A Grip on Sports: Even with a pause for Easter, this month’s weekends are full, starting with two NCAA basketball titles earned by Monday night

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Six basketball games. Four days. Two national titles. It’s finally Final Four weekend and NCAA Division I basketball trophies will be handed out in Tampa and San Antonio. Women and men. Hello April.

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• The basketball this weekend. The Masters on the next one. Easter. NFL draft. Pretty good lineup of weekends for a month. Almost as good as the Dodgers’ or the 1992 USA men’s Olympic team. And we didn’t even mention baseball.

That’s for later. This Friday the charge is to describe how to navigate a weekend with sun in the forecast while still having time to watch Gonzaga and UCLA play.

Oh, sorry. That was a Jalen Suggs flashback, based on all the clips I saw yesterday on the four-year anniversary of his game-winning near-half-court shot.

Watching the final few minutes of that game can still supply goosebumps.

But that was then. Tonight, UCLA and UConn, two teams that were in Spokane only a few days ago, meet in Tampa in one women’s semifinal (scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN but that’s an impossible ask). The winner will face the Texas/South Carolina (4, ESPN) winner on Sunday (noon, ABC) for the title.

It’s the idea Connecticut was in Spokane and played Monday night that has me kind of shaking my head. Tuesday had to be a travel day. That means the Huskies had just two days to prep for the top-seeded Bruins.

Geno Auriemma moans about everything. But with this complaint, the Huskies’ coach has the high ground. Why aren’t the women playing their semifinals Sunday and their final on Tuesday night? Is the NCAA afraid it would be anticlimactic after the men’s Monday night title game?

Could be. Instead, you make the task harder for at least one team. The one that has to travel from the West Coast one day later.
No changing it now. The men? They have the extra day.

Their semifinals – Florida vs. Auburn (the all-SEC matchup starts at 3:09 p.m. on CBS) and Duke vs. Houston (5:49, also on CBS) – are Saturday. It’s a Final Four with as much to offer in the way of excellence we’ve seen in a while. Stars. Veteran coaches. Young coaches. Varied styles. Nearly unstoppable scorers. Nearly irresistible defenders.

Anyone with half a brain expects two close, compelling games, possibly with a Suggs-like ending.

Which means there will probably be two blowouts.

• That’s not all the weekend has to offer on TV. The Mariners take their George Kirby-less rotation into San Fransico, where Luis (some other middle initial) Castillo will kick off the road trip this afternoon at 1:35 (Root). Ya, the Luis Castillo all M’s fans know threw Wednesday. This Castillo was called up to take Emerson Hancock’s spot, after Hancock failed in his first attempt to fill Kirby’s shoes.

The series continues Saturday (6:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05), both on Root.

• Need more? Why? Use the free time between basketball games to mow the lawn or pick up leaves. Or vacuum the carpet. Take a hike. Visit mom.

If none of those things seem palatable, there is always football. Sort of. The UFL has a game on Saturday on ABC (5 p.m.) and two on Sunday, one on ESPN (9 a.m.) and FS1 (3:30 p.m.). We’re not even going to list the teams because, honestly, does it matter? It’s April. If you’re watching football, it’s about something else, not the participants.

• One last thought on college hoops before the weekend. It’s too bad West Coast-based official Michael Greenstein wasn’t one of the more than a dozen referees picked for the Final Four. That would have meant he wasn’t in Indianapolis on Thursday night, working the NIT title game. And ruining my week.

Yes, I had a dog in the hunt. And my alma mater, UC Irvine, a team that shot 80% from the free-throw line this season, shot like dogs from the line in its 85-84 overtime loss. The Anteaters’ 21-of-34 shooting was at the heart of their defeat.

But it was three free throws Honor Huff had late that irked me. The Chattanooga guard took a 3-pointer from the left corner with 16 seconds left in regulation. He missed. Irvine grabbed the board. All moot. Because Greenstein, standing on the left sideline, blew his whistle. Called a foul as Huff fell to the floor.

What he couldn’t see, and his partners could, was Huff threw out his left leg after the ball was gone. Myles Che was nearly a foot outside Huff’s body as he flew by. Huff initiated the contact. With his angle, Greenstein had to guess whether Che had caused the contact. With the game on the line, he guessed wrong.

