The Untouchables

Gonzaga: The Dark Horse of The Tournament

An Interview by Ryan Frisco with Jeff Griffith

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Ahh, it's March finally, and the Madness is about to begin. 64 teams have made it this far, with the ultimate chance to be crowned the NCAA National Champion in basketball. No other college title compares to this, not even the BCS Championship. This is the big show. It's almost time.

Leading up to the tournament, Sports Eye View decided each one of the writers would take one of the #1 seeds and break down their season and chances in the tournament. My task is Gonzaga. There happens to be a slight problem with that; I have been a bit ignorant, and just so happened to miss the entire college basketball regular season. I kind of did that on purpose. So, I decided to bring in an expert for an interview. I'll be going back and forth with a man named Jeff Griffith. He bleeds Syracuse Orange, and is the biggest college basketball fan I know (much bigger than I believe to be humanly possible). He has recently started his own sports blog, called Extra Innings Sports Blog, make sure you check it out after this article!

Ryan: So Jeff, Gonzaga is one of the #1 seeds for the tournament. Why don't you start out by giving a short breakdown of their season and how they got to that #1 seed?

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Jeff: Gonzaga's season has been exceptional, and the Bulldogs race into the march madness with an outstanding record of 31-2. They swept through the West Coast Conference without a single blemish, winning 12 of their 16 WCC games by double digits, tallying a perfect 16-0 in conference play. As for the non-conference slate, the Zags notched critical wins over current 5-seed Oklahoma State and 4-seed Kansas State. However, their two low points in their outstanding season came in an 11 point loss to then top-ten Illinois, and on a January 19th buzzer beater loss at Butler.

Ryan: Now to my knowledge, I don't recall seeing Gonzaga near this high of a ranking in recent history. Is this a first for them, and do they really deserve this high of a ranking? Or is it more like Notre Dame football going undefeated, but that being more of lack of competition than a great team that can compete with the best.

Jeff: Gonzaga's season has been one of the best yet in their history. They achieved the top spot in the rankings for the first time in school history this year. That said, I don't think they're deserving of a #1 seed. Miami, Ohio State, and Duke all had much better bodies of work. Yes the Zags have more wins than any other (31), but only 6 of them are against tournament teams. In my opinion, the final top seed should've been the Hurricanes. However, Gonzaga does have the talent to make a deep run. I see the Bulldogs winning at least 3 games in this tournament.

Ryan: Alright, so we've established that Gonzaga looks like the weakest of the top seeds, and you're saying they're probably still an Elite 8 team. Let's take a look that their 16 team bracket. Who are the teams that realistically are going to give the Zags a problems and stand in their way of a Final Four appearance?

Jeff: Two teams right off the bat are Ohio State(2) and Wisconsin(5). If the Zags are to win this region, they'll have to first bear Wisconsin's slow, patient, tedious offense, which will give them fits. GU is an up tempo team, and this will phase them. Assuming the Bulldogs get past the Badgers, Ohio state will smother them on defense. Aaron Craft is the best on-ball defender in America. DeSean Thomas, Shannon Scott and Craft can all shoot lights out.

Ryan: Alright, I agree with you there, I think I have Gonzo falling to Wisconsin. I'm going to pose a few questions for you here, you answer with a ranking 1 - 10, 1 being low probability, 10 being very high probability.


1. Gonzaga becomes first #1 seed to lose to #16 seed: The Chances of Gonzaga losing to Southern are a 1.5. It's a little better than impossible, but I don't see it happening. Although it is march...it's called madness for a reason.

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2. Gonzaga makes the Sweet Sixteen: I definitely think Pitt and Wichita can upset Gonzaga in the round of 32, but I, again, don't see it happening. Gonzaga has slightly better talent and developed size - i say developed because Pitt has an outstanding 7 footer who plays like a high schooler - than their possible opponents. That said, both teams that could play GU will give the Zags a run for their money, it all depends on how they play that day. I'd say at the end of the day their chances of a trip to Phoenix are an 8. 

3. Gonzaga Makes the Elite Eight: A trip to the Elite 8? Sure I can see that. Do I think they will? According to my bracket, yes, but according to my basketball analysis, no way. Wisconsin, the 5-seed in Gonzo's bracket will give them fits on both sides of the ball. Their defense is active and long, and the offense is slow and patient. The Bulldogs love the uptempo style, which will create an automatic advantage for Wisconsin before the game even begins. Even so, Gonzaga will be favored, so I'd have to say the chances of a Regional Final birth are a 6.

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4. Gonzaga Makes the Final Four: A spot in Atlanta for GU will be a stretch. It would most likely mean a matchup with the NCAA's second hottest power-conference team (behind Louisville), Ohio State. The Buckeyes come in as the (sort of) surprise Big Ten Champions. OSU started out well in the top 10 weekly, but fell off a cliff in January. They've snuck back in an under-the-radar sort of way to becoming a 2-seed. Aaron Craft is the best on-ball defender in the nation, and the Buckeyes can shoot the 3 with the best of them. I give them a shot, but don't expect the Zags to be cutting down the Regional Championship nets in Phoenix. It's a solid 3.5

5. Gonzaga Makes the NCAA Championship Game: No, Gonzaga is probably not making the championship game. I'll tell you that right off the bat. Louisville, the very probable team GU would face in a National Semi, has star power at every position. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva are top-notch shooters, Gorgui Dieng seems to contest every shot within 15 feet, and Luke Hancock can do almost anything. Watch for Montrezl Harrel to also get in the mix for some big plays. I still have to give the Bulldogs some chance of winning though, so I'll say a 2.

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6. Gonzaga is Crowned NCAA Champion: Believe it or not, GU has a better chance of WINNING the championship game than MAKING the championship game. The teams they would face there have the same level of talent as UL, but the Cardinals and Buckeyes would easily be Gonzaga's toughest match-ups in the tournament. Indiana, Kansas, Georgetown, Florida, Syracuse, Marquette, VCU, Miami, etc. are all formidable opponents, but if Gonzaga can somehow find a way to GET to the final game, then there's no reason they shouldn't win. It'll still be close, and all of those opponents have equal shots to win in a neutral-site game with Gonzaga, so I say GU's chances of cutting down the nets in Atlanta are a 5. IF THEY GET THERE.

Ryan: Good stuff Jeff. All I have left to ask are a few of your thoughts. Tell me about why you're excited for the tournament, your thoughts on the Orangemen this year and give us a couple of predictions. National Champion, runner up, big upsets and Dark Horses.

Jeff: I'm exicted for this year's tournament because there's so much unknown. There are no clear-cut favorites, and the greatest part is that there have been so many upsets in the regular season that there are bound to be a bunch in the tournament, but no one can predict which ones will occur and which won't! If I had to predict 4 first round upsets I'd say: MTSU/SMC over Memphis, Minnesota over UCLA, Ole Miss over Wisconsin, and Belmont over Arizona. There are a few possible shockers that could go deep (and no, not referring to the Wichita State Shockers). I can definitely picture #4 Saint Louis and #5 VCU making Final Four runs and #12 Ole Miss reaching the sweet 16. A bit more outlandish are these next 2 possibilities, but they could happen. I think that #10 Iowa State could knock off OSU and if #11 Belmont and #11 Minneosta get hot, they're going deep.

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My final four is extremely biased:


#4 Syracuse beats #5 VCU


#2 Ohio State beats #3 Michigan State


Syracuse is my champion. 

Well, that sums it up.  Say hello to Gonzaga!  A big thanks from Jeff Griffith, author of Extra Innings Sports Blog.  Make sure to take a peek, and continue to tune in this week as Sports Eye View dominates the NCAA coverage!