Dot Dot Dawg: Tournament Time

The Seattle Times — Should UW fans be worried about the Huskies?

Percy Allen breaks down the Washington Huskies’ regular season finale loss to the Oregon Ducks, which marked the first time the Dawgs dropped a game at Hec Ed all season. Allen points to the Dawgs scoring a season-low 47 points as reason for concern heading into this week’s Pac-12 tournament, recaps the events of UW’s Senior Day activities, and evaluates Matisse Thybulle and Jaylen Nowell’s position in the race for Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.

The Daily — Melgoza’s 32 not enough to continue UW’s Cinderella run

Alec Dietz chronicles the end of the Washington women’s surprise run in the Pac-12 tournament, in which the Huskies scored consecutive upset victories against the No. 6 and 3 seeds (Utah and Oregon State, respectively) before falling to No. 2 seed Stanford in the semifinals on Saturday night. It was an impressive finish to the season for the Dawgs, especially considering that in the regular season, they amassed a dreadful 2-15 conference record.

The Seattle Times — What the heck is the transfer portal, and how does it affect Washington and Washington State?

Mike Vorel provides readers with a handy primer on the NCAA’s transfer portal for football players, and examines how its existence will affect the way the nation’s college football teams go about their business:

Is free agency coming to college football?

It all depends on who you ask.

Last April, the NCAA’s Division I Council approved a rule modification for student-athletes seeking immediate eligibility following a transfer. In the past, a player would only be granted immediate eligibility if he could demonstrate a “specific, extraordinary circumstance” that necessitated the transfer or “egregious behavior” by his previous institution.

In the wake of the rule modification, however, the transferring player must prove only that “the transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.”

Not extraordinary. Not egregious. “Mitigating.”

The Seattle Times — Huskies’ regular-season finale features plenty of hugs but no victory

Larry Stone’s latest column dives into how the men’s basketball team finds itself positioned heading into this week’s Pac-12 tournament, as well as next weekend’s Selection Sunday that could deliver the Huskies their first March Madness berth since 2011:

... [H]aving suddenly lost two of their last four conference games, bookended around a one-point victory and an overtime win, suddenly the Huskies look more vulnerable than they have at any other point throughout their Pac-12 title romp. A first-round stumble in Vegas would cause a lot more consternation on selection Sunday than they would have hoped.

Dots

• The Athletic’s Brian Bennett wonders if 2019 Washington will become the first power conference champion to not make the NCAA tournament since ... 2012 Washington.
• Michael McCann breaks down the important points to know and take away from the NCAA’s recent defeat in the courtroom, in which “U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ... declared that the NCAA and its 11 major conferences are violating antitrust law by capping the value of athletic scholarships.”

• Alec Dietz writes about the baseball team’s positive start to the year, in which they’ve earned a 9-4 record in the non-conference portion of their schedule.
• Speaking of which, head coach Lindsay Meggs spoke with Softy on Friday about the state of the team and the goals he hopes to accomplish this season.

• Keith Price earned himself a highlight reel appearance by coming off of the bench and scoring a touchdown for the AAF’s Birmingham Iron.

• For the recruitniks among you, here’s 2020 four-star wide receiver Jalen McMillan showing Sam Huard (and the Dawgs) some love.