INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gonzaga’s countdown to perfection has ticked to two.
The Bulldogs are back in the Final Four, two wins from becoming the first undefeated team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.
And, after all those upsets, the March Madness apex in the Hoosier State will be a high-seeded affair.
Gonzaga is a No. 1 seed. So is Baylor. Houston, a 2. UCLA is an 11, but it’s also the all-time leader in national championships.
There also will be a trip down Southwest Conference memory lane.
But the Zags will be the team to beat.
Gonzaga (30-0) has been an offensive juggernaut rarely seen in college basketball. Fast moving and free flowing, the ultra-efficient Zags have steamrolled everyone in their way, winning a Division I-record 27 straight games by double digits.
An 85-56 dismantling of Southern California in the Elite Eight stretched their win streak to 34 games over two seasons and put them back in the Final Four for the second time in the past four NCAA Tournaments. Gonzaga came up short in a loss to North Carolina in the 2017 national title game, but has its sights set on finishing it off this time — and grabbing a piece of history.
“Everyone wants us to keep moving forward, but that’s not how we roll,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “This is a heck of an accomplishment. We’re going to take it and savor it for what it is. That doesn’t lessen our desire to win this game, the next game or win two more games.”
The next one won’t be easy. Mick Cronin will make sure of that.
The former Cincinnati coach has returned UCLA to relevance after a couple of mediocre seasons. In two years at Westwood, he’s added a level of toughness that’s helped them go from the First Four to the Final Four after losing their last four games entering the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA (22-9) has grinded out five wins in the NCAA tourney, including No. 2 seed Alabama and a 51-49 takedown of top-seeded Michigan in the Elite Eight. The Bruins are in the Final Four for the first time since 2008 and play the kind of game that might be able to slow the Gonzaga machine.
“Obviously, I knew the expectations. It’s pretty clear at UCLA,” Cronin said. “I understood it and I wanted it.”
The Texas half of the draw will have a Southwest feel.
Baylor and Houston were both members of the Southwest Conference, which splintered in 1996. The Bears were there when the league started, circa 1914. The Cougars made the move from independent to SWC status in 1975.
