THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The different standards surrounding Zags, WSU in hoops

Correct me if I’m wrong.

But.

It’s felt like the college hoops season in our neighborhood has been kind of drifting along for a few months.

The biggest news was that Washington State — cut loose by the 10 departing members of the Pac-12 — will be an interim member of the West Coast Conference for at least a couple of years.

That’s for basketball, baseball and various Olympic sports, since the football program is involved in a mash-up with the Mountain West in an effort to maintain top-tier recognition.

As for basketball: Visiting the WCC for however long it might be means that the Cougs and Gonzaga will play home-and-home conference games.

That begins next year.

Shame we couldn’t see it now, since both teams have come out of the woodwork late in the season to join the AP poll (Cougs No. 19, Zags No. 23).

As befits those rankings, Gonzaga and Wazzu each have some crucial games on the docket — both starting tonight and extending through their conference tournaments.

What’s a little weird about all this excitement down the stretch is that the Cougs (barring a complete collapse) have earned a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Gonzaga?

Not quite yet.

THE ZAGS have been strolling along, but without their usual elite status.

When they’ve needed accuracy against good teams, they can’t buy a 3-pointer.

Their overall numbers for the season seem useful (34.8 percent), but that’s fool’s gold, since they’ve fattened up against bad teams at home when everyone is relaxed.

There’s been a cost, too.

It’s real pain, since there are NCAA first-round games scheduled at the Spokane Arena — and any of Gonzaga’s regular seasons for the last 10 or 15 years would have earned them a seed right there in town.

Plus.

The way things are going, Washington State (21-7 with its final three regular-season games at home) could grab a high enough seed to open its first NCAA event since 2008 in Spokane.

Now, the Zags.

It’s a little bit unfair to slap them for a 22-6 record, especially when four of those losses have come against ranked teams — Purdue, Connecticut, San Diego State and Saint Mary’s.

The problem is that the Zags haven’t beaten anyone of note, besides Kentucky.

Now, they finish the regular season on the road against San Francisco (22-7, 11-3 WCC) and Saint Mary’s (23-6, 14-0 WCC, No. 17 in the AP rankings).

Wazzu, meanwhile, entertains USC tonight in Pullman — with UCLA coming in Saturday.

After that it’s Washington, and then the last-ever Pac-12 tournament — at least with this cast of teams.

There’s a genuine buzz around the Cougs, a gang that coach Kyle Smith put together almost from scratch.

Star guard Myles Rice is a freshman cancer survivor, sharpshooter Jaylen Wells came from Division II Sonoma State and hard man Isaac Jones is a fifth-year senior transfer from Idaho.

“It’s really great group,” Smith said. “Considering there’s so many newcomers, it’s amazing that they’re a selfless, team-first bunch of guys.

“That doesn’t always happen when you have a core of transfers, but this group is terrific.”

GONZAGA’S situation over the next few weeks is more precarious.

When Mark Few was asked if he hoped for some payback after a two-point loss to Saint Mary’s at the Kennel, he took off in a totally different direction.

“We’ve got to play hard, play our best and try to survive against San Francisco (tonight),” he said. “We can’t worry about Saint Mary’s.

“They’re unbeaten in the conference, so our meaningful shot at them would be in the (WCC) tournament.

“But if we lose to San Francisco, we’d both have three losses — and that brings in the danger of losing that double-bye in the tournament.

“USF is really, really good, and they’ll play hard. They led us at halftime in Spokane.

“Man, finishing on the road with games against the two best teams in the conference is tough.”

Of course, if Gonzaga’s recent run of excellent form — 11 out of 12 since Ben Gregg began starting at the wing — produces a couple of wins on this trip, the Zags’ metrics in the eyes of NCAA committee would get a massive boost.

And they need it.

The Zags and Wazzu are coming at this NCAA thing from totally opposite directions.

Gonzaga has been in the tournament — often as a high seed — in every one of Few’s seasons in charge.

The Zags have played in the national championship games twice since 2017.

Washington State is trying to get back in the dance for the time in 16 years.

“The whole thing, and how this team has developed, has really been a lot of fun,” Smith said.

“It’ll be cool to see where we go from here.”

I seriously doubt that Few’s would describe the Zags’ approach as fun.

That’s the problem when it seems you’ve been good forever.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”