It's one of those times of the sports year where everything seems to converge. The prep basketball playoffs are in full swing, the pros are still playing every day and the college tournaments are just around the corner. Spring training for baseball is starting up, and football fans can get their fix with the Arena Football League. NASCAR had its biggest race of the year last week, and the Winter Olympics have just finished their two-week run.
A few thoughts on the local sporting scene ...
Are you ready for another Utah-BYU basketball game? It's looking like the Utes and Cougars could meet in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament next week if things go as expected this week. With San Diego State all but assured of the No. 1 spot, the Cougars are likely to get the No. 3 seed in the tourney if Air Force beats Colorado State.
The Utes need to beat Wyoming on Saturday to get the No. 6 seed and hope that Colorado State loses one of its two remaining games. They could even move up to No. 5 but would have to win two and New Mexico lose two.
If the Cougars and Utes do end up in the 3 vs. 6 game, it will be played Thursday night at 9:59 p.m. on ESPN. The Cougars and Utes could also meet if they end up in the No. 2 and No. 7 spots. We won't try to give you the scenarios for that, but it's possible ...
It looks like none of the state's teams can get an at-large berth for the NCAA Tournament and each will need to win their conference tourney to make the Big Dance. Utah State's hopes died Saturday night with a home loss to Nevada. Hey, at least the Cougars and Aggies will likely play in the NIT if they don't win their respective tournaments — woo-hoo ...
How about those Jazz? They go on the road and beat New Orleans, then come back home and lose to the same team three days later. Go figure. If the Jazz could play decently at home, they would certainly be a playoff team because they are one of the league's better road teams (13-15). Right now, their road record is nearly as good as their home record (13-14). However, with Carlos Boozer back in the fold, the Jazz ought to be able to climb into the playoffs, either as the Northwest Division champ or No. 8 seed in the West ...
We're supposed to love the Winter Olympics since they were in our city four years ago but didn't you have a hard time keeping interested this year? With an eight-hour time difference from Italy, it was hard not to keep from finding out the results of the events you cared about before they aired. Then you probably didn't want to watch something you knew the results of. And you certainly weren't about to watch the events you didn't care about in the first place ...
The loss of Utah resident Mike Weir to Geoff Ogilvy in the Accenture Match Play Tournament was akin to a basketball team losing a 20-point lead with four minutes left in the game. Weir was 4 up on Ogilvy with four holes to play in the third round. All he had to do was halve (tie) one of the final four holes and he would have won the third-round match. Instead, he lost all four holes and ended up losing the match on extra holes. As for Ogilvy, he went on to win three more matches and claim the $1.3 million first prize. Weir? He took home $1.175 million less than Ogilvy, a mere $125,000 ...
Why does Rick Majerus' name keep coming up in connection with various open college jobs? Perhaps because it has been going on every year for the last 15 years or so. However, the fact is, Majerus is now 57 years old, and once any prospective employer makes a couple of calls back to Utah, the big man won't be a candidate for long. Majerus would like to get back in the limelight, but he should keep on analyzing college basketball games for ESPN, at which he does a fine job ...
And finally, kudos to a couple of basketball coaches, Judge Memorial's Jim Yerkovich and Utah Valley's Dick Hunsaker.
Yerkovich has been arguably the state's best prep basketball coach over the past three decades but had just one championship to his credit. He ended a 26-year drought Saturday night when his Bulldogs defeated Tooele in the 3A finals.
Hunsaker, by winning Saturday, clinched his 12th winning season in 12 years as a college basketball coach. Most coaches have at least one down year, but Hunsaker has never had a losing season in all his years at Ball State, Manchester College, Utah and the last four at Utah Valley.
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