Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Bullseye: Engaged

So the mighty Cinderella now wears the crown: Gonzaga Bulldogs: #1 in the nation.

Careful what you wish for, Zag Nuts.

Don't get me wrong, I am still very much a fan of Gonzaga as a program, and the very concept of small(er) schools showing the dopey "big boys" how it's done.

But ever since Gonzaga burst on the scene in 1999 (remember "driveway legend" Dan Dickau?) with a near run to the Final Four, they have been a pretty consistent disappointment come tournament time.

Of course, that was before George Mason made an even more insane small school run to the Final Four under Jim Larranaga. Before Butler made it to the final GAME, back to back. And before VCU went from a mission impossible "First Four" add-on selection, all the way to the big dome the first weekend of April.

So we've kinda "been there, done that" in college basketball.

Still, I wish Mark Few and the boys well. Falling short of the Final Four with the #1 ranking on their head, however, will be used against them until the end of time.

5 comments:

When you were talking about Gonzaga's tourney losses the other day, you go the Adam Morrison 'crying game' wrong. It wasn't in '03 against Arizona (which was a much stronger team, and a Zag win would've been an upset).

It was in '06 against UCLA, when Gonzaga choked away a big second half lead and, after UCLA went up by 1 with a few seconds left and Gonzaga still had a chance to take the final shot, that's when Morrison went to pieces and didn't move while in tears.

Only 4 of those 15 losses were to lower seeds. Meanwhile, they beat a higher seed 11 times in the same span. I see more success than failure. But still, judging a team on the year before, much less nearly two decades ago is a mistake. All that matters is this year. Gonzaga looks for real. Compare them to Indiana:

*Gonzaga losses: Butler and Illinois*Indiana losses: Butler and Illinois, and Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio State

Seriously Doug, are you really comparing the merits of a Big 10 schedule against a WCC? Funny you don't mention sweeping Michigan State, possibly sweeping Michigan, splitting w OSU, beating a then #8 Minnesota, and spanking the hell out of UNC. Who has Gonzaga beaten of that caliber and depth...Pepperdine, portland, ????

I do think Indiana is better(still #1 to me), and that the Big Ten(#1 conference to everyone) is certainly much better overall compared to the WCC. With a lackluster conference schedule, there aren't enough ways to try to hash out Gonzaga's standing among the best, but I still feel that the compared losses shouldn't be ignored, along with their non-con wins against K-State and OK-State. We'll have to wait for the tournament for the true answer. If Gonzaga misses the Elite Eight, maybe even the Final Four, then it'll be a failure. I feel that they are definitely a Top 5 team. My main point was that the chart showed a different story than disappointment.

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Steve Czaban is one of the most experienced daily sports talk radio hosts in the nation. In his 22 year professional career, Steve has worked for three major syndicated sports talk networks (Yahoo Sports Radio, ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio), filled in as a guest host for popular national host Jim Rome, and has worked locally in markets including Santa Barbara, Chicago, Milwaukee, Charlotte and Washington D.C.
Czabe currently hosts two 3-hour sports radio shows daily, including a 30 minute feature sports segment on the top rated Bob and Brian in the Morning in Milwaukee.