Weekly Zag Briefing

Happy New Year, friends! The first half of the season is over, and it’s time to turn our collective attention to the WCC with the conference curtain raiser this weekend against Santa Clara. Here are the stories from the last week:

• Rui Hachimura’s mother, sister, and a family friend were able to catch him in action over the last two games during their visit to Spokane. It was his sister’s first visit to Spokane, and maybe their last opportunity to see him play in a Gonzaga jersey in person??
• Gary Parrish has the Zags at No. 7 in his latest rankings. He has Tennessee (#1) and Duke (#2) in the top two spots, which serve as a reminder of how difficult a schedule Gonzaga player over the last 5 weeks.
• Ken Pomeroy broke down his favorites for each conference championship, and projects Gonzaga to have a 91% chance to win the WCC. San Francisco is the closest contender with an 11% chance (Pomeroy notes that “ties are considered, so the cumulative percentages for each conference will sum to greater than 100 percent.”) of winning the league.
• In his annual Buy, Sell or Hold column, Seth Davis rates Gonzaga as a strong “buy,” as the Bulldogs remain his favorite to win the national championship.
• The Gonzaga women are the top team in espnW’s mid-major rankings, which is well-deserved considering they are rolling through the best start in program history.
• Over at Mid-Major Madness, Will Maupin admonishes Gonzaga fans to remember where they came from. The fan base is at interesting point in the program’s evolution, as there are many fans who are too young to have any memory of the state of the program before it embarked on this magical 20-year run. It’s an interesting take from Maupin, and while I understand his point of view and underlying criticism, I think this comes with the territory after the program made the proverbial “leap” over the last five years.