For the final time this season, WSU will play a basketball game at Beasley Coliseum. Regardless of the outcome tonight, the best of three format of the CBI finals means the Cougars' season will end in Pittsburgh.
Originally, I was going to make a joke how the best of three format is good because it gives WSU more time to plan the parade route in celebration of this illustrious championship. Then I realized 1) that joke is terrible and 2) planning a parade route in Pullman would take less than two seconds. Everything is just a giant loop, perfect for victory parades. If you wanted to shorten it you could start at the campus entrance and parade down Stadium Way to Beasley. I'm fairly certain whoever designed the roads in Pullman did so with envisions of extremely hilly parades.
Parade or not, if WSU has a shot in this series, they need to win tonight. As a team who has struggled on the road all season, having to win back-to-back road elimination games does not seem like a sound strategy. Before any of you post comments saying the 1995 Seattle Mariners did it and "refuse to lose" I will remind you, the Mariners did it at home and they also had the power of Randy Johnson's mullet. The current roster has infinitely more balding players than ones with mullets, so a comeback would be extremely difficult.
Men's Basketball
Cougars welcome Big East challenge - Spokesman.com - March 25, 2012
PULLMAN – The opportunity to continue their season was motivation enough for the Washington State Cougars to accept a bid to the College Basketball Invitational.
Getting to know Pittsburgh - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - March 25, 2012
FROM PULLMAN — With the rare occasion of a Big East team coming to town, we decided to ask Ray Fittipaldo, the Pittsburgh beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, to answer a few questions about the Panthers. He obliged.
As CBI finale approaches, Pitt looks to future - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pitt is getting ready for college basketball's version of "We got next." The College Basketball Invitational championship — and its rare best-of-three finals — is hardly the do-or-die postseason format the Panthers are used to playing.
Football
Las Vegas New Level 7-on-7 Day 2 notes - ESPN
"[Cougars] coach Mike Leach put me in his office and talked to me one on one for 25 minutes," he said. "It felt like an honor to talk a coach like that and be recruited by a coach like that."
Video: Eric Oertel - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - March 25, 2012
FROM PULLMAN — Today's spring football video interview features junior linebacker Eric Oertel, who is back on the defensive side of the ball after finishing last season as a running back.
Baseball
Cougar Baseball Rained Out - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site
LOS ANGELES - Sunday's Pac-12 Conference baseball game between Washington State and UCLA was postponed due to rain at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The final meeting in the three-game series is now scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. The seventh-ranked Bruins posted a victory in each of the first two games.