Weekly Zag Briefing

With another successful WCC campaign in the books, the Gonzaga Bulldogs get to rest over the next few days and prepare for an opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament without having to travel anywhere as they will almost certainly get to play in Spokane in front of their home crowd.

• ESPN’s Jay Bilas updated his Bilas Index with his latest power rankings which has Gonzaga at No. 3 behind Kansas and Baylor. Bilas praises Gonzaga’s balanced and diverse offensive attack, but shares the same concerns we’ve discussed ad nauseam regarding the defense.
• Jackson Frank has done some great work covering Gonzaga for The Athletic this season, and his recent piece that provides vignettes on Killian Tillie from Zags past and present is my favorite story he’s done so far. Make sure to read it if you haven’t already.
• At long last, our nightmare is over as Joel Ayayi busted out of his recent slump in a big way at the WCC Tournament en route to collecting the Most Outstanding Player award.
• Exacting revenge on Saint Mary’s for last year’s loss in the WCC Final was definitely on the minds of the Zags and their former teammates.
• BRACKETOLOGY: Gonzaga has a 1-seed locked up in the West, and SMC’s victory over BYU in the WCC semifinals pretty much locks up the spot in the NCAA Tournament that has been earmarked for it over the last few weeks. SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean has BYU as a #5 in the Midwest and SMC as a #8 in the South, with Arizona and Florida as prospective second round opponents. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Arizona (#8) and Oklahoma (#9) as potential second round matchups for Gonzaga in its pod. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has Gonzaga joined by Houston (#8) and Oklahoma (#9) in its west region pod.