So what do I believe?

[zagsfanforlife]

From CNNSI:

Home Cooking: Gonzaga will be at a huge disadvantage in Memphis, where the Carolina crowd will travel in droves and be an overwhelming presence at FedEx Forum. Economic conditions may be limiting some fan travel during this tournament, but Tar Heels faithful didn't have to shell out for airfare to see their team in the first two rounds: the Greensboro site was just 50 miles away. Syracuse fans should pack the New York-to-Memphis flights and be the second-biggest contingency, now that there's a renewed sense of optimism about the Orange's chances of reaching Detroit.

Are we going to be outnumbered in fan base or will the large number of Memphis and Zags fan's outnumber the baby blue fan base.

[SWZag]

As other threads have noted, the fine folks from Memphis should back the Zags. Lets hope this holds true, would definitely help.

I'm beginning to have a soft spot in my heart for Memphis!

SWZag

[Baldwinzag]

I'm begginning to notice SI displaying a slight bias toward the Zags lately. It started with Andy Staples at the beggining of the tournament and trickled down from there. For example, If you visit every NCAA tournament page, whether its Yahoo, CBS, ESPN, FoxSports, etc you'll notice at least one mention of the Zags. At CNNSI, nothing but criticism or overly critical tone regarding the Zags. I'm not certain Goodson's shot even made front-page on SI's website, but I'm know Lawson's toe, Griffin's dunk, Zona's seeding, and Hansbrough's FT's sure did. I could care less about Sports Illustrated treatment of the Zags, but its starting to become pretty obvious whom receives preferential treatment by them. [/rant over]

Regarding our Zag faithful, while I don't anticipate a large amount of Alumni or Kennel Clubbers traveling to Memphis, I do believe SI and others will be surprised at our Zag following. Evidently, they haven't taken the Memphis fans whom support Gonzaga into consideration. I am confident we'll have plenty of support on Friday.

[zag944]

Well, we did it in MSG 2 years back, and that was probably a more hostile enviornment for us.

If you want to do great things you gotta win some tough ones!

SI is probably just making up for ESPN, who likes to overhype our opponents yet crap on us for a supposedly easy schedule/tourney route.

[Thomas_Sutpen]

I think the least of our worries will be too many UNC fans.

I'm also guessing that The 'Cuse and OK fans will cheer loudly against the heavily-favored Heels.

[Reborn]

If Gonzaga gets hot in the game, and fans begin to real feel the possibilty for an upset, there will be tons of fans in that arena screaming their lungs out for the Zags. In this tournament the underdog is loved. Look at Western Kentucky's support out in Portland. Fans just want to see an upset no matter who the team is. And no matter what some feel, Gonzaga is still the little guy who could, and because of that they are loved by many. Carolina is a clear favorite in this game. But I will say one thing, many people also DO believe that Gonzaga can beat Carolina this year if Lawson's toe is not good (we just have to have this taint factor in order to be good enough to play with them. Lawson will play, and he will be a factor believe me. He played awesome on Saturday. He's a senior, man. He is NOT going to NOT be in the game that without him is definitely Carolina's last game. Do you think Williams will entertain him NOT playing? I want Lawson to play. And if we are fortunate enough to win, I won't mind that they blame in on Lawson's toe. I think it's a great story. And truly has added a lot of flavor to this tournament. His toe has probably been the most talked about thing in the tournament so far.

[UberZagFan]

Yeah, the only way UNC gets a huge home court crowd is if Tar Heel nation shows up in droves. The Memphis fans in the crowd, the Cuse and Sooner fans as well, and the non-committed college b-ball fans will be pushing for the upset and rooting for the Zags. Like reborn said, if the Zags keep it close, go on a run, or have an exciting stretch of fast breaks/dunks/etc. the crowd will get crazy behind GU.

Also, not only is there a connection with Memphis fans because of the series and the similarities of a "major" program playing in a "mid-major" conference, many Memphis fans want to see GU win because that will bolster the status of their ass-whooping win over GU. Not that status matters much at this point, but still fans will want to see GU propped up by a big win.