Weekly Zag Briefing

I have always been fascinated by space exploration so following the NASA Perseverance mission on Mars since last summer and specifically over the last week has been a treat. That we’re able to see video and images of the Perseverance rover’s entry and descent into the Red Planet transmitted from 132 million miles away is very, very cool.

Now to the basketball stuff:

• Tommy Lloyd talked with Dan Dickau for about half an hour on The Field of 68’s YouTube channel to discuss stories from the international recruitment trail and Gonzaga’s approach to player development. It’s always great to hear from Tommy so make sure to give this a look when you have some time.
• According to at least one projection, Gonzaga and Baylor’s combined chances of winning the national championship is 63.2%, meaning the rest of the field is projected to only have a 36.8% of cutting down the nets. That’s a remarkable disparity when comparing two teams against a field of 66, but just another way of highlighting how the two programs are perceived against the rest of the college basketball universe.
• Despite those odds, Jay Bilas isn’t quite ready to crown Gonzaga or Baylor quite yet, and listed a handful of teams that have the capability of taking them down in the NCAA Tournament.
• If you had questions about the NCAA Tournament selection process for this wacky season, the selection committee chair is a pretty good source for information. The Athletic’s Brian Bennett spoke with the chairman, Mitch Barnhart, about the challenges of assembling a tournament field despite COVID oddities.
• Gonzaga’s coaching situation has been extremely stable for the duration of Mark Few’s tenure, but if you’re interested in a fun exercise Brian Hamilton takes a pass at picking alums of each program ranked in the Top 25 to name as their respective school’s head coach. The nod for Gonzaga goes to none other than Brian Michaelson who is already just a few seats down from Few on the bench right now.
• Eamonn Brennan ponders whether Gonzaga is already an all-time team in his weekly power rankings. The Zags pass the eye test, for sure, but there’s only one way they can make that debate a legitimate one and that is to win the last game of the season.
• Myron Medcalf identifies Drew Timme as the top candidate from the WCC for the national player of the year award, though he has good competition from Corey Kispert and Jalen Suggs.
• The WCC announced this week that fans will not be permitted to attend any games at the Orleans Arena for the WCC Tournament.
• Edited to include (h/t the4thdimension): Jon Tjarks profiles Jalen Suggs for The Ringer and examines why Gonzaga has been a perfect fit for the freshman guard’s skillset and how this perfect marriage elevated his NBA draft profile.