Gonzaga's Success Brings High Expectations

Every Monday when I log onto ESPN.com I check the updated college basketball polls to see what changes occured the past week. Normally I don't look over it too hard, just a quick glance to see where my favorite team is and where other interesting teams are ranked. This past Monday something caught my eye though. As I looked up and down the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the AP Top 25 poll I noticed that Gonzaga was not ranked in either. How could this be?? Mark Few's Gonzaga Bulldogs have been a perennial Top 25 team since they burst onto the scene with Casey Calvary way back in 1999 with an Elite 8 appearance. Since then they have qualified for the Big Dance every year and made a Sweet 16 appearance four of those years. Because of that, America has come to expect big things from the Zags and to see them out of the Top 25 is almost unthinkable.

Here's the odd thing about Gonzaga: despite their successes they have recently been overlooked when it comes to mid-majors. Sure, they qualify for the NCAAs every year and have been to the Sweet 16 four times but they haven't made the Final Four. I say that like it's unbelievable that they haven't, but again, the expectations for Gonzaga are quite different from other so-called "mid-major" programs. George Mason sent shockwaves through the college basketball land in 2006 when they upset several powerhouse teams to make the Final Four, a first for the program. Butler has been the Cinderella the past two seasons, finishing as national runner-up and VCU appeared in the Final Four last year as well. That's three quality programs who have qualified for the Final Four, but none of them stack up with Gonzaga. When will we see the Zags in a Final Four? It seems long overdue.

How good has Gonzaga been since the 1998-99 season? Consider these numbers: 13 NCAA appearances, 4 Sweet 16's, 1 Elite 8, 12 Honorable Mention All-Americans or higher, 1 National Player of the Year, 3 NBA first-round picks. Under Mark Few the Zags are 314-82 and they simply don't lose at home. Since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004, Gonzaga is 93-7. What that number doesn't tell you is all the teams that won't come to "The Kennel" to play the Bulldogs. Big name programs would rather Gonzaga came to them or, instead of playing them on campus, would opt to play them at Key Arena in Seattle. Tom Izzo and Mike Brey took their teams into Spokane this year and, while Izzo and Michigan State escaped with a seven point victory, Brey's Notre Dame team was dominated by 20. The Zags demand respect and they are willing to travel all over the globe to get it.

Since 98-99 Gonzaga is 21-40 against Top 25 teams and they have defeated the third-ranked team three times and the second-ranked team once. Also, expect it to be a hard-fought game when they match up with a top team. Only five of those 40 losses have been by 20 points or more. There's not many teams in America who can say they have played 61 ranked opponents in that span and there are none of Gonzaga's size that can say that. Forget Butler when it comes to determining who is the best mid-major program. Gonzaga is the top dog.

The expectations for the program are always going to be high. That's a nice problem to have if you are Mark Few, but the question I have constantly been asking myself is, "When will Gonzaga appear in a Final Four?" Perhaps that isn't fair but they routinely show they are competitive on the national scene and that they have players capable of playing at the next level. It doesn't appear that this year will be the year, but how much longer will it be before Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are playing in early April?