They were 3rd in last weeks poll and the two teams above them, Indiana and Miami, both lost this week. Gonzaga has never been ranked #1 but should be this week, as long as they don't get jumped by Duke.

I'm not a Gonzaga fan but that would be quite an achievement for a little school in the middle of nowhere.

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Should be. That team is for real, seen em a few times this year (the wife is an alum).

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SUPER BOWL 48 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!

RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Over rated but in the system they absolutely should be.

Man I don't want to be rated #1 as that seems to be a curse for most lol. Also I really hope we get by BYU on Thursday.

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How do you figure? Just because it's Gonzaga?

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SUPER BOWL 48 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!

RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

I don't know if they should be #1, but they sure look like a damn good team when ever I watch them. So well coached. Then again maybe it's just cause I'm always watching the Huskies flail around on offense.

Led by 2 Canadians nonetheless.......eh.

He's right. the Zags feel like a sweet 16 team to me, nothing more. They're getting good play from olynik or whatever his name is, and their other big forward, but really, they don't have a very tough league schedule out there. they'll win a couple in the tournament, then get dumped out by a proper contender.

But yes, they should be rated #1 on Monday.

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Rzzzzz...

I disagree that they're merely a sweet 16 team. Olynyk and Elias Harris are doing quite well, but they also have a pretty good backcourt with Pangos, Stockton, and Bell. They've taken care of business, having beaten teams like Clemson, Oklahoma, and Kansas State (you know, the team leading the Big XII right now.) Their only two losses were a heart breaker against Butler (which was an awesome game), and against a hot Illinois team (who subsequently went through a slump, but is back on their feet.). Just because the WCC isn't a strong conference isn't any reason to discount the Bulldogs. It's not like they're lucking their ways into wins; they're slaughtering lesser teams as a great team should.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

We'll see. I don't think they make it past the sweet 16.

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Rzzzzz...

I'll know more after I get the year end numbers and the Zags get their seed in the tournament. Then I can run their numbers against the stats (really cool site called Bracket Science publishes the stats on CBSSports), and see how they compare historically. If they're not a Final Four team, I'll be more than willing to say so, but from the eye test, I think they are.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

This team will beat most teams on a neutral court. Gonzaga is not only a final four team, but has a legitimate shot at winning it all.

They aren't just getting good play out of Olynyk, they are getting EXCEPTIONAL play out of most of the team. It's simple ignorance to claim that Gonzaga isn't a final four team. Yes, the WCC is a weaker conference, but they have had 0 slip ups. The reason the Big 10 teams are beating up on each other is because there are 4/5 pretty good teams but no exceptional teams. Penn State is horrible in any conference.

The ACC might as well be the WCC of the East this year.

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SUPER BOWL 48 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!

RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Because they play in a sissy league! So many rave about out of league games they play and how well they do but in their own league its about like playing in our local Spokane High School league. Its easier to play tough teams when you only have to do it 3-4 times a season and not in your own league at all.

I've heard all the arguments many times before but before a team cracks the top ten they should be playing in a league where other teams are rated in the top 50.



I'm not arguing they aren't a good team where they are but they seem to get credit as if they played in a "real" basketball league. They've been getting these ridiculous ratings so they wind up getting an easy game first round but by the second normally they come back to earth. A couple of years ago they couldn't even win this cheap ass league they're in but still got rated high. What a joke.



That's my one and only post this year about the "faux" #2 team in the country. I live in Spokane so should be able to voice my opinion. Remember a short time ago when Wazzu walloped them and the Huskys in the same season 2 years in a row and still Gonzaga got rated above both those teams that clearly play in a way better league than them.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

Strength of schedule! Strength of schedule! How about watching the game with your eyes?

This is the deepest Gonzaga team, ever and probably the most well built team they've ever put on a court. They play in a weak league, yes, but they also do exactly what great teams do in bad leagues, beat the living hell out of nearly ever opponent.

If you really follow Gonzaga, like, really follow them, you've seen the ups and downs this program has gone through. When they first got good, it was with three point shooters and scrappy guys down low. They were exceptionally well coached, but they won with smoke and mirrors and significantly less talent then a lot of the teams they played in the tournament. Then, they raise the national profile and expand their recruiting base. From 03-08 you saw a lot of really talented Gonzaga teams with NBA quality players and absolutely no character or heart. These were the Austin Day teams, Jeremy Pargo, Josh Heitveldt(sp?). The program lost its identity and has been slowly regaining it for the last three years. Now they've got the scrappy guys, the multifaceted big men, the intelligent point guards, the NBA level athlete (Harris). They have a flurry of guys coming off the bench, everyone knows their role and everyone plays together.

