Gonzaga has a 5-0 record against the Big 12 this year. They have beaten West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State (in the order) by an average of 18 points. When these teams played GU, only one was ranked, that was Oklahoma State who was sitting at number 22 in the polls. However, a quick look at the polls as of the 10th of this month sees both Kansas State and Oklahoma State in the top 15 of both polls.
At the time, I’ll be honest, I thought that each win would be a win that was shoved towards the back of the “quality wins” sentence that telecasts provide. But alas, here we sit with K-State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma considered higher quality wins.
(Oklahoma is still likely in the field despite losing to TCU. Yes, the same TCU that has 16 conference losses and managed a paltry 31 points against a slightly-better-than-paltry Northwestern team.)
People say that Gonzaga shouldn’t be number one, or even get a one seed in the NCAA tournament because of the weak competition they play. While the WCC is no Big 10, it certainly isn’t as bad as it is made out to be. Continue reading