The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 24 times in a row and are expected to do well in the postseason each year.
“During this time of year, I get a lot of calls that have nothing to do with what I do for my clients and are about questions like, ‘What’s going on with this team?'”
said the former Gonzaga University star Cory Violet.
“Think about how much pressure these teams are putting on.”
“Right now, they’re losing to GU, but the situation is much different.”
Latest on Talking Zags with Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison: In the episode, Violette explains Gonzaga’s path to the NCAA Tournament. The San Francisco Dons will face the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
College. Basketball. pic.twitter.com/mEm26doS3d
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) January 26, 2024
The San Francisco Dons have long watched the Gonzaga Bulldogs and St. Mary’s Gaels dominate the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga University and Saint Mary’s University have each won the past 21 West Coast Conference regular season championships.
The last non-GU, non-SMC team to win the WCC regular season title was Pepperdine in 2002. Other than Santa Clara and Pepperdine, no WCC team other than Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s has won the league since Loyola Marymount in 1990.
Over the past 30 years, Gonzaga University has won or shared his 26th WCC title since his first WCC Championship in 1994.
Of interest to young college basketball fans reading this article is that San Francisco is second only to Gonzaga on the list of all-time WCC champions.
The Dons won 15 titles in the WCC as they were the best program in the league in his 1950s and his 1970s.
Thanks to basketball legend Bill Russell, he won two NCAA national championships in the mid-1950s.
In 10 seasons from 1972 to 1981, San Francisco won or shared the WCC title eight times, missing out only in 1975 and 1976.
Imagine in 1981 you were a WCC basketball fan, and you learned San Francisco wasn’t going to win the championship.
They would win the championship again in the next 42 years. That’s like someone saying Gonzaga University won’t win the WCC for the next 15 years.
San Francisco was undefeated in the WCC but had a big game against St. Mary’s last Saturday, where they were also undefeated.
The Dons had a great chance to dominate the WCC, but were defeated by the Gaels. Now they face another WCC powerhouse, Gonzaga, who has had a quiet year under Mark Few.
Winning this game will be crucial if San Francisco has any chance of ending a drought that has lasted more than four decades.
Here are the University of San Francisco-Gonzaga basketball picks from FanDuel.
College basketball odds:
San Francisco-Gonzaga odds San Francisco Dons: +8.5 (-102)
What San Francisco was able to do to stop the spread?
They don’t play dominant defense. No one can control a game and change the competitive balance in a tournament. San Francisco can score a lot against GU, and the gap is 8.5 points, giving USF a chance to cover.
Why Gonzaga was able to stop the breakout?
The San Francisco Dons started as 1.5-point favorites heading into Saturday’s big game at home against Saint Mary’s. The works of St. Louis built on how inconsistent the Gaels have been this season. St. Mary’s was the favorite in that game, but SMC beat USF by 17 points. That’s why Gonzaga is popular here.
Predictions and final picks San Francisco-Gonzaga.
The betting public is betting more on San Francisco than Gonzaga, but as mentioned above, it’s hard to overlook USF’s failure to win the biggest WCC game on its schedule – Santa Maria and Gonzaga is hard to ignore.
Final San Francisco-Gonzaga prediction & pick: San Francisco +8.5
Fans reacted as follows:
Doug do we see those days again at GIA?
— Mike Herndon (@okieherndon) January 26, 2024
The "He Gets Us" ad in the background is perfect. They decided it would be the Christian thing to do to take a billion dollars they could have spent feeding starving children and use it to buy a bunch of billboards at college sports games instead.
— Just Kansas Things (@justksshit) January 26, 2024
I love when the @ZagKennelClub shakes the building. Never gets old! ✌️
— Hacker⚡️Hiker (@hackerhiker) January 26, 2024
Hasn’t helped much this year since they’re not very good
— BrockinSB (@HiuraFan) January 26, 2024
Crazy that Allen Fieldhouse single handily popularized the hum.
— Ball Knower (@JReber16) January 26, 2024
Gonzaga and San Fran combined to brick 33 of 54 three attempts in only 40 minutes of action.
College.
Basketball.— a.g. (@aghease) January 26, 2024
If NBA made courtside seats more affordable, this would be the vibe as well. But these fans sit in the rafters and aren’t seen on camera.
— Xavier Munoz (@X_Munoz45) January 26, 2024
This is what I imagine hell would look like
— Darcey (@darceysdreams77) January 26, 2024
I wish USC students were supporting their team like Zag students.
— Victor Tom Yzaguirre (@TomYzaguirre) January 26, 2024
Those same people would have been doing “YMCA” 40 years ago.
— Frank Cardwell (@franknknoxville) January 26, 2024
Wish @BadgerMBB had the Kohl Center set up like that for the students.
— Jason Nevins (@jnevins2) January 26, 2024
