Gonzaga Bulldogs 2018-19 Season Preview

Say hello to your 2018-19 Gonzaga Bulldogs. We will call them the Team of Destiny for short.

A bit hyperbolic perhaps, but that is what seems to be happening with this program, which is currently in the middle of perhaps the second-most pivotal phase, outside of making the NCAA Tournament way back in 1999.

After six-consecutive years of only advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Zag fans have enjoyed, at minimum, the Sweet 16 for the past four years. Two years ago, the Zags battled their way to not only the first Final Four appearance in school history, but the first national championship in school history.

There is reason to believe that this squad can deliver that ultimate prize. The Zags have opened the preseason ranked No. 3 in the nation. Led by senior guard Josh Perkins, and junior forwards Killian TIllie and Rui Hachimura, the Zags boast one of the more potent offenses in the nation. Graduate transfer Geno Crandall arrived to beef up the experience in the back court, and Brandon Clarke comes from San Jose State to clean up the boards and power the post. Somehow, we haven’t even mentioned Corey Kispert, Zach Norvell, Joel Ayayi, Greg Foster Jr., or Filip Petrusev yet.

What is the point in going on and on and on when we have already covered everything else at length? Life is too short to be redundant, so consider this your one stop shop for all things Gonzaga Bulldogs for the 2018-19 season.

We took a look at who we thought would be the starting five.

We broke down the Zags’ guaranteed to be entertaining and hard non-conference schedule.

We took a look at the state of the rest of the WCC, digested down into bite sized chunks.

We examined what happens to the team, and more importantly, to us, if the wheels come off.

Alternatively, we looked at what happens when it all goes right, and that is nothing short of a title.

We examined some of the questions facing the Zags, such as, who is going to be the G.O.A.T. on this squad, and will the defense be the caliber championship teams require?

Our friends at Free Ira Brown, the greatest Gonzaga podcast on the planet, returned to bless your eardrums.

Finally, we had some fun, and we tried to guess the Zags’ regular season record. Three losses is apparently all it will be.

Gonzaga opens up the season with an exhibition game against Central Washington on Thursday, Nov. 1. The painful waiting game begins. Soon, we will see what this team is made of, what our dreams are made of, and hopefully, just hopefully, there is going to be a huge party in early April 2019.

Go Zags.