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- Gonzaga has won more NCAA Tournament games than any other college program since 2013
- Seth Davis believes the West Coast Conference helps prepare them for the postseason, but many disagree
- Read more COLLEGE BASKETBALL news here
Gonzaga has become one of the most dominant college basketball programs of our generation.
The Bulldogs have reeled off 23 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, locking down No. 1 seeds in each of the last three events. The Zags nearly pulled off a championship run in 2021 before falling to Baylor in the title game.
Gonzaga has made two national championship appearances over the last five seasons, and they seem primed to advance to that final round again in 2022.
When analyzing college basketball’s yearly Final Four contenders, the Bulldogs have to make the list more times than not. And it’s really no debate. What head coach Mark Few has been able to achieve in Spokane is downright impressive. He’s never missed the Big Dance as a head coach.
But if there’s a knock on the Bulldogs, it’s that they don’t always play the top competition. The West Coast Conference is far behind other major leagues, though the WCC did get San Francisco and St. Mary’s in this year’s tournament field.
Still, when looking at most college programs, the path to a top seed is much more difficult.
Now, Gonzaga has certainly earned the respect in landing those top seeds despite typically playing a lower level of competition for the majority of the year, but one analyst’s opinion that the WCC prepares the Zags for tournament success is getting shut down immediately.
Seth Davis Roasted For Saying The WCC Preps Gonzaga For March Madness Runs
College basketball analyst Seth Davis recently came out in defense of Gonzaga and their poor in-conference slate. He typed out the following post on social media Tuesday.
Most number of NCAA tournament wins over the last 10 years:
Gonzaga24
Michigan23
Villanova20
North Carolina20
Duke20If you say Gonzaga's league doesn't prepare them well enough for the tourney, or renders them fraudulent, you are incorrect.
Facts are facts.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 22, 2022
The point he’s trying to make is that conference affiliation doesn’t limit Gonzaga’s ability to make noise in the NCAA tournament, which is a valid statement. The Bulldogs have proven that.
But in saying that the West Coast Conference has prepped the program for March Madness success, he’s comparing two things that are unrelated. In fact, many think it’s just the opposite.
Rather than having to survive the difficulties of the ACC, Big East, or Big Ten like the other names mentioned on Davis’s list, Gonzaga can coast to an undefeated conference season and No. 1 seed in the tournament.
Since 2013, Gonzaga has been a No. 1 seed five times. That’s more than half the number of top seeds for those other four schools combined (9).
The Bulldogs have lost just three WCC games over the last five seasons, with two coming against St. Mary’s College. Yes, the Zags are good, but let’s not think they’d run the table in any of the major conferences.
Just take a look at this year’s regular season slate. Gonzaga went 13-1 in WCC play. They went 3-2 against the Power Five.
It’s no doubt that the easier conference schedule provides Gonzaga a quick path to a No. 1 seed, which then provides an easier route to postseason wins.
Of Gonzaga’s 24 NCAA Tournament wins since 2013, 13 have come against the bottom half of the bracket (seeds 9-16). Of those 13 wins, more than half have come against teams seeded 13 or worse.
Meanwhile, the program has played just six games against elite teams, seeded three or lower. They’ve posted just a 1-5 overall record against that top competition.
So yes, while they do have the highest number of NCAA Tournament wins, much of that is the result of beating up on foes that are far overmatched.
Fans were quick to point this fact out when arguing against Davis. They, too, see that the WCC benefits Gonzaga in seeding, but it doesn’t necessarily prepare them for March.
Their soft conference rewards them with a high seed so they play against who in comparison to other teams listed?
— Matthew Arend (@matthew_arend) March 22, 2022
Get real. 2 wins every year are cupcakes due to an inflated high seed. Why is the media insistent on this narrative? If they don't win this tear (which they well may) they're just west coast Butler. Nothing to be ashamed of but with their Top 30 $$ budget, they better bring it.
