Written by Lindsay H. Jones at USAToday.com
Don’t let the seed fool you, but Gonzaga is no Cinderella.
The No. 11 Bulldogs now appear to be the most under-seeded team in this NCAA tournament, something the Zags proved emphatically Saturday night with an 82-59 rout of No. 3 Utah at the Pepsi Center. Even Las Vegas didn’t seem to consider Gonzaga an underdog in this game, which was considered a pick ‘em prior to tipoff.
Now Gonzaga likely will be favored in its Sweet 16 matchup next week against the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 10 Syracuse and No. 15 Middle Tennessee State. The Zags will try to make their second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.
And after back-to-back blowout wins in Denver, first against Big East tournament champion Seton Hall on Thursday before their second-round dismantling of Pac-12 runner-up Utah, Gonzaga might as well be considered one of the most dangerous teams remaining in the tournament.
Gonzaga has benefited from the expected dominance of its front-court duo of Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer, but the recent emergence of solid guard play in the first two rounds — guard Eric McClellan had a team-high 22 points Saturday — Gonzaga finally has found the balance to an offense that was missing for much of the season.
“Right now we’re just kind of riding our momentum,” Wiltjer said. “We’re playing our best basketball.”
Indeed, with each win Gonzaga made the case for how flawed the seeding process for the NCAA tournament can be. This is a team that started the season with massive expectations and a No. 11 ranking in the preseason USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, and when it dropped some early games — such as losses to Arizona and UCLA before Christmas, followed by West Coast Conference losses to Saint Mary’s (twice) and BYU.
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