Where will we be in the Polls in the morning?

[zag67]

With Duke, Louisville, and Wisconsin all losing, what place do you think we will be in. I will guess 3 or 4. But I do not know who will be ahead of us other than Kentucky, Virginia, and I think Duke.

Go Zags

[MTZag03]

Who knows. I don't think we really deserve to go up though.

[GonzagasaurusFlex]

With Duke, Louisville, and Wisconsin all losing, what place do you think we will be in. I will guess 3 or 4. But I do not know who will be ahead of us other than Kentucky, Virginia, and I think Duke.

Go Zags

Good question. Love our Zags and believe they are talented enough to beat any team in the country on a given day....but the fact they are breezing through the WCC thus far does not merit them being ranked higher than any of these teams that lost IMHO.

This year more than any other I fear the WCC schedule will ill prepare the Zags for the higher level competition in NCAA Tourney.

[zag67]

I even have trouble putting Louisville below us with their two losses. They were to Kentucky and North Carolina. I think if they lose again and we keep winning, then we deserve it, but not yet. Just being in the same conversations are super.

I will agree with you Flex, that the WCC schedule will not totally prepare us. But if we keep attacking the way we do, then I think we will be fine. I do think that they need to have very intense practices (sometimes even with Refs). Playing against themselves would prepare them for playing against talented players. They need to play against zones, full court presses, and many other types of defenses. Look at our starting guards playing against McClellan, Triano, and Melson (and hopefully Perkins soon). Our bigs against Edwards, Nunez and Sabonis. And lastly our small forward against Conner Griffin and Dranginis. This is one year that I think our second team can prepare the starters against many defenses. You can create pressing teams with speed and many other types of defenses. Then second team playing against other groups of players to improve their play also.

[CDC84]

The polls are about attrition. Gonzaga up to at least #5.

It'll be interesting where they rank Arizona if they beat Oregon State tonight. They could leapfrog GU based on the head to head matchup, although I have to say that Zona's loss at UNLV isn't looking a quality loss right now. The Rebs have lost 6 games and lost to a terrible Nevada team at home earlier this week.

[UberZagFan]

The polls are about attrition. Gonzaga up to at least #5.

Yup. Wisconsin losing to Rutgers should drop them below GU but not the others.

[caduceus]

The Zags have hopped both Duke and Wisconsin now on KenPom. Sitting pretty at #3 behind Kentucky and Virginia.

Thankfully, KenPom is only about performance and not about public opinion. Seems this team passes both the subjective and the objective test.

[Larrylegend]

Shades of 2013. I want to see the Zags rise in the polls because of what they show on the court not because other teams are losing in much tougher conferences than the WCC. The WCC ill prepares GU for the Big Dance.

[RenoZag]

The WCC ill prepares GU for the Big Dance.

Well, let's call up the poll voters and tell them to take the Zags down ten or 12 spots because of the conference.

[ZagsGoZags]

I expect a jump of a couple of points, and I am glad for it. it doesn't mean I think we could beat Louisville
or Wisconsin 3 out of 5 times (but maybe we could).
But it is good press.
I was amazed the year after we were ranked one in the nation and bombed in the Dance, how much legs the #1 ranking had.
Opposing coaches and a few recruits kept mentioning it, and of course the sportscasters. Personally I felt it proved we didn't deserve the #1 ranking, but that top ranking kept walking the next year, and it still is.
It is good, cheap advertising, and maybe this year it will turn out to not be an unrealistic exaggeration. We used to get to the
Sweet 16 quite a bit. It didn't seem so amazing then.
Now it almost feels like Mt. Everest. But that's emotions, disappointment speaking. I don't want those stabs of big pain when we fall in the first round or round of 32. Objectively, Sweet 16 seems realistic and after that my hopes are on bended knee only. If we lose in Sweet 16 or Elite 8 or Final 4, it won't be as bad.
Even though beating UCLA isn't turning out to be a super achievement, it has helped me,
vengeance was ours, and it feels better now. ...
Because the polls usually love us in February it is a good thing.
When a potential recruit is talking zags to his buddies about the temptation to zag up, many of them will understand,
not because of NCAA performance, but because of polls and the love we get from most BB talking heads.
We get some built in help in the polls, and I'll take it.

But, like the rest of the nation, I know that ranked in the top five in the polls isn't crucial anymore. Five #1 rankings won't go as far as one Final Four. Our reputation, deserved or not, is chocking when it matters, and there is only one solution. It's not fair, but it is what it is. Heck, Fran Tarkington took his team to 3 superbowls, what a fabulous achievement. But his master status is a guy who couldn't finish, who couldn't win when it really counted, the great also-ran, the guy who couldn't raise the level of his play, ever.

So, yay for the polls, and I want more. But I know this year the national spotlight is only one one thing, the same way it was when we barely beat Southern and were going out on the court to face Wichita State.

[gonzagafan62]

Louisville lost to North Carolina that's worse than our loss.

[gonzagafan62]

The WCC ill prepares GU for the Big Dance.

I have a few things to say about this. VCU, George mason butler. How do u explain those than. Give me a break. Conference means nothing in March. Everyone starts 0-0 hen you're in

[kitzbuel]

Yup. Wisconsin losing to Rutgers should drop them below GU but not the others.

I am not sure Wisconsin would be a top ten team without Kaminsky.

[23dpg]

CBS Top 25 and 1 has Gonzaga at....







#3

[MBAGael]

I think number one would be great for you again. You would be able to say "gonzaga has been ranked number one in the country two times in the last three years". You just didn't get number one and fall off, you rebuilt. That is a powerful message of consistency at the highest level.