“Best team in Moravia school history will be remembered (The Auburn Citizen)” plus 1

Best team in Moravia school history will be remembered (The Auburn Citizen)

Posted: 20 Mar 2010 10:39 PM PDT

Orange look to send original Cinderella home early

By Ryan Day

Saturday, March 20, 2010 11:53 PM EDT

It's difficult to fathom now - the Zags are identified as a national powerhouse. It's a team that plays a brutal nonconference schedule every year and is a staple in the NCAA tournament.

But go back 15 years and the Bulldogs only claim to fame was John Stockton, who played for the Zags in the early 1980s.

Stockton may still be the school's most notable alumnus, but he's not the first thing most people think of when the school is mentioned.

It's not a program that has the national titles of a North Carolina or a Kansas, but amongst the college basketball fraternity, the Zags get the same kind of respect.

It all started in 1999, when an unknown Gonzaga team advanced all the way to the Elite Eight. Mark Few, who was an assistant on that 1999 squad, took over as head coach the following year and has helped keep the Bulldogs in the national spotlight ever since.

In fact, they currently own the nation's fourth longest NCAA tournament streak - making the field for a 12th straight year.

Gonzaga made the term "mid-major" fashionable, and ironically, they're anything but a mid-major now.

"We didn't want to be a one-hit wonder" Few said. "We wanted to not be a flash in the pan. So we've been able to continue recruiting, we just kept trying to get better and better and better along those lines.

"We've changed our facilities, pretty much changed the way we do everything as far as we just continue to grow. And now I think we've turned ourselves into a national brand and a national name."

Although the Bulldogs continue to win - Few is the winningest active Division I coach by percentage (.801) - they have yet to duplicate the 1999 tournament run. They've made the Sweet 16 four times since, but have never made a legitimate push for a national title.

Few hopes that will change in the near future.

"Obviously the next step would be to be able to get in the (NCAA tournament) and get a No. 1 seed or something, so you kind of have the advantages that come with that," he said.

One of those advantages is playing 2.5 hours from your campus, like top-seeded Syracuse gets to do today.

Gonzaga fans travel well, but they'll be no match for the orange blanket that will drape the HSBC Arena in Buffalo when the game tips at noon.

And as crazy as it sounds, it should be nothing new for the Zags.

They're known as a team that will play anybody, anywhere. Because the West Coast Conference isn't rated highly, the Bulldogs have to fill up their nonconference slate with resume-boosting games. This season, they played at Michigan State, at Illinois, at Memphis and against Duke at Madison Square Garden. They also played in the Maui Invitational, beating Colorado, Wisconsin and Cincinnati en route to the championship.

Buffalo will be very much pro-Orange, but the Zags should be used to playing in enemy territory.

"I think we just chose (to come to) Gonzaga for a reason because they always travel and play the top competition in the country," Gonzaga center Robert Sacre said. "That's the reason, because it's one of those things where we come in and we know we're going to play the best team every year, and it will benefit us in the tournament."

This version of the Zags is a bit underseeded, mainly because of a loss in the conference championship game to Saint Mary's. Now, we all see how strong the Gaels are, having beaten two-seed Villanova on Saturday. A loss to Saint Mary's shouldn't have been such a steep penalty for the Bulldogs.

So Gonzaga isn't a normal eight seed. In fact, many projected them to be a five or a six, even with the recent loss to Saint Mary's.

Either way, today's matchup between Syracuse and Gonzaga easily could have appeared in the Elite Eight - these teams are just that good.

On paper, sure, a loss to a No. 8 seed would be an upset. But if you've watched the Bulldogs play this season, you shouldn't be surprised if they advance.

Few isn't considered about his seeding. To him, it's all about getting a favorable matchup.

"It doesn't matter if you have a great seed if you end up playing something that's kind of like your kryptonite, which I think Villanova and Richmond and those guys found out," he said.

Syracuse's Andy Rautins points to many similar attributes shared by both teams. It's not a bad compliment for the Zags, considering many people had Syracuse as a No. 1 overall seed in the tournament just a few weeks ago.

"They're a very unselfish team," he said. "They have a bunch of smart players out there. They make the extra pass. I think that's what makes those type of teams great. They're good decision-makers out there. They're very head strong."

In our current age of the Ohios, the Murray States, the Cornells - mid-majors aren't under the radar screen any more.

Gonzaga may play far off in Spokane, and they may play in a non-BCS conference, but they're still a great team that could conceivably beat anybody in the country on any given night.

Syracuse isn't going to sleep on Gonzaga like Florida may have done back in the 1999 Sweet 16. And certainly not after what the Orange saw Saint Mary's do to Villanova.

The Zags were the original mid-major, but the time for Cinderellas is over.

Few has created a powerhouse in the Pacific Northwest. And Syracuse, for one, has taken notice.

That may prove valuable today.

"They're a top-tier team every year," Rautins said. "(They're) always considered a Cinderella team in the NCAA tourney (but) they've proven themselves time and again. They have great players on every end of the floor. We know it's going to be a defensive battle. That's where we're going to win."

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Dave Richards: It's time to introduce your kids to the Rolling Stones (Erie Times-News)

Posted: 20 Mar 2010 09:15 PM PDT

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