 36, Saints 32. Wow!

Sorry, ma'am, but when your team is in the playoffs for the first time in nine years ...

Who would have thought San Francisco could win a game against a great passing team without mustering much of a pass rush, as well as playing a prevent-type defense which allowed Drew Brees to throw for about a half a mile.

Better yet, who would have thought the 49ers could rally for touchdowns not once, but twice, in the final minutes, with a prevent offense which usually prevents touchdowns and results in a lot of field goals.

At least, until the game is on the line.

n Maybe the old bowl system wasn’t so bad after all.

Under the old system, we might have gotten, say, LSU vs. Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl, and Alabama vs. Stanford in the Orange Bowl. At least Oklahoma State would have had a chance to win the national title that way, with a win over LSU and an Alabama loss.

The old system probably wouldn’t have helped Boise State much, though.

And looking through the Broncos’ future nonconference opponents, there are no real heavyweights where they have the chance to post a signature win.

The only one close is the 2012 opener at Michigan State. Boise State also plays Miami of Ohio and BYU at home, and at Southern Miss this fall.

Boise State opens the 2014 season vs. Mississippi at the Georgia Dome, but other than that, the only teams lined up so far are regional foes Washington, Washington State and BYU.

If the Broncos can’t land a neutral-site opener with, say, an Alabama or an LSU, hopefully they can find a league which will feed them into a big-boy bowl game so we can see how they’d do in a game like that.

n We watched the other night as the Saint Mary’s students stormed their home court after their Gaels whacked Gonzaga by 21 points in Moraga, Calif.

Nothing against celebrating a big win with your fellow students, as well as with the players, but isn’t Saint Mary’s supposedly one of the top teams in the league as well?

It’s not like they’ve never beaten Gonzaga before. They’ve beaten the Zags five times since the start of the 2004-05 season, including three times in Moraga, Calif. (2005, ’07 and ’08).

We were trying to think of a time Zag fans ever felt it necessary to storm the court after a big win.

Maybe after beating Loyola Marymount in a thrilling finish to win the West Coast Conference tournament at GU’s McCarthey Athletic Center in 2006. And maybe after winning the WCC tourney in Las Vegas or elsewhere. But other than that ...

The point is, despite those who might claim the WCC is more competitive at the top these days, it’s still a much bigger deal when, say, a Saint Mary’s beats Gonzaga than the other way around.

It would have said more about where Saint Mary’s fans thought their team stood on the WCC ladder if they merely stayed in the stands and cheered wildly at the end of the Zags’ game, then filed out the doors into the California night and went home.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.