Sam Amico
Videos by OutKick
Did you know Gonzaga is unbeaten with wins over Iowa, Virginia and Kansas? Did you know that the Zags’ eight wins over West Coast Conference opponents has come by an average of 25.4 points? And did you know most people in college basketball suspect it might stay this way — and that Gonzaga will run the table?
You may know all that already, but the fact you may not makes Gonzaga the best-kept top-ranked secret in a long, long time.
The Zags (17-0) throttled WCC opponent Pepperdine on Saturday night, which again, was no surprise (they’ve beaten the Waves 41 straight times now). Also, Gonzaga has turned itself into a regular NCAA Final Four contender despite not playing in a “power” conference. But this may be coach Mark Few’s best squad yet — and he’s been there since 1999 and went 31-2 last year.
Senior forward Corey Krispert is leading the way with 20.2 points and 5.2 rebounds, and sophomore forward Drew Timme is adding 18.7 points and 6.9 boards. The Zags also receive plenty of contributions from guards Jalen Suggs (freshman, 13.5 ppg), Joel Ayayi (junior, 11.9 ppg) and Andrew Nembhard (junior, 9.5 ppg), among many others. As is usually the case with Few and the Zags, it has been a team-wide effort in the truest sense.
So why do few seem to notice? Well, for one, Gonzaga can indeed fall off the national radar when playing WCC games. Other than maybe BYU and St. Mary’s, Gonzaga’s conference foes haven’t exactly asserted themselves or proven to be worthy of great respect lately.
Along with that, college basketball is like the rest of the sports world — and dealing with a pandemic. So it’s been a bit chaotic and tough to follow. Not many people seem to know much about other top-10 teams such as Baylor, Villanova, Michigan, Houston, Texas and Ohio State, either.
But we are mere six weeks or so from March Madness. And no matter how you spin it, the Zags look like the team to beat, everyone’s favorite, and if they can run the table (and they just might), one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time.
I am just so happy not to see Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky not in the top 25. Now we just need Kansas to lose a few more as well and the Big Blue 4 would all be outside the rankings
Congrats, Zags…home of the great John Stockton
Will always love John Stockton. Favorite NBA player of all time
Nice gaudy record against garbage conference opponents. Gonzaga is never as good as their record indicates.
They beat Kansas by 12, Iowa by 11, and Virginia by 25. These aren’t garbage opponents. Furthermore, these games were over by the second half and the only reason they were close was because Gonzaga relaxed.
That’s right. West Virginia has played Gonzaga as well as anyone this season (87-82 Zags), and still the Zags scored 87. This is not the typical Gonzaga team who benefits from its shitty conference. I mean the conference is still shitty but Gonzaga looks like a pro team this season. That being said, we have seen a lot of teams head to the tournament as the team of the century only to have one bad game and oops gone.
Kent Benson says hold my beer
Anthony Davis hold my beer
Forever… really? You may need to go back into the 1960s and 1970s and watch some UCLA basketball. They actually won nearly all of their games over a 10 year period when playing in a great basketball conference. The had basketball players who dominated the college and pro game like Jabbar and Walton, players who are in the basketball Hall of Fame. They actually won championships instead of doing what Gonzaga does – make it to the final four. In fact, UCLA with legendary coach John Wooden, WON TEN CHAMIONSHIPS IN TWELVE years. Won them! Not made it to the Final Four. How many championships has this mighty Gonzaga dynasty (“who has dominated like no one in like, forever” in your words) won? I think the answer is Zero. So they beat up a bunch of bad opponents in a very weak conference and you want us to crown them one of the best ever? I don’t think so.
100% spot on. Those Bruins teams of the 60s and 70s are some of the best sports teams of all time (yes in all of sports). Their domination was truly remarkable with all of their titles, winning streaks, and amazing NBA talent (Alcindor, Walton, Bibby, Goodrich, Wilkes, Johnson, etc etc). That is easily the greatest run in college basketball history (plus the Pac 12, or Pac 8 at the time is much better than the Pac 12 currently is. It was truly a great conference at the time). Then you have 1976 Indiana, the 80s Georgetown teams, UNLV and Duke of the early 90s, and UK of the mid-late 90s. This Zags team doesn’t deserve to be compared to any of them (not even the Florida or UK teams that have won titles in the past 15 years). Don’t get me wrong, this Zags team is great. But for all their “dominance” of the last 20 years all they have to show for that is 1 Final Four when UNC beat them in the title game. I get this might be the best team Mark Few has had, and there is a chance they run the table and take the national championship back to Spokane. Even if that is the case is still wouldn’t be the best run in “forever” (but we could at least being this type of conversation at that point). However, until that happens Gonzaga will just continue to be a great program in a weak conference, who always competes but never gets the job done. Part of me would like to see them run the table and win it this year for sure. Few seems like a great guy and deserves a title. But again, let’s not get ahead of ourselves with too much praise for the Zags.
I love the fact Duke, UNC, and UK are all down this year. Would love to see all 3 of them miss the tourney in March. However, let’s hold the hype on this Zags team for a bit. Great team of course. But until they win a championship let’s not compare them to some of the all time great teams. I don’t think this team would even beat the 2015 UK team, let alone deserve to be compared to the early 90s Duke and UNLV teams. And then the John Wooden era (and 1976 Indiana team) are a whole nother story. UCLA won 88 games in a row, 7 straight titles, and 10 championships in 12 years. I know the article is loosely using the term “forever” but please respect the titans and greats from the past in how this Gonzaga team is portrayed. They have many great wins this seasons, and have been very very very good for 20 years. But again, until they actually win a title (and multiple titles at that) they aren’t in the same league as some of these great dynasties and teams of years gone by.