Juuuuust for fun. If we win Tues, where do we rank?

[JIMMYMAC]

If my dreams come true and we win, let's say by 3 points, where do the Zags get ranked?
On the flip side, if they keep it really, really close, do they get nudged into top 25 rankings?
I'm no genius in the least bit, but here are my estimates fwiw
outcome 1: GU ranked at 18
outcome 2: GU not ranked but get more votes, just on bubble

[Zagatak]

Im goin with anywhere from 22-25.

[bartruff1]

It would rank among the top 5 of all time Gonzaga wins...

[gu03alum]

If Mark Few knew you were looking past this game he would be angry.

I say low 20's.

[bigblahla]

Real Lucky?

I'm just hoping for a good showing and anything other than that will be a blessing. We may be able to hang with MSU and put it to them for 35 minutes but it's the other 5 minutes that worry me. This might be the most explosive team we face this year. The question is can our young Zags as a team stay focused for the whole game, compete and win?

Do that and we're in the top twenty whether we deserve to be there or not, at least in the AP.

Go!! Zags!!!

[Baldwinzag]

Actually, the pollsters seem to be little more "generous" for upsets earlier in the season. Think about how GU jumped 7 or 8 spots following the Old Spice Classic last season(from #12 to #4, I believe). Given the level of uncertainty at the beginning of the year, I'd predict they would rank us around #17ish if we beat the #2 ranked team in the country(our name brand helps as well). At this point, Gonzaga is given a bit more respect by analysts, coaches, AP, etc. As the season progresses, its more difficult to jump(or fall) in the rankings since the majority of teams play a more difficult schedule in latter part of the season -- you're expected to drop some games. If we pull of the miracle upset vs MSU, it'd be fairly dramatic jump in the polls, imo.

[Baldwinzag]

This will be the most explosive team we face this year. The question is can our young Zags as a team stay focused for the whole game, compete and win?

Without a doubt, Michigan St. will be the most explosive, physical, & talented team we face this year. Their entire backcourt could be 1st Round draft picks by the end of the year. It may be a blessing or a burden to face them so early in the season. Its possible that MSU isn't quite ready or used to playing physical and fast this early on, and we might catch them by surprise. Our physical play should help us in this game and I really hope we'll see Big-10 refs in this one. If so, no need to worry about Sacre/Harris getting in foul trouble as they embrace physicality in the paint.

However, if part of Home 'n Home deal was to bring WCC refs, we're in serious trouble, IMO. We'll need our bigs to play the entire game considering this is the primary advantage we have over MSU. Our spring chickens will need to play with poise, confidence, and within themselves. If we take the floor on pure adrenaline or too much nerves, we'll most likely play sloppy and get smoked by 20+ pts. Bouldin cannot win this type of game by himself. Their guards are tremendously effective at guarding penetration and are not afraid to play physical -- they lead the Big-10 in steals and forcing TO's last season. I attended the Minnesota/MSU game last yearr and their Guard play is unbelievable on both sides of the ball. I have a feeling our Guards will be somewhat neutralized against them.

Sacre and Harris WILL be(& must be) the difference in this one. MSU's bigs are good, but still young. Its the chink in their armor, so to speak. GU has a great opportunity to take it too them b/c MSU will mostly play man-2-man defense, b/c they believe they're gameplan must be to, "run the Zags off the floor, turn the game into a track meet b/c GU won't be able to hang with our transition game". I hope MSU does this, b/c we have the ability and personel to hang with MSU in a speed game, plus our young players won't have to think as much. While MSU's guards are terrific, they don't have a Ty Lawson on that team. Lastly, it'd really be a great boost if Gray/Bouldin can knock down a few long-bombs early and often on Tuesday.

Its gonna be a fun one.

[Kiddwell]

Kiddwell's loins have seized up with fear about this game. Gotta stay close, gotta stay close for a chance at the end.

Win or lose, though, GU breaks the consensus Top 25 some time this season.

:]

[jim77]

"Sacre and Harris WILL be(& must be) the difference in this one. MSU's bigs are good, but still young. Its the chink in their armor, so to speak. GU has a great opportunity to take it too them b/c MSU will mostly play man-2-man defense, b/c they believe they're gameplan must be to, "run the Zags off the floor, turn the game into a track meet b/c GU won't be able to hang with our transition game". I hope MSU does this, b/c we have the ability and personel to hang with MSU in a speed game, plus our young players won't have to think as much. While MSU's guards are terrific, they don't have a Ty Lawson on that team. Lastly, it'd really be a great boost if Gray/Bouldin can knock down a few long-bombs early and often on Tuesday. " BIGBlahla


Agreed. Harris and Rob can probably do the most damage......buy, Meech is really the key guy. His ability to takes his man off the dribble and get it inside to the bigs wil be key. I just think he's the only guard with enough speed to consistently get it past MSU's guards....HE's QUICK. He's also the guy to break presses and will the key guy to prevent MSU from swiping the ball. Some teams may actually refrain from pressing too much as Meech has the ability to make you pay for it.

If the Zags pull this one out....And ROB has a big night....the nation will know we have the goods in the middle which should get us even higher ranking. When the other teams center scores big..it makes the other team loook weak. Zags go top 12 with a win...maybe higher.

[007Zag]

top teams lose early in the season sometimes, but that alone doesn't allow their opponents to debut in the top 15. i guess what will happen if we beat MSU, given our pedigree and tradition the last 10 years, is we will probably crack the top 25 at somewhere between 16 and 23. MSU will probably drop to 9-14.

That being said, as for the game itself, I was pretty confident going into the weekend considering what we had heard from the Texas scrimmage and the Alberta game. i also had a chance to watch MSU a little bit friday night, and wasn't very impressed. The atmosphere also seemed lacking, perhaps because the Spartans weren't dominant early. I think we have to be on, much more so than we were against MVSU, stick it to the spartans early and just hang around. If we go down big early, it's gonna be much harder to get back in it.

I think we lose a tough game 88- 76. I hope I'm wrong though, I'd be happy to eat crow for my post-victory celebration dinner Tuesday night.

[VinnyZag]

Well, let's look at this logically.

Michigan State is ranked No. 2.

If GU beats Michigan State, than GU is better than No. 2.

So, if GU beats Michigan State, GU would be No. 1.

Right?

[Ole Roy]

Hopefully

Hopefully as high as Sagarin has us right now.