Free Falling: Gonzaga Drops Out of Rankings
by Zach Bell on Jan 5, 2009 11:10 AM PST
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PrintBeing #4 was pretty cool wasn't it? The Zags have completely fallen off the face of the Earth over the Christmas holiday. After consecutive losses to Connecticut, Portland State, and Utah, Gonzaga has fallen to 37th in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs received 27 votes compared to 285 a week ago. Teams that are currently receiving more votes than Gonzaga are Illinois State, BYU, Dayton, Cal, Arkansas, and WCC-foe St. Mary's. The Gaels are knocking on door at 29th in this week's rankings.
This is almost difficult to look at if you are a Gonzaga fan. In week four of the rankings, Gonzaga was sitting pretty as the fourth ranked team in the nation, garnering 674 votes. With only 27 votes this week, the Zags are approaching the point of no return. Any more missteps and this team could wind up on the bubble. Don't believe me? Check out the way St. Mary's has been playing.
Congrats to the Pitt Panthers who assume the top spot after Boston College stunned North Carolina last night in the Dean Dome. The Big East and ACC continue to reign supreme in the NCAA and dominate the top five.
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What everyone should have expected..
This sucks to see as a huge Zag fan… This team has wayyyy to much talent and potential to be anywhere near the likes of Cal and Arkansas..eww. I think this Tennessee game is the biggest game of our season.
We win: The team is reminded how to win, and how to beat a good program. Our season turns for the best and we end the season with no more than 5-6 losses. We go dancing as a 4 seed.
We Lose: This team continues the downfall and limps into conference against a team in Portland that has suprised a few people. They potentially kick is while we are down..and we could be in some real bubble trouble.
In conclusion…please God let us compete and come out with a tough W in Knoxville or the state of washington sports fans better get ready to let go of the last remaining glimmer of hope the Zags seemed to be to start the season.
Biggest Game?
It will be a telling game but I wouldn’t call it the biggest game of the season. I think the biggest game of the season (looking forward) is going to be against St. Mary’s. I think St. Mary’s right now is a better overall team than Tennessee and will tell us where we are at towards the end of the season, it will also play a big role on where we are seeded in the tournament. We already know what time of team we are right now, let’s see where we are at a month from now.
What I fear is that the biggest game, looking back, of this season will be the UConn game and our inability to close that game out. I hope I am wrong.
Could be..
There’s no denying that St. Mary’s will be a big, big game, but to say more so than this upcoming game against the Vols is very arguable. According to Few were still trying to regain confidence and get a little bit of our swagger back from the UConn loss (two games since without one in the win column), then this game against Tennessee could really be a dagger to that confidence boost we’ve been trying to find and the season could well be over before even reaching St. Mary’s. Don’t forget, other than San Diego, we still have to play every team in the WCC before we see the Gaels.
Like HuskerZag said, we win and this team is reminded how to win and that game against St. Mary’s could quite possibly be one of the bigger games this season. A loss though could really excel that slippery slope we have seemed to find ourselves in and only make it harder to find that confidence and swagger we once had.
What I am getting at is a win Wednesday evening is very much needed, better yet, crucial to turn this season around. The Zags better get one h-e-double hockey stick of a motivating pre-game speech because I can guarantee Bruce Pearl and his Vols will having the fan support this time around with the mindset of revenge from the Classic. What better time to recover from that UConn hangover…I’m nervous.
Could be..
There’s no denying that St. Mary’s will be a big, big game, but to say more so than this upcoming game against the Vols is very arguable. According to Few were still trying to regain confidence and get a little bit of our swagger back from the UConn loss (two games since without one in the win column). This game against Tennessee could really be a dagger to that confidence boost we’ve been trying to find and the season could well be over before even reaching St. Mary’s. Don’t forget, other than San Diego, we still have to play every team in the WCC before we see the Gaels.
Like HuskerZag said, we win and this team is reminded how to win and that game against St. Mary’s could quite possibly be one of the bigger games this season. A loss though could really excel that slippery slope we have seemed to find ourselves in and only make it harder to find that confidence and swagger we once had.
What I am getting at is a win Wednesday evening is very much needed, better yet, crucial to turn this season around. The Zags better get one h-e-double hockey stick of a motivating pre-game speech because I can guarantee Bruce Pearl and his Vols will having the fan support this time around with the mindset of revenge from the Classic. What better time to recover from that UConn hangover…I’m nervous.
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