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Mar. 22—If you ever needed a reason to stay off social media, take this as Exhibit A.
After Gonzaga exited the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in a Round of 32 loss to Texas, a question from the sports betting company FanDuel made the rounds on X: Should Gonzaga fire Mark Few?
Whatever odds they're offering on that proposition, the answer is "no."
Not that statistics need repeating, but Few has made 27 straight tournaments and nine Sweet 16s in the last 11 years. And as of Sunday, GU has the most tournament wins in the last 10 years with 28, more than Kansas, Duke and Kentucky.
Yes, folks, we've reached the point in the Gonzaga story where success has become so commonplace that every minor failure is met with disdain. As a wise man once said: They hate us 'cause they ain't us.
The third-seeded Zags would've expected to make it to the second weekend, but that doesn't explain the droves of people celebrating their loss online. The kids call it "rage-baiting" (offering an absurd opinion to gain attention) and guess what: I'm biting.
Take this from @RockChalkBlog, a Kansas fan page with over 23,000 followers: "Another year where Gonzaga boatraces a swath of crap in the WCC, racks up lots of wins, gets a bloated seed, and comes up short in the NCAA tournament. It's never happening for Mark Few, ever."
Let's take this point by point. Gonzaga was the regular-season and tournament champion of the West Coast Conference, the same one that fielded three teams in the NCAA Tournament. A main antagonist in that swath was Santa Clara, a team that had Kentucky beaten in the first round if not for a desperation half-court heave by the Wildcats.
As for seeding, the Zags accumulated a 30-3 record going into the tournament, including wins over eight Power Four teams and three that advanced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga is the seventh-ranked team in the NCAA's NET. Anything lower than a No. 4 seed would have been unprecedented, and had GU's second-leading scorer Braden Huff stayed healthy all year, the Zags likely would have found themselves on the 2 line.
That's just talking hypothetically, though. If we want to talk in RockChalk's reality, we should mention that Gonzaga is 2-0 against Kansas in the last five years, including an 89-68 win in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, where the Zags were a No. 5 seed and the Jayhawks were a No. 4. How's that for a bloated seed?
Maybe the mainstream is taking a more rational approach to the Zags' exit? Let's check in on former ESPN employee Darren Rovell, who posted this to his 1.8 million followers on X: "Gonzaga was an anomaly. Able to continue to be a power despite its place in the hierarchy. That has changed. With NIL, it's easier for a school to make a move by spending money and scouting well. So it's much easier for High Point to be the next Gonzaga."
After the name, image and likeness program was introduced in 2021, those Zags' next three seasons resulting in an Elite Eight and two Sweet 16s must have been a fluke? Surely a new midmajor would have sprung its wings during this stretch?
Let's remember some of the unlikely runs in recent seasons — (15) Saint Peter's to the Elite Eight in 2022, (15) Oral Roberts to the Sweet 16 in 2021, (14) Oakland over Kentucky in 2024, (13) Furman over Virginia in 2023.
Anyone see the potential for 27 straight tournament appearances coming from any of those programs?
This year's High Point squad is likely set for a similar fate. The coach leaves for a better job, the players follow and the program is reset. That hasn't happened at Gonzaga because Few has been a fixture for nearly three decades. Good luck finding that in this era.
The Zags are set up well for their move into the Pac-12, having the ability to focus the near-entirety of their resources on basketball, while the other schools distribute their largest sums to their football programs. Anything less than a 28th NCAA Tournament appearance next season would come as a shock.
There are plenty more agitators that crossed my feed. Here's a sampling that don't merit a complete response:
—From @KnicksMemes (63,000 followers): "How is Gonzaga ALWAYS a top 5 seed and never does anything." Go ahead and stick to the NBA, pal.
—From Fox Kansas City radio broadcaster @MarkAFunnels (31,000 followers): "It's not March if Gonzaga doesn't come up small. Yearly tradition." No Missouri team has made the Sweet 16 since 2009. How's that for coming up small?
—And finally, Seattle sports radio host Dave Mahler (127,000 followers) chiming in with a sarcastic GIF and: "I probably shouldn't be a smart ass about Gonzaga losing right?" Say whatever you want Dave, but that won't change the fact a Jesuit school in Spokane is the premier program in the state, not the Washington Huskies.
So Zags fans, let them beat up on you while you're down. I have no doubt this team will be back in the Sweet 16 in no time. Let them move the goalposts and call the new Pac-12 a cupcake conference.
Gonzaga has history on its side.