— Schut Basketball Institute (@SchutBasketball) March 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/thomasbaker_10/status/1506371047037317127
No it’s not. Better than it’s been, but still stinks. If Zags played in any power conferences, they’d have more season losses, worst seeding, & no doubt fewer wins. Hats off for taking advantage, though. Beat top seeds, and you’ll get the props.
— Bart Chinn (@bartchinn) March 22, 2022
Both arguments are true. Gonzaga is just as legit as anyone else but they would indeed have less tournament wins if they had to play a Big 12 schedule every year.
— PJ (@NotTheFakePJ) March 22, 2022
Gonzaga is one of the best programs in the country. But playing an easier schedule than other top teams & getting a #1 seed is a huge advantage. And if you can’t see that then I question your objectivity or acumen.
— J (@begoodlivefree) March 22, 2022
How many wins in that same time span have the other teams in that league won?
Yes GU is good but that league is horrible and offers no resistence to Gonzaga making the tourney each year!
Just saying..— ⚓️BBallmase🇺🇸🇻🇮✌🏽 (@mason1316) March 22, 2022
Sure. They come in ULTRA RESTED, CONFIDENT, AND with a record reflecting 6 big games/year. Please.
— Thomas Puszkarczuk (@push88888) March 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/EnloeBrock1/status/1506372926634930176
Those facts do also include their high seeding as well. So they play a 15-16 seed from a conference lower than their own, then a middle of the pack team from a big conference in r2.
I personally don’t think they are overrated anymore but there is some subjectivity to your facts
— Hoops (@i_am_hoops) March 22, 2022
Or their conference allows them to get hogher seed which allows for “easier” matchups in the tourney. Don’t believe but otherwise of argument
— Gsetachi (@gsetachi) March 22, 2022
I think a better assessment of preparedness would be how many times they’ve lost to worse seeds vs beaten better ones. I think their losses to worse opponents would be glaring, because their rank is inflated by playing poor opposition
— Max (@mxslaughter) March 22, 2022
I think there is something to be said though about how a weak conference keeps their guys fresher and more rested going into the dance. Just feel like the big ten has underachieved in part lately because it’s a bloodbath in the regular season and they run out of gas.
— John Mason (@WiscoMase87) March 22, 2022
Nobody is arguing that Gonzaga isnt a good team…merely that that have a built in advantage playing a cupcake schedule. And no…don't point at a handful of neutral site games in NOV at Disneyland as a replacement. It is not.
— aHealthyBrkfst (@aHealthyBrkfst) March 22, 2022
Practically guaranteed a one seed in an always down conference compared to P5. Of course they beat up 16 and 8/9 seeds. There's a reason they haven't won the whole thing yet.
— Anthony Harding (@aharding98) March 22, 2022
When you’re always a 1 seed playing a 16 then an 8 or 9 it doesn’t help the cause. If you’re elite, that should be 2 wins every year. They don’t perform in the late rounds. Why? They don’t play tough teams late December through early March.
— Anthony Bruzzese (@AnthonyBruZZ) March 22, 2022
They’re good. No one is questioning that. But a 1 or 2 seed every year vs a 3 or 5 seed every year is worth debating. Would their seeds (and therefore match ups) be the same if they played in the B1G or ACC?
— Patrick Owens (@powens33) March 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/_TheJMZ/status/1506392686063988742
Well, when you play in a clown conference, and you get an auto 1 seed every year, you pretty much get 2 freebies playing a 16 and an 8 or a 9. That’s 20.
— Ric Moody (@Moodini31) March 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/chuckh0ward/status/1506405698875363332
Your point may be accurate, but this stat doesn't prove it. If their league's weakness gets them overseeded, they will have more 16, 8/9, 15, 7/10 matchups than others and rack up more total tourney wins
— Chad Weaver 🔥🏀 (@RealChadWeaver) March 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/TomLiesse/status/1506401859875057674
https://twitter.com/2323Chuckd/status/1506394493423177729
No one is arguing that Gonzaga is a bad team, but Davis’s point about the WCC was a huge miss.