Beware Of Gonzaga

By Mike Rifkin

On Saturday the Gonzaga Bulldogs outscored the Kansas Jayhawks 46-24 in the Second half on their way to an 89-68 victory. For Gonzaga this win propels them into the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight season, which is the longest in the country. 

Friday night Gonzaga will play the top seed in the Midwest Region the Purdue Boilermakers. This will be the second meeting of the year between the Boilermakers and Bulldogs. The two teams played in November during the Maui Invitational, Purdue outscored Gonzaga 43-28 on their way to a 10 point victory. 

One of the things people should admire about Gonzaga is that they aren’t in a Power Five conference, yet every year they find themselves competing for a National Championship. Despite not winning a National Championship, Coach Mark Few always has his team battle tested by the time the tournament starts. This season alone Gonzaga’s out of conference schedule included games against San Diego St., UCONN, Kentucky, Washington, and a trip to the Maui Invitational where they played Purdue, Syracuse, and UCLA. Now, while not all these games resulted in wins for the Bulldogs they got them prepared for the tournament run. 

While they haven’t won a Championship everyone should respect the power Gonzaga has turned into. It’s tremendous that a non power five school is as consistent as Gonzaga. In 2020-21 Gonzaga was one game away from having a perfect 32-0 record, but what everyone remembers is that they lost the National Championship to Baylor. 

Gonzaga is one of the best programs in the country, so don’t be surprised if they’re able to defeat Purdue and advance to the Elite Eight. Win or lose everyone should respect the power Gonzaga has become and we need to appreciate the greatness because it is not something we witness all the time.