I thought about presenting this question in an article last week, but now that the Bulldogs’ 143-week presence in the AP Poll has come to an end, the question becomes even more fitting today.
So, now that they have two mid-majors in front of them (Grand Canyon and Princeton) in the overall rankings (receiving votes), the question is raised. Is Gonzaga’s time as the top mid-major finally coming to an end? The short answer is: no, at least not quite yet.
For starters, Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament streak is certainly not in jeopardy. They are 11-5 and play in a two-plus bid conference. As it stands, they are fourth in the conference, but it is still early in conference play.
Two of the Zags losses this year have also come to the top 2 teams in the nation. In fact, they were in the Purdue game for most of the second half, so it is not like they did not hang with the big dogs.
Their lone home loss is to a San Diego State squad who is 14-3 and probably would have remained the rankings this past week if not for a tough trip to The Pit.
On the other hand, the fact they have only played two true road games this year is a bit of a cause for concern. Gonzaga is 0-2 in those games, but those two losses were by a combined six points.
That said, Gonzaga is a team that is so used to dominance, but it is not like they have not had seasons like this before. They have had seasons where they do not run away with the competition, and especially in a day and age where there is a lot more parity in college basketball, it is a lot more difficult to stay at the top for years like Gonzaga had.
Their run in the AP Poll was great, but not being ranked is not the end of the world for this team. Gonzaga has a coach who is 700-140 in his career, and he knows how to recruit and bring in transfers.
And while this seems to be the year of the mid-majors (Grand Canyon, Princeton, Indiana State, James Madison, McNesse, etc.), that does not mean Gonzaga’s time at the top is done. With Few at the helm, they should always be considered top dogs until they prove otherwise, and they have not proven otherwise quite yet.
So for those who were hoping this means the end for Gonzaga, unfortunately for you that just does not seem like the case quite yet. They have made every NCAA Tournament since 1999, and they are not about to miss 2024’s tourney, and their dominance is not going to die because of one down year (just look what happened after the 2015-2016 "down year").
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