THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Conference dominoes, and their effect on the Zags

It doesn’t take much to make Mark Few grumpy. 

A couple of missed defensive assignments by bench players in the final minutes of a 112-55 nonconference blowout? 

Sure, that would do it. 

At the moment, however, it’s tough for Few to be terribly unhappy, since he’s off with the USA delegation to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Few will be an assistant to Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, handling a roster that includes LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and a raft of stars. 

For now, at least, Few can only be pleased. 

“I feel this is as high of an honor as you can get when you’re coaching,” Few said.  

“To represent your country, and to be able to do it with the greatest players and coaches in the world is truly special.” 

Amen. 

If you thought Few might be turning into the Tooth Fairy, though, find the “Reboot” key. 

Once the Olympics are over and Few is back in Spokane, he’ll get on with the grumbling. 

Guaranteed. 

Hoops coaches are ALL paranoid, for starters, and like all the rest, Few will get back to believing that the fates are conspiring to keep his Zags away from the Final Four. 

IN THE past, it’s been the officials and some killer whistles that have undone the Zags. 

Nowadays, though, Few is grouchy about additions to the West Coast Conference. 

You probably know that with the musical chairs being played by major college conferences these days, Washington State and Oregon State got left at the bus station when the other 10 members of the Pac-12 fled for greener pastures. 

The two holdovers have a couple of years to rebuild the Pac-12 or find another home. 

In the meantime, they will be independents in football — aided by a scheduling arrangement with the Mountain West — and interim members of the WCC in most other sports. 

The hookup with the WCC begins this fall, so conference basketball bumps from nine members to 11. 

One year later, Seattle University and Grand Canyon join the WCC as permanent members. 

Scheduling has to be worked out, but unless there’s another change, we’re talking about 13 members in 2025-26. 

Predictably, Few doesn’t like any part of that. 

He’s tried not to spew fire directly — in fact, he’s complimented WCC commissioner Stu Jackson on handling all these moves — but the Zags boss can’t help but see how the larger numbers could impact his program. 

Making his goals tougher, in other words. 

This season’s 11-team basketball schedule adds two conference games from the 16 that teams have been played since 2018. 

The WCC dropped to 16 from a round-robin 18 (BYU was a member), so that the better teams could play more schools with higher NET rankings. 

That was a change cheered on by Gonzaga, if you haven’t guessed. 

Now, however, the conference — having added two strong basketball universities — is sturdy enough to take on the extra numbers. 

The subtext is that if Gonzaga chooses to leave, which has been discussed for years, the WCC will be just fine. 

Grand Canyon, in particular, has made three straight NCAA tournaments and has a huge, influential fan base. 

FEW HAS to say the right things, of course. 

But we all know his preference for scheduling: gut out a road trip to Kansas and Connecticut, then home to the Kennel for a game against the Southern Arkansas College of Sewing. 

Next, off to the Maui Invitational and games against two or three highly ranked hammer-throwers. 

Then, back to face Northeastern Amish Ballooning Institute. 

This is Few being gracious on the conference change: “It’s certainly changed our nonleague.  

“We have a lot less nonleague games, which are very important to us. Now we’re going to play 18 league games, so that’s impacted our nonleague scheduling to a certain extent.” 

Did you do any of the math in there? 

Mark’s idea of a “lot less” non-conference games will be just two. 

Perhaps they can skip that home opener against the Montana Sisters of the Poor. 

OK, now here is Few being politically correct, and trying to sound like the WCC isn’t aiming to ruin the Zags program.  

“It certainly throws some Northwest teams in,” he said, “so our travel won’t be quite as bad.” 

Have we ever heard Few complain about the mileage to Maui or the Bahamas for tournaments against powerhouses? 

Nah. 

Mark has gotten used to the theory of “ask and you shall receive” with WCC. 

But guess what? 

The conference has decided it can stand on its own feet. 

Chill, Zags. 

This can work out for everybody, believe it or not. 

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.”