The Gonzaga Bulldog’s have once again dominated the west coast for yet another year. They’ve earned another one seed and face all the criticism of playing a weak schedule for the majority of the year. Can someone put out the Bulldogs to prove all the critics right? Or will Gonzaga shut them down on their way to another Final Four?
West Region
Round of 64
Gonzaga will match against Fairleigh Dickinson, who fought their way into the round of 64 from a play in game against Prairie View with an amazing comeback. However, this is a 1 vs 16, so this round SHOULD be handled easily by the Bulldogs.
Round of 32
Things get interesting quick for Gonzaga as they will face either Syracuse or Baylor. The Cuse finished their season 20-13, taking down Duke and Louisville along the way. Syracuse has always been known to make deep tournament runs, even in their down years. That 2-3 zone could easily confuse Gonzaga enough to take them down. The Baylor Bears finished at 19-13 this year with two significant wins against Iowa State. The Bears have lost every other ranked match-up this year. Both teams have proven their ability to beat some of the best teams in the nation. This round will be no pushover.
Sweet 16
In this tough round, Gonzaga will likely go up against Marquette or Florida State. Marquette was pretty solid all year behind the amazing play of Markus Howard throughout. The Golden Eagles finished 24-9, and 4-1 against ranked teams. Would’ve been 5-0 if it wasn’t for them losing to Kansas in a game that went down to the wire. Florida State is a very dangerous team all-around with their shooting, athleticism, depth, and size. the Seminoles finished 6-4 against ranked teams this year and earned a 27-7 record for the year. Florida State scored some huge victories against Virginia, Virginia Tech twice, Louisville and LSU. This being said, they lost two close games against Duke that could’ve easily been won. This round will be no cake walk for Gonzaga.
Elite 8
In the last round before the Final Four, the Bulldogs will likely face Michigan or Texas Tech. Both are very good teams who are more than capable of beating any team in the nation. Michigan, being a bit better than Texas Tech, played a much tougher schedule than what the Red Raiders went up against. Michigan beat every ranked team that they went up against besides Michigan State, who the Wolverines lost to on three occasions. The blue and gold have a potent offense led by Charles Matthews, and the second best defense in the nation statistically. Finally, there is the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Red Raiders are a prolific shooting team that have two players that shoot just above 40% from behind the arc, but another guy who shoots almost 50% behind the arc in David Moretti. Following these three guys, Texas Tech has Jarret Culver, Brandone Francis and Matt Mooney who shoot well over 30% behind the arc. Along with this is the fourth best defense in the nation statistically, which together is scary. Gonzaga indeed has one of the hardest roads to the Final Four of all the #1 seeds.
