THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Thoughts as the NCAAs (finally) return to our area

With the Spokane Arena already sold out, it’s not like the NCAA had to assign anyone to the Spokane site just to help fill the place for the first and second rounds of the men’s basketball tournament Friday and Sunday.

Three of the teams are from Alabama — ‘Bama, Auburn and UAB. A fourth is the College of Charleston, in South Carolina.

Yale, which plays Auburn, actually opened its season in Spokane, playing the Zags relatively tough in an 86-71 loss.

Of the three West teams sent to Spokane, the “closest” is Saint Mary’s of Moraga, Calif., some 865 miles away. 

The other two West teams are San Diego State and Grand Canyon of Phoenix, Ariz. San Diego State has already been to Spokane this season, beating the Zags 84-74 at The Kennel. 

If you’re a casual NCAA fan attending the games at the Arena, it usually isn’t necessary to have a local/regional rooting interest anyway.

Many times you’ll get hooked on a team you barely knew, maybe because they’re a heavy underdog or because of some other factor — cheerleaders and/or band (Hampton comes to mind), mascot (Big Red from Nebraska, Gaucho Boy from UC Santa Barbara), coaches (Bob Knight, Coach K) — and adopt it for the weekend … and beyond.

However you do it, enjoy the show!

• Fans of the Mountain West feel like they were shafted by the NCAA. Yes, six of their teams were selected for the NCAAs, but two of them (including Boise State) were relegated to play-in games. 

“Committee was not feeling the Mountain West love,” Seth Davis said on the CBS selection show.

I dunno. In general, the Mountain West teams were probably underseeded a little bit. They all kinda beat each other up, at home and on the road, during the conference. No one really separated as THE team.

At least they’re all in the bracket, somewhere.

“But … but … San Diego State played for the national championship last year!”

Yes, I know. Oregon State made the Elite 8 a few years ago. Sometimes teams get hot.

As we said, San Diego State won at Gonzaga, but also got swept by Boise State, and lost at New Mexico, at Colorado State, at Nevada, at Utah State, at UNLV …

• Wonder if fans of San Diego State, while in Spokane (or even in Coeur d’Alene on the off day), will visit Atilano’s Mexican Food, which claims to have “San Diego’s best burritos”?

• What kind of reception will Saint Mary’s get from the fans at the Spokane Arena? Judging from results, the Gaels are the only team left in the league (until next year) that thinks they can beat the Zags. This year, Saint Mary’s won the West Coast Conference regular season title, and beat the Zags in two of three meetings this year, including the conference title game. 

Zag fans get worked up when Saint Mary’s (and before that, BYU) come to town. Any other WCC team? It was pretty much a scrimmage.

Maybe the fans at the Arena should root for Saint Mary’s. There’s no doubt Saint Mary’s got better over the years because of Gonzaga. But maybe the Zags, by facing the physicality of Saint Mary’s two or three times a year, get a taste of that style of play when they head into the NCAAs, where everyone is physical and/or athletic.

• Within moments of the pairing being announced, two CBS Sports analysts immediately picked McNeese (McNeese State? My dear cousin Denise?) to upset Gonzaga in the first round in Salt Lake City today.

No doubt the Zags will used that perceived slight as motivation, adding to the motivation in the preseason of not being picked to win the West Coast Conference.

Then again, if the Lovables need motivation like that to get ready for an NCAA tournament game ...

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 X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.