Weekly Zag Briefing

Well, we didn’t get the scheduling audibles we were hoping for this week as Gonzaga will play Pacific (and likely BYU, though not yet confirmed) instead of Houston or Villanova. Yayyyyyy...In any event, we’ll still be watching the games that we get, and the absence of marquee games this week won’t affect Gonzaga’s seeding next month.

• If you want some insight as to why the Houston game fell through after the two teams had progressed deep into talks, the Houston Chronicle spoke with Kelvin Sampson who cited a quick turnaround to travel to Salt Lake City for the Cougars after their road game against East Carolina on Wednesday night followed by a trip back to the east coast to play USF in Tampa as the biggest hurdle for UH.
• Drew Timme is deservedly an All-American candidate this season, and NCAA.com takes a look at his credentials and what has made him so effective this season.
• Anton Watson spoke to KREM2’s Karthik Venkataraman about his road back from last season’s shoulder injury, how the injury affected his game, and the confidence he is feeling now.
• The Athletic staff took a midseason poll on various college basketball topics. To no one’s surprise, the staff vote broke for the national champion was narrowly split between Gonzaga (8) and Baylor (6), with no other program receiving a vote. Gara was their POY winner, but there’s love for Gonzaga’s trio of Kispert, Suggs, and Timme.
• Eamonn Brennan breaks down Gonzaga’s offensive dominance in his latest Power Rankings.
• Gary Parrish lays out an argument for why Baylor won’t pass Gonzaga in the rankings.
• In ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft, Gonzaga lands Suggs (#4), Kispert (#10), and Ayayi (#53) in the projection. Filip Petrusev is also projected to be taken at the end of the first round at #31. Not bad at all.