Which is most impressive ???

[DZ]

So jazz and Dixie if it is so easy because of a league affiliation why has no other team in the many many lesser leagues done it yet or say 6 in row?

Check your reading comp, we are comparing the 20 straight to the other remarkable accomplishments, as in "easier" (than the other 4), I did not use the word "easy," nor did I state that I believe we got higher seeds bc of the conference, additionally I noted that those 20 came with a team from a school with rigorous academics that made it harder than schools that don't have as rigorous academics.

Neither one of us said it was "easy" to make 20 straight tournaments because of our conference. You twisted words to suit your challenge.

[jazzdelmar]

Check your reading comp, we are comparing the 20 straight to the other remarkable accomplishments, as in "easier" (than the other 4), I did not use the word "easy," nor did I state that I believe we got higher seeds bc of the conference, additionally I noted that those 20 came with a team from a school with rigorous academics that made it harder than schools that don't have as rigorous academics.

Neither one of us said it was "easy" to make 20 straight tournaments because of our conference. You twisted words to suit your challenge.

Yes, thanks Prof. Dix. The operative term was "easiest," as in among the options proffered. As I put it, "Given the conference, the 20 years dancing is least impressive."

[Zagger]

I voted for the 4 Sweets in a row. I would have voted for "Half of the Top 5 Academic All Americans/Basketball All Americans are Zags" but the math in me this AM couldn't crunch half of 5

[Kemo 1966]

Outstanding!! Thanks for the article, I was looking for that.

The NCAA Graduation Success Rate tracks degree completion for student-athletes, even those who transfer. Some data from the NCAA in terms of Graduation Success Rates (GSR) (overall - all sports) for Western Conferences:


* WCC Schools in Blue

Top in the West (Overall GSR):
School: Overall GSR
1) Gonzaga: 99
2t) Portland: 97
2t) Stanford: 97
4) Seattle: 95
5) LMU: 92
6t) Saint Mary’s: 91
6t) Santa Clara: 91
6t) Utah State: 91
9t) San Diego: 90
9t) Utah: 90

Top in the West (Men’s Basketball GSR):
School: Men’s Basketball GSR
1t) Gonzaga: 100
1t) Santa Clara: 100
1t) Northern Arizona: 100
1t) Stanford: 100
1t) Arizona: 100
1t) Utah: 100
7) Seattle: 95
8t) Portland: 93
8t) Colorado State: 93
8t) Arizona State: 93


By Conference:
West Coast Conference:
School: Overall GSR, Basketball GSR
- Gonzaga: 99, 100
- Portland: 97, 93
- LMU: 92, 77
- Santa Clara: 91, 100
- Saint Mary’s: 91, 81
- San Diego: 90, 64
- Pacific: 89, 89
- Pepperdine: 89, 77
- San Francisco: 87, 45
- BYU: 78, 67

Mountain West Conference:
- Utah State: 91, 78
- Air Force: 88, 79
- Boise State: 87, 86
- Colorado State: 84, 93
- Wyoming: 82, 71
- Nevada: 81, 73
- Fresno State: 81, 73
- New Mexico: 80, 85
- San Jose State: 80, 33
- San Diego State: 79, 50
- UNLV: 76, 75

Pac-12 Conference:
- Stanford: 97, 100
- Utah: 90, 100
- Colorado: 88, 85
- Arizona State: 87, 93
- Washington: 86, 92
- USC: 86, 50
- UCLA: 86, 44
- Arizona: 84, 100
- Cal: 81, 50
- Oregon: 81, 38
- Washington State: 80, 59
- Oregon State: 78, 67

Western Athletic Conference:
- Seattle: 95, 95
- Missouri - Kansas City: 88, 76
- Texas - Rio Grande Valley: 78, 77
- Grand Canyon University: 78, 71
- Cal State - Bakersfield: 75, 87
- New Mexico State: 75, 60
- Utah Valley: 74, 67
- Chicago State: 73, 59

