GONZAGA MEN (#3, WEST)
28-5, #9 AP POLL, WCC REGULAR SEASON & TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Compared with other recent Gonzaga teams, this season has been somewhat of a bumpy ride. Compared with the rest of the college basketball landscape, the Zags are doing just fine and have a decent shot at another Final Four run. The Zags got put as a 3-seed in the West meaning they get to play in Denver and potentially Las Vegas, which is great for the team and its traveling fans.
While Drew Timme production is a given, how far this team will go will largely depend on whether Julian Strawther plays at a star level (rather than simply a good second scorer) and whether the GU guards — specifically Nolan Hickman — can consistently make shots and make good decisions (as they have in GU's best wins, and as they decidedly have not when the Zags struggle).
If the Zags are on, it could set up a matchup with 2-seed UCLA in the Sweet 16. I wonder if those two squads have any memorable NCAA Tournament history...
OPENING GAME: Gonzaga vs. 14-seed Grand Canyon University, Fri, March 17 at 4:35 pm, TruTV
KEY MATCHUP: Drew Timme vs. GCU's "bigs" — Grand Canyon only has one player who averages over 11 minutes per game who is taller than 6-foot-7. If the Zags can stay disciplined and feed Timme relentlessly instead of settling for 3-pointers, GU's all-time leading scorer should have a field day.
POTENTIAL SECOND ROUND OPPONENTS: 6-seed TCU or 11-seed Arizona State / Nevada
— SETH SOMMERFELD
GONZAGA WOMEN (#9, SEATTLE)
28-4, #16 AP POLL, WCC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
While they may have come up short in the WCC Tournament final, it's been an amazingly resilient year for the Zags. They've suffered a slew of injuries — including missing starting point guard Kayleigh Truong for the bulk of the season — but they just kept on winning. Kayleigh's twin, Kaylynne, stepped up huge in her absence (16.1 ppg, 5 asg, 42.3% on 3s), winning WCC Player of the Year. Yvonne Ejim is a force inside and easily could've won WCC POY herself, and the Zags have a slew of great shooters including transfer Brynna Maxwell, who've helped GU rank No. 1 in the country in 3-point percentage. The ladies can score.
The Zags open against Ole Miss, which is back in the bracket for the second straight season under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin following a tournament drought of more than a decade. Senior guard Angel Baker leads the Rebels with 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Ole Miss doesn't have the most impressive resume in the tournament, with an 0-4 record against teams ranked at the time the game was played, as well as losses to currently ranked teams in Tennessee and Oklahoma.
The Rebels are a tough defensive unit. Teams are scoring an average of 56.8 points per game against Ole Miss, giving the Rebels the 25th-best scoring defense in the sport. The Rebels' defense is elite at forcing turnovers and bad shots.
OPENING GAME: Gonzaga vs. 8-seed Ole Miss, Fri, March 17 at 7 p.m., ESPNU
KEY MATCHUP: Myah Taylor on the Truong twins — Part of Ole Miss' stingy defense is steals, and Taylor is a menace in that regard. The fifth-year senior has five games with four or more steals this season.
POTENTIAL SECOND ROUND OPPONENTS: 1-seed Stanford or 16-seed Southern / Sacred Heart
— WILL MAUPIN & SETH SOMMERFELD
WASHINGTON STATE WOMEN (#5, GREENVILLE)
23-10, #22 AP POLL, PAC-12 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
After an improbable run in the conference tournament, the women from Pullman find themselves heading into the Big Dance as Pac-12 champions for the first time. The Cougars are led by the 1-2 international punch of star New Zealand guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (18.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.2 apg) and Rwandan interior force Bella Murekatete (13.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg). Despite the Pac-12 victory, WSU has a tough path to keeping that tourney momentum rolling as a 5-seed.
Florida Gulf Coast hasn't been playing Division I basketball for long, but they've been really good in their short time at this level. Since becoming eligible for the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the Eagles have missed the NCAA Tournament just two times. This will be their sixth consecutive trip to the tournament.
Playing in the mid-major A-Sun Conference afforded FGCU few opportunities at quality competition, but the Eagles took care of business nonetheless with a 17-1 record in league. Their toughest challenge of the season came against a familiar foe for WSU, the Stanford Cardinal, who beat the Eagles 93-69 back in November.
The Eagles play an exciting, high-scoring brand of basketball. Averaging 78.1 points per game, FGCU ranks 17th in the nation in scoring. They lead the country with just under 12 made threes per game. The Eagles are an old and experienced team, with juniors and seniors accounting for all but 15 of the points the team has scored this season.
OPENING GAME: WSU vs. 12-seed Florida Gulf Coast, Sat, March 18 at 11:30 a.m., ESPNU
KEY MATCHUP: Charlisse Leger-Walker vs. Sha Carter — two strong scoring guards who lead their teams on and off the court, Leger-Walker and Carter both crash the glass with abandon. The Cougars will need to keep Carter relatively quiet in terms of rebounding to limit the Eagles' scoring.
POTENTIAL SECOND ROUND OPPONENTS: 4-seed Villanova or 13-seed Cleveland St.
— WILL MAUPIN & SETH SOMMERFELD
