THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: This, and that … and who?

Nick Faldo?

NOT SURE if it makes Sandpoint Bulldog fans feel better or worse that Skyline High of Idaho Falls went on to win the state 4A football title on Friday night, 50-35 over previously undefeated Bishop Kelly at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

It was Skyline's third straight state title, and the Grizzlies beat Sandpoint each year in the playoffs along the way — in the semifinals in 2020 and this year, and in the title game in 2021.

Skyline wide receiver Kenyon Sadiq, the University of Oregon commit who scored five touchdowns last week against Sandpoint, was held to “only” two TD catches against BK, and threw for a two-point conversion.

This time, it was running back Abrahn Silverio who scored five touchdowns for Skyline, which won its fifth state title in seven years, and ninth overall.

Nick Faldo? Enjoy him as a golf analyst, but …

KUDOS TO Rigby High, the eastern Idaho school, for going into the Treasure Valley and beating the “local” team, nearby Meridian, in the state 5A football title game Friday night at Albertsons Stadium in Boise.

Kudos to the Trojans scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a gutsy two-point conversion late in the game to take the lead, and win their third state title in four years.

Rigby.

(That wasn’t Rigby’s first gutsy two-point conversion in a state title game, as Coeur d’Alene High fans will remember from the Trojans’ winning two-point conversion in that 57-56 double-overtime victory over the Vikings in the 2019 title game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

Also, kudos to Boise State for allowing a high school state title game to be played in its stadium again. Much better than at a park down the street, or at a high school.

Nick Faldo? That’s who College GameDay brought in as their “local” guest picker Saturday in Bozeman?

SO IF Gonzaga beats Michigan State, which beats Kentucky, then Gonzaga should beat Kentucky this afternoon in that game at the Spokane Arena you might have tried to get tickets to?

Well, especially if Kentucky is dumb enough to full-court press Michigan State with a two-point lead in the waning seconds, essentially giving a team that doesn’t shoot well an open court and, as it turned out, an open path to the basket for the game-tying dunk.

Michigan State went on to win in overtime.

Faced with a similar situation last week, in their game on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, the Zags played a park-the-bus defense which would have made a soccer coach proud.

Gonzaga denied Michigan State a chance to penetrate the 3-point line, and forced a wild heave from behind the arc that missed badly at the buzzer.

Coaching.

Nick Faldo? Not Mike Van Diest, the Carroll College coaching legend, who won six NAIA championships in nine seasons? Not Dennis Erickson, former Montana State quarterback? Not Brent Musburger, who was raised in Billings. Not … anybody else?

IT LOOKED like a Big Monday game.

A high-profile team came into Austin, Texas, earlier this past week, and the host Longhorns and their fans in the shiny new arena were waiting for them.

It looked like a Big 12 rivalry game.

That’s what I thought watching a good Texas team play a great game in dismantling the Zags 93-74.

In the days to follow, Zags fans lost their minds, because they’re not used to their Lovables being taken apart like that.

(“You can’t do that to our pledges!” … )

If the Zags are really interested in joining the Big 12, that kind of atmosphere is going to await them more times than not, and that type of beatdown is going to happen sometimes — Texas went into Kansas two years ago and won by 25, and last we checked, the Jayhawks are the defending national champs.

So it happens. It’s part of the preparation for March Madness.

While folks rave about the star-studded schedule the Zags play in November and December, the reality is, they HAVE to play these games, before they return to the relative peace and quiet of the West Coast Conference in January and February.

Because in the WCC, with the exception of Saint Mary’s and maybe, MAYBE, sometimes, BYU, no one else in the league is good enough to challenge and beat the Zags on a regular basis, much less hand it to them.

Then in March, two months later, the Lovables have to make the quick adjustment to playing physical, athletic teams again.

True, they’ve seemed to make that adjustment pretty well in recent years, but as an example, when the Zags lost to Baylor for the national title two years ago, they sounded surprised by the Bears’ physicality — because they don’t see it in the WCC.

For Baylor, facing the Zags probably seemed just like playing another Big 12 game.

Nick Faldo?

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.