Huff hit all three free throws. When Che lured a Moc into the air on the other end and drew contact on a 3-pointer, the 87% free-throw shooter had the opportunity to match Huff. He didn’t, making just two. And UCI lost in overtime.    

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WSU: Around in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his picks for the NCAA men’s semifinals in the Mercury News. … Washington has picked up a couple transfers. … USC fell in the College Basketball Crown tournament to Villanova. … An Arizona walk-on used college to learn what he needed for the next step of his career: engineering. … Colorado State picked up a transfer from Washington. … In the women’s game, UCLA has won a national title before, despite all the noise about this being the school’s first Final Four. It’s all part of the NCAA’s continued inability to recognize it didn’t want anything to do with women’s sports for decades and has decided if it didn’t sponsor them, they didn’t exist. … USC’s JuJu Watkins continues to rack up rewards for her outstanding season. … Checking football news, Washington had a returning starting quarterback already. And yet Tulane’s Kai Horton transferred in. … Spring practice rolls on at Oregon. And at Oregon State. At Arizona State and Arizona as well. … An injured Colorado State wide receiver was healthy enough to go through a snowy pro day. And shine. … Utah hopes one of its transfer receivers will become the go-to guy. … Boise State’s quarterback will be the central focus of the offense in the fall.

Gonzaga: Will Graves basically grew up in the Kennel. As the youngest of former women’s coach Kelly Graves, he went from running around the place in Pull-Ups to pulling up his shorts as a Gonzaga men’s walk-on player. Then he went into the family business, coaching. This weekend? He will be working at the Final Four as a member of Florida’s staff. Jim Meehan tells us how it Graves’ third Final Four in six years. … Elsewhere in the WCC, new Santa Clara women’s coach Loree Payne is making a quick transition.

EWU: If Eastern is going to have a defensive turnaround this season, it will be it veteran secondary that keys it. Dan Thompson explains in this story. … Elsewhere the Big Sky, a former Montana women’s basketball player was shot to death recently. … Montana State’s star received more honors. … In football news, Montana held its pro day. … Northern Colorado has set all the special days on its schedule.

Preps: We can pass along this Dave Nichols’ roundup of Thursday’s action. … Alexandra Duggan, who writes for the city desk, has a story on a complaint filed with the Department of Education concerning a local transgender track athlete.

Chiefs: After losing Wednesday night, Spokane needed to bounce back in its WHL playoff opening-round series against Vancouver. It did, scoring early, often and winning 6-2. Dave has that story. … Former Chief Kailer Yamamoto is back in the NHL with Utah.

Indians: Opening day. Spokane’s 120-game schedule begins with a visit from Everett. Dave has a story on the Indians’ roster, another on the changes made to Avista Stadium in Phase Two of the remodel and, finally, a feature on a Rockies’ prospect starting the season in Spokane.

Zephyr: Behind midfielder Mackenzie Weinert’s goal, Spokane picked up a 1-0 victory over Brooklyn on Thursday night in ONE Spokane Stadium. John Allison has the story.

Bare Knuckle Fighting: I’m pretty sure it has been more than 100 years since a S-R reporter has delved deeply into bare-knuckled fighting. But, hey, we have one to link today. Charlotte McKinley has a piece on Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship featherweight champion Kai Stewart.  

Nations basketball: The Battle of the Nations basketball tournament is this weekend in Spokane. Garrett Cabeza has a preview of the event.

Mariners: As we mentioned, another Castillo takes the mound for the M’s today. … What early trends are worth watching?

Seahawks: The Raiders signed Geno Smith to an extension yesterday. The terms seem to indicate Smith wanted out of Seattle, as the numbers are only a bit different than what the Hawks offered. An offer Smith ignored. … No one really knows who Seattle will take with its first pick but everyone has a thought.

Kraken: A story on missing teeth? Sure, why not. There will not be any playoff stories.

Sounders: Seattle revealed the Club World Cup logo yesterday. It is really good.

Storm: Sue Bird is still waiting to hear her Hall of Fame fate.

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• Sorry about my rant this morning. No, not the NIT one. I will never apologize about being a fan of my alma mater, considering how many times I either bled or broke bones or even suffered a concussion while playing for the school. No, I’m referring to my spring pro football one. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to watch. Until later …