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Tuesday, March 25, 2014.
Why does Mountain West basketball get so much buzz? Because people go. Utah and BYU may be gone from the MW hoops scene, but the conference is still drawing more fans per game than the Pac-12. This season the Mountain West averaged 7,748 fans to the Pac-12’s 7,516. The top three in the MW dwarfed the top three in the Pac—New Mexico drew 15,212 per game, UNLV 13,125, and San Diego State 12,414. In the Pac-12, Arizona averaged 14,430, Utah 10,311, and Colorado 9,635. Makes you wonder where schools like UCLA came in, doesn’t it? The Bruins’ average crowd count was 8,136. And how about USC at 4,370? At the other end is Washington State with just 2,800, hence the firing of Ken Bone. Would Boise State’s Leon Rice want to deal with that? See below. (The Cougars attracted 7,323 in Bone’s first season, though.)
Boise State was sixth in Mountain West attendance this season at 6,810. Fresno State was fifth with a 7,244 average that should require an asterisk. The number was padded by fans disguised as red seats—and by a Paul George Giveaway Night early in the season and a Jerry Tarkanian Night at the end, about which Marek Warszawski of the Fresno Bee wrote: “So many fans packed the cavernous arena that we'll allow the 14,801 official attendance figure to stand without comment. Just this once.” For the record, the WAC average this season was 2,365. In the Big Sky, it was 2,165.
For those who thought Rice was gone to Washington State were the Cougars to offer the job, Jacob Thorpe of the Spokesman-Review had a different take yesterday on Idaho SportsTalk. Thorpe, who covers WSU for the Spokane paper, said according to his sources Rice “indicated that he’s really not interested at this time.” Rice has apparently had contact with the Cougs. “Out of respect for his alma mater, he was willing to listen.” The subject of basketball facilities in Pullman came up again. With abyssmal attendance the last couple of seasons, and very little revenue coming in, Thorpe said there are no current plans for facility upgrades. On top of that, Washington State has to pay Bone’s $1.7 million buyout over the next two years. Thorpe said WSU athletic director Bill Moos doesn’t anticipate a hire for another week to 10 days.
Kyle Dranginis’ sophomore season at Gonzaga is over after the Zags were routed 84-61 by Arizona in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32 Sunday night. The Skyview High grad played a significant role in the Bulldogs’ round of 64 win Friday, contributing 12 points and making 7-of-8 free throws in the 85-77 win over Oklahoma State. Dranginis played only 13 minutes versus Arizona, though, and scored just two points. For the season, he averaged 6.2 points and four rebounds a game. One number that bodes well for Dranginis’ chances of starting next season: he was second on the team with 41 steals. He plays defense that way Mark Few wants it played.
While San Diego State prepares for its rematch against Arizona in the Sweet 16 Thursday night, Fresno State’s season continues. The Bulldogs stopped Princeton 72-56 last night in the quarterfinals of the CBI at the Save Mart Center. Tyler Johnson led Fresno State with 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting from the field. The ‘Dogs will host Old Dominion tomorrow night in the semifinals.
The Boise State football “Bronco All-Access” series takes a hiatus during spring break. The new and increasingly popular behind-the-scenes video vignettes have brought fans a lot closer to the program than they’ve ever been (at least in the FBS era). Episode No. 3 was on position meetings, which the coaching staff likes to conduct at a pace similar to practice. “We’ve got a minute,” linebackers coach Andy Avalos exclaimed in front of the white board detailing a defensive scheme. “A minute to write (the information) down.” Sophomore Chris Santini knows that’s only the beginning. “There’s a big difference learning it in here and actually going out and executing it,” said Santini. “Envision yourself when you’re watching film—that you’re out doing it.” Spring ball reconvenes this Sunday night.
Lining out the Idaho Steelheads’ postseason situation: three teams are battling for the No. 3 through 5 seeds in the Western Conference Playoffs, the top two of which bring home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals. Utah is currently third and is riding a four-game winning streak. The Grizzlies have the ECHL’s best record since Christmas. Utah’s winning percentage is .597, ahead of Colorado at .573 and the Steelheads at .562. The Steelies, who go to Stockton for three games beginning tomorrow night, will play their final four games of the regular season head-to-head against both Utah and Colorado.
It was revealed yesterday that the Boise State women’s gymnastics team is headed to Seattle for NCAA Regionals on April 5. The Broncos go in as the No. 3 seed behind Alabama and Nebraska. Denver is No. 4, despite edging BSU by 35-thousandths of a point for the Mountain Rim championship Saturday. The top two teams from regionals advance to the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, AL, April 18-20. The Broncos have yearned to go to nationals as a team but have still never done it. They came closest in 2011, when they missed by 25-thousandths of a point.
Our official Scott Slant representative, Julie, is at spring training in the Phoenix area and attended yesterday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and L.A. Angels in Tempe. I asked her to report on any sightings of former Boise Hawk Tyler Colvin, who’s trying to catch on with the Giants. The first dispatch we got from Julie was, “Barry Bonds was in the dugout earlier.” She then reported that Colvin was indeed in the game, and that he hit a solo home run in the eighth inning of San Francisco’s 11-4 loss. The one-time Clemson star has struggled this spring—his 2-for-4 day raised his average over the Mendoza Line to .207. Colvin is wearing uniform No. 88. That would indicate he’s a longshot.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BLAZ’N DIAGNOSTICS…fast answers and dealer-level expertise.
March 25, 1961: Ohio State, the favorite to win the national championship, features All-American Jerry Lucas and a kid named Bobby Knight, but Cincinnati upsets the Buckeyes in overtime, 70-65, to win the NCAA Tournament final. The same two teams would meet for the 1962 title, with the Bearcats winning again, 71-59.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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