When will GU lose? ESPN weighs in.

[jazzdelmar]

When will GU lose? ESPN weighs in.

First loss: Not before the NCAA tournament, if ever

Statistically speaking, Gonzaga has an extraordinarily strong chance of running the table in the regular season. "Extraordinarily strong" here means about a 1-in-2 probability, by KenPom's lights, but a heads-or-tails shot at regular-season perfection should be rightly understood as an exceedingly rare opportunity in college basketball.

The Bulldogs' path to a perfect regular season reflects two coincidental factors. On the one hand, this might indeed turn out to be Mark Few's best team yet. (Though the 2017 and 2019 teams, to name two, were hardly chopped liver statistically.) At the same time, it's unclear to this point in the season whether the rest of the West Coast Conference will produce a clear at-large-quality rival.

Naturally, if the game scheduled for Dec. 5 against Baylor in Indianapolis had actually taken place, either the Bears or the Zags would be missing from this list. As it is, both the Zags and the Bears still have a shot at a perfect season.

We'll have to see an NCAA bracket before declaring on Gonzaga's chances to become the first undefeated team to win a national title since Indiana in 1976. Who knows, maybe the Bulldogs will be matched with one or two unusually dangerous and underseeded opponents in their own region. Or perhaps Gonzaga will reach a Final Four studded with fellow No. 1 seeds the way undefeated Kentucky did in 2015. One thing is already clear, however. Members of that 1976 group of Hoosiers should be paying very close attention to the Zags in 2021.

[MDABE80]

This year might be the most bizarre year in modern basketball. I do hope we don’t receive the dreaded asterisk if we wi the title and are undefeated. Whether cultural or viral, sometimes both, I’ve yet to see a basketball season/s we’ve waded through these past 10 months. We do what we can do. All the best to our kids. Surely they’ve done their part.

[krozman]

It can only be an asterisk if we don't play an approximation of the best teams, and have an approximation of an NCAA tournament with a minimum of 32 teams. We've already played a lot of the best teams, but we gotta have a tournament to make it work. Oh and obviously not have our best games have our/their best players out due to COVID stuff. Ya i guess we should be worried.

[MDABE80]

Good idea Kroz. We should be taking advantage of holes in the schedule and try to play the best of the best. Im sure this has occurred to Few and staff. I'd like to test the ESPN theory that we can go unbeaten. I think we can and we should show it. Looks like Indianapolis is structuring for a full tournament. Let's go win it. But on the way, let's see if we can't beat the field where we can. I have a bad feeling about the Newson edicts and the CA teams might be out of business for this year. Everything is in flux but we do what we can do.

[bdmiller7]

Good idea Kroz. We should be taking advantage of holes in the schedule and try to play the best of the best. Im sure this has occurred to Few and staff. I'd like to test the ESPN theory that we can go unbeaten. I think we can and we should show it. Looks like Indianapolis is structuring for a full tournament. Let's go win it. But on the way, let's see if we can't beat the field where we can. I have a bad feeling about the Newson edicts and the CA teams might be out of business for this year. Everything is in flux but we do what we can do.

I just dont think any power 5 teams are going to want to play GU in the middle of their conference season. We look at that Kansas, Auburn, WVU, Iowa, Virginia stretch as being so tough, but that could be just a typical 2 week stretch in a power conference. Baylor is going to play Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech, and WVU twice each over the next 2 months, plus decent teams like Ok St and Oklahoma. GU did play a really tough non-con, but other teams dont because of the gauntlet they have during conference. I'd be surprised if we add any decent opponents between now and the end of the season.

[GonzaGAW]

- agree there is a likelihood that games will be cancelled and creative scheduling is an option.
- agree also power 5 teams will see no upside in playing us.
- but i'd think st. louis, or sdst or houston might play the zags. lots of upper tier mid major teams who might want to knock #1 down or play them good in hopes of shinning up their resume.

[krozman]

power 5 teams that are losing in a brutal league might want to try to pick up a game. Iowa State comes to mind.

[DADoZAG]

To answer the threads question...

...sometime in 2022.