THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Portland got lucky, and not just because of the Zags

Back in the day, it was fun to pick one of the eight sites well ahead of time to go watch first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament, and hope you got some good matchups when Selection Sunday dribbled around.

And if not, well, at least you picked an interesting place to spend a few days in mid-March. And maybe some of the matchups would surprise you.

Those days in the past — for now — it's fun to watch the selection show and pick which city you would travel to, based on the eight teams sent there.

This year's winner ... Portland.

AND NOT because of what the Rose City has to offer.

Sure, part of it is the allure of the No. 1 overall seed Zags — though Zag fans would be happy with four days in Burns, Ore., if it meant they could root their Lovables on to the Sweet 16.

Boise State is in Portland as well, with the looming matchup of Gonzaga head coach Mark Few vs. former Zags assistant Leon Rice if the Broncos can get past Memphis (no longer State) today.

And Saint Mary's is there, facing former blue blood Indiana.

And UCLA is in the last game.

The San Diego site got Arizona and little else — unless you're a Montana State and/or Big Sky fan. Then again, you are spending a few days in San Diego in mid-March, so button it.

Fort Worth, Texas, got Kansas, San Diego State and another former blue blood, North Carolina.

Greenville, S.C., was delivered Duke, USC and Auburn.

None of those sites can top the teams sent to Portland, where the Oregon Coast is just an hour away.

ON THE women's side, Gonzaga is headed to Louisville, Ky., which was a fun trip when the men played there a few years back.

That was my first — and likely, last — stop at a White Castle. But the KFC Yum! Center is one of the few places you can sit in your seat in the arena and enjoy Kentucky Fried Chicken while eight of the top 68 teams in the land go at it.

And the Hot Brown sandwich ... yum! (not Yum!).

There was plenty of other fun stuff to do in Louisville, including visiting the Muhammad Ali Center, enjoying the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, and taking a walk across the Ohio River bridge near the arena, and winding up in Indiana.

(Of course. Start in Kentucky, take a bridge over a river named after Ohio, and wind up in Indiana).

OR, YOU could just sit in your living room in front of your big screen — or two, or three — and enjoy the first weekend of the NCAA tournament that way.

While in the Boise area a couple of weeks ago for the state boys high school basketball tournaments, I tried to listen to as much local sports talk on the radio — trying to get a feel for the scene down there, you know.

Interestingly, most of the radio ads were trying to convince males to get vasectomies — just in time to recover at home during the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

While that sounded like a noble ideal, perhaps I'll just let the boss know I'm starting to come down with a four-day runny nose.

Sniffles, rather than snip-snip.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.