Its easy to write off this Gonzaga team as all the others that stumble in the second or Sweet Sixteen because its convenient and everyone is in "wait and see" mode with them. Depending on who they draw, they could run into some trouble in the second round or Sweet Sixteen, it's all about matchups. When they've lost, its been to teams that pressure the ball and force Gonzaga's point guards into creating off the dribble. On defense, Gonzaga has trouble defending the pick and rolls run by athletic guards, a team like Michigan would give them headaches.

I don't think they are the best team in the country, although they could definitely make a final four run, but this is the best Gonzaga team I've seen.

I'm not hating on the Zags for the hell of it, but strength of schedule DOES mean something. look, they've played very well up to this point, and continue to play well, but like Les said, they're playing cupcakes in league play. They're essentially Boise State in basketball. the best team in their conference by a large margin, and *can* beat bigger teams on their night, but it just seems like eventually the train is going to come off the rails with these guys.

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Rzzzzz...

Relevant link for the discussion:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... rs-gonzaga

Also, Les's comments mean very little. He has an admitted disdain of college basketball (and all college sports), so his animadversions aren't based on facts or first hand experience, but based on where he lives and a pre-existing prejudice.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

Yes Les for many years has been bored to tears with college basketball. (much like NFL) But I used to follow them like crazy, knew the players, watched the Wizard of Westwood, and rooted for the Wolf Pack. But I did outgrow it like I outgrew the stupid passion for sports over all other things. Oh yeah,,for another sport, drag racing. But in the early days it was easy to be a Gonzaga fan cause they were the little guys struggling to make it in a league they were barely competitive in.

Well they've grown up no question, have a great program and a great coach. But along the way they got over being Gonzaga but became media darlings only interested in one thing...themselves. They are now such arrogant pukes it hard to be in the same room with them.

The only good thing that's happened is the National Media can pronounce their name correctly.

And stop using my dislike for an excuse. You witto bitty boys have your opinion and get all pissy when someone has a different one. Are you so unsure of your own position? Me thinks you protest to much.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

Pissy? No. I just find your hypocrisy on the matter to be a little bit much. You tell others to ignore what they don't like, but when it comes to the things you don't enjoy, you've still got to put your two cents in about it. And in this case, it's just an opportunity to complain without adding anything to the conversation, which is really, really annoying.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

Does playing in a good conference and losing show that you are a superior team? I mean Penn State plays in the Big Ten and even managed to beat Michigan last night but that doesn't mean they are better than the Zags. At some point you have to give credit to a team for winning ( especially when they do play quite a few good teams throughout the year).
If Indiana, Michigan or Michigan State had the same record as the Zags I would say you'd have a point but they don't. In fact the only team that has an argument would be Indiana (who lost to the very same teams the Zags did plus more). At some point you have to win those hard games to get credit for playing that tough conference schedule. I realize that those teams have good wins as well but so do the Zags and they would have more if they were in the football conferences as well(6-0 verses big 12 this year).

Well peaches,

Here's your ammunition. The below is to figure out which 1 seeds won't make the Final Four:

1 seed pretender qualifiers:

A scoring margin of 10.5 points or fewer per game

18.4 - Check

Imbalanced scoring, with more than 73 percent of points from either the backcourt or frontcourt (forwards and centers)

50.4 from frontcourt. -Check

A strength of schedule ranked higher than 80

61 - Check
A "snake-bitten" coach (more than four tourney trips without an Elite Eight run)

Sweet Sixteen is Few's best run.

A coach with fewer than seven tourney appearances leading a team either without an All-American or that didn't go to the previous dance.

12 appearances in a row - Check

A couple others which I can't calculate yet.


If Gonzaga bails out before the Final Four, the bolded might be way. I had thought Few made an Elite Eight on one of the cinderella runs, but I was wrong. Only 1 team that's been a 1 seed has made a Final Four with a snake bit coach, and that was Texas in 2003. Few would need to break out in a big way this year.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

If Gonzaga bails out before the Final Four, the bolded might be way. I had thought Few made an Elite Eight on one of the cinderella runs, but I was wrong. Only 1 team that's been a 1 seed has made a Final Four with a snake bit coach, and that was Texas in 2003. Few would need to break out in a big way this year.



I too thought they would make the fast eight that year. Not that I liked it but it looked like their big chance. As I recall it was their rebounding that killed them that game. Now watch someone have a cow for me saying that.

