Thursday, January 31, 2013
How do the Zags stack up?
By Luke Lapinski
Gonzaga has been on an absolute tear this season. The Bulldogs currently sit at 19-2, with their only losses coming at the hands of two clubs that were ranked in the top 15 when they met them (Illinois and Butler). They've essentially cruised through the rest of their schedule, pounding Oklahoma and West Virginia (among many others), handling Baylor and Kansas State and edging out Oklahoma State. KenPom.com has them ranked No. 5 in Adjusted Offense and, overall, they currently slot in at No. 7 in the most recent AP Top 25 poll.
In other words, things are going very well for Mark Few's group. The WCC isn't providing much of a challenge for them at the moment though, so John Gasaway took a look at how the Zags might fare if they were playing in the league widely regarded as the best this season: the Big Ten. And his ultimate argument is that they'd do pretty well for themselves, likely finishing just behind Michigan and Indiana with Kelly Olynyk making the conference Player of the Year race a little more interesting.
Of course, analyzing how Gonzaga matches up in a different conference is simply a hypothetical at the moment. But, if the Bulldogs plan on making the very deep run that many feel the program is capable of making, it will almost certainly have to go through some Big Ten schools to get there. And the idea that they match up well with many of them could be a very good sign going forward.