Big West Conference:
- UC - Irvine: 88, 83
- UC - Davis: 87, 69
- Long Beach State: 86, 86
- Hawaii: 85, 64
- UC - Santa Barbara: 83, 56
- Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo: 80, 75
- Cal State - Northridge: 79, 71
- UC - Riverside: 78, 59
- Cal State - Fullerton: 76, 75

Big Sky Conference:
- Northern Colorado: 86, 73
- Northern Arizona: 85, 100
- North Dakota: 83, 79
- Montana State: 83, 57
- Idaho State: 81, 86
- Montana: 80, 82
- Southern Utah: 80, 70
- Eastern Washington: 78, 75
- Weber State: 77, 91
- Sacramento State: 77, 86
- Idaho: 75, 78
- Portland State: 74, 81

SO MAY I ASK: How does moving to the MWC 'improve your quality of education' ?????? appears that the MWC is sub-standard when it comes to this statistic????

[EEzag]

SO MAY I ASK: How does moving to the MWC 'improve your quality of education' ?????? appears that the MWC is sub-standard when it comes to this statistic????

IT's not just 4 sweet 16s, there is a Nat Champ runner up and an EE in there as well.

[MyZags]

As a former student athlete I know the juggling act these players face. Kudos to the success they are building in both arenas. I did vote for the All-Americans because that is what Gonzaga should remain, first and foremost, a beacon of higher learning. As much as I love the success on court, it is secondary. Once there is a higher emphasis on basketball first we are doing a disservice to the young men that come to our institution.

[ZagMan in Philly]

The last five years have been pretty good among the Elites



Villanova: 165-21 (2 titles, 2 Final Fours)
Gonzaga: 161-25 (1 Final Four)
Kentucky: 152-38 (1 Final Four)
Kansas: 147-37 (1 Final Four)
Duke: 143-41 (1 title, 1 Final Four)
North Carolina: 142-47 (1 title, 2 Final Fours)

[ZagsObserver]

Jazz, I’ll challenge by saying that given the conference it is, in fact, the toughest of the four accomplishments. Recruiting top talent for that long, without any significant rebuilding years, in a conference that does not appeal to top recruits is amazing. It’s inprecedented. Winning 10 first round games is a close second.

Since we rarely even hear about the 4th accomplishment in the poll, and since only the rabid sports fan from other universities would hold this knowledge, this one has to be last even though we can be proud of it as a university.

[willandi]

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

The Zags are in the middle of a few awesome streaks/achievements. Which do you find the most impressive?

1. The entire list of NCAA D1 schools (out of 351) who have made it to the Sweet 16 and beyond the past 4 seasons: Gonzaga

2. The entire list of NCAA D1 schools (out of 351) who have one at least one game in the dance the past 10 seasons: Kansas, Gonzaga

3. The entire list of NCAA D1 schools (out of 351) who have made it to the dance the past 20 seasons: Duke, Kansas, Michigan State Gonzaga

4. Over the past 20 years, a grand total of 6 players have achieved the "Bill Walton Double/Double" (Top 5 Academic All American and Top 5 All American in the same season). Walton did it three times. Here is the list: Shane Battier - Duke (2001) Dan Dickau - Gonzaga (2002) Emeka Okafor - UConn (2004) D.J. Augustine - Texas (2008) Kelly Olynyk - Gonzaga (2013) Nigel Williams-Goss - Gonzaga (2017) Thus .... half of these guys are Zags.

Since this post:

Duke’s streak of consecutive tournament appearances ended. We’re now behind just Kansas and Michigan State.

Our Sweet Sixteen streak has reached eight tournaments. Michigan was No. 2 on that list until they missed this year’s tournament.

We added another double-double All-American when Corey Kispert made first team AP All-American and first team Academic All-American in 2021.

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

Since this post:

Duke’s streak of consecutive tournament appearances ended. We’re now behind just Kansas and Michigan State.

Our Sweet Sixteen streak has reached eight tournaments. Michigan was No. 2 on that list until they missed this year’s tournament.

We added another double-double All-American when Corey Kispert made first team AP All-American and first team Academic All-American in 2021.

Nine straight Sweet Sixteens.