As I mentioned to Sar via PM its not as much fun poking youse guys about Gonzaga cause its to easy.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

It's official, they're number one in the polls:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-0 ... -time.html

Sadly I think their guard play isn't good enough to get them past the Sweet 16. The tourney is often about guard play and they have quite average guards IMO. Do hope I'm wrong and they make that first ever Final Foiur appearance.

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

Good for them that they made the ranking but you will never convince me they have better team/players than the Indianas, Dukes, and all the others in the top 10.

This just insures they get a cupcake in the first round.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

I approve this thread.

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Super Bowl XLVIII Champions!

Pretty easy(and lazy) to sit back and predict an eventual loss in the tourney for any team seeing as only one team won't end with a loss and only 52% of number one seeds actually make the final four. No clear cut dominant team this year but a lot of good ones. I have no doubt you will never be convinced they have better players and or team even if they won the whole thing though. Some people are very determined to believe what they want. Fact is GU is a top 5 team this year and they have shown it on the court.

Gee, doesn't this describe your post exactly?

What do you care? This is a place of opinions and you seem to think yours is more important than mine. Is that about right?

You have the right to think and say what you want here. But that right is only predicated on the idea that you have to accept what others think and say too.

Just because you don't agree with my opinion does not make me wrong nor you right, just different.

Please take it that way and try to not have such a cow over a silly college game that means nothing in the game of life. Its merely entertainment and nothing else. Bob Knight figured that out years ago and look how well he did. And that was in a REAL league with very good teams in it so they had to play championship type teams sometimes twice a week.

All this excitement about winning every game in their weeny conference. Talk to me about UCLA winning 50 games in a row! Talk to me about Indiana going completely undefeated for an entire season! Talk to me about the hated UCLA winning more National Championships than the the Zags have played in. They have a wonderful 10-12 year record and have what appears to me a very good coach. But he/they will have to prove it in a real league where there are challanges every week, not 2-3 times a season. Do you think they could have gone undefeated in the SEC, or Big 10? See I don't. I think they have trouble making the show under those circumstances. And honestly I think if you looked hard you would too.

But I'll allow you to be a big Zags fan. I ask you allow me not to be and not act like its a crime against God.



So yes I have a lot of trouble with people ranking this team #1 in the country, seems outragous to me. But I did already say how great it is for them to get that ranking.

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The SuperB owl ladys have left the building with our thanks.

Quite an accomplishment for a tiny school from Spokane

LOl wow someone a little touchy today ehh? Overeact much? By the way the thread is about this years top teams not teams from decades ago and this year the Zags are a top 5 team even most ardent BCS lovers admit that. Clearly this topic touches a nerve with you for whatever reason.
You asked if I thought the Zags would go undefeated and the answer is no but neither did Indiana or Duke. Your statement that they would have trouble making the tourney is pretty laughable though. Especially considering they played 5 Big 12 teams(top teams not bottom dwellers) and won all of them.

This. I can't stress this enough - they just don't have the look of a team that will go deep in the tournament this year. So far, I've watched them 3 times, the OkSU game, one I forget now and the most recent Santa Clara game. They deserve to be ranked #1 right now, but I'll be fairly shocked if they make it past the sweet 16.

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Rzzzzz...

At this point, I think we're going to be shocked at who *IS* actually in the sweet sixteen. Gonzaga might be the only team that's had consistent success.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

the issue with their "consistent" success is that it comes against a notably weak schedule. Should they apologize for that? Absolutely not? And do they deserve to be #1 in the nation? Yep.

But Zags fans cant get defensive when the rest of the nation isnt buying the hype as them being an elite 8 team. The teams that have been ranked #1 have subsequently gone up against other top 10 teams almost immediately. Gonzaga doesnt have the problem/luxury.

Now, I think Gonzaga would win the Pac-12. I do. But I also think they will struggle to make it to the Elite 8 and it will end there. Wont be surprised if they make the Final Four (would enjoy it, much like Butler), but they havent really passed any tests to prove that sort of longevity, yet.

Thats whats interesting... they wont find a test until the tourney. so the question will remain that until they do.

First, I do agree that if Gonzaga was in the Big 10, they'd have more than 2 losses. I still think they'd be competitive with Indiana for the Big 10 title, though.

Moving on, it might be helpful to reference the numbers concerning my assertions. Here's some good resource on the team of Gonzaga without diving into the asinine notion that their conference makes them a better or worse team. (Memphis wasn't a crap team in 2008 even though they were/are in the Conference USA).

Gonzaga meets raw efficiency stats of a National Champion(Scroll to the bottom)if not some statistical trends:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... e-favorite

When compared to teams of years past using Ken Pomeroy rankings, they're right at the historic line of the 'final' 1 (i.e. the team ranked #4 on the 68 team curve.) in terms of its 'strength'.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... lity-cliff

What is important is that this might be one of the weakest fields we've seen in an NCAA tournament (yet) which will likely mean lots of upsets. It also means that Gonzaga may not be as tested this year as some might predict because the teams that are closer to the 2011 line are the ones likely to get knocked off in any given round.

Again, as I mentioned, I don't have a fan's skin in the outcome, since I agree they're unlikely candidates for the Final Four given the fact only one coach who didn't have a previous trip to the Elite Eight has done it, but I think a bow out before the Elite Eight, at least at this snapshot in time, is also unlikely given the level of play Gonzaga has produced and the level of quality it will see in the field. But again, I'll know more when we see those matchups because then I'll have better ideas of the probabilities of each matchup. (I seriously go through the process of handicapping every potential matchup.) If they get unlucky and have a team like Ohio State as the #4 in their region as in the latest ESPN bracketology (link: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology), then I could see them losing in the Sweet Sixteen, too.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

And this is the biggest thing that gives me hope that they will make the Final Four. Clearly there are no elite teams this season though now that Duke has Ryan Kelly back they may become that team.



GO ZAGS!!

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

No. 1 seed!! GO ZAGS!! (and go to hell Doug Gottlieb)

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

They're going to have a tough matchup in the sweet 16. Wisconsin will be tough. At least they get a shot a 2 top big-10 teams on the way to the final 4.

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Awesome Table Tool: http://www.teamopolis.com/tools/bbcode- ... rator.aspx

I hate Doug Gottlieb right now............Come'on Zags, make a run!

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Was that the guy that seemed furious over Gonzaga getting a #1 seed?

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

Yep and he went on and on and on and........about it. REALLY hope the Zags get to the Final Four and he chows on raw, shitty tasting crow.




GO ZAGS!!

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

I just like the fact that Gonzaga rarely gets any top 100 players in the nation yet they consistently get to the tournament. They have never made a final four and just one elite eight but to be that consistent with overlooked players or other college transfers is amazing to me.

I might add that Douchebag Gottlieb stated that the way to beat Gonzaga was "out-physical them". Same EXACT thing he said last year before they went up against West Virginia a team coached by Bob Huggins who's teams are notoriously physical in their approach. Final score: Gonzaga 77, West Vagina 54. How'd that one work out for you Douchebag Gottlieb?

And now here you are spouting the same tired ol' bullshit again this year. Have you even watched the Zags play the last 2 years or do you just automatically denigrate them cuz you hate them for whatever reason? Let me explain something to you idiot, the way to beat Gonzaga is outplay their guards and hang with them in the paint. Geez, they should pay me the 6 figure salary you pull for being better at analyzing college hoops than you are......well, GU hoops anyway. You sir, are freaking moron!!




GO ZAGS!!

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

What I like about the bullying reference is most people dont understand the depth of the bench. The Zags have far more fouls to give than most of their opponents do. The East coast media can hate all they want. Just win baby!

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Super Bowl XLVIII Champions!

Well they look like shit so far

Southern is shooting lights out this half, pretty hard to stop that

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Credit to Southern. That was a hell of a game. I can't believe they were a 16 seed. I think they could have taken down a 2 or 3 seed easy.

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Super Bowl Champions XVLIII

They way they were shooting 3's today....wow.......we were very lucky to get by.

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Yeah, shooting dang near 50% from 3-point range is pretty ridiculous.

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I am a firm believer in luck, and I found that the harder I work the more I have of it.

And most were heavily contested 3's as well.

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Agree. I think Zags have a bit of an easier time with Witchita St. though it ain't gonna be a cakewalk either.




GO ZAGS!!

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From the white sands
To the canyon lands
To the redwood stands
To the barren lands

I think Gonzaga should be able to win tonight though will be in pretty tough and not the greatest matchup for them. Hopefully got the rust from the long layoff they had out of the way and will be a bit more lively right from the tip.

Wichita St. seems like a really tough, physical team who really slows it down big time (would fit in the Big 10 well). If the 2 Canucks ball out and run that pick and roll they do so well, efficiently the Zags should be good.

If Gonzaga wins this game y'all need to send this officiating crew lots and lots of flowers.

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