This week marks Gonzaga’s third appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis, an early-season tournament established in 2011. In that 13-year span, the Battle 4 Atlantis has quickly established itself as an East Coast counterpart to the Maui Invitational. While it lacks the history of that event, the Battle regularly stands alongside it when it comes to the quality of teams in its field.
Gonzaga has yet to return from The Bahamas with a trophy, but if their history in the event is any indication, this might just be the year. The first trip resulted in a third place finish and the next saw them come in second.
That first trip in the 2015-16 season saw the Zags head to Paradise Island ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll. They opened with a rivalry match-up with Washington, a team that had not scheduled Gonzaga since 2007, and blew out the Huskies 80-64. A semifinal matchup with 25th ranked Texas A&M was next, and the Zags fell just short, 62-61.
The third place game was a 73-70 victory over No. 18 UConn, but the win came at a price. It was the last game of the season for center Przemek Karnowski who would later undergo back surgery.
Their second appearance came four years later during the 2019-20 season. Ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll at the time, Gonzaga ran over Southern Miss 94-69 in the opener before squeaking past tenth-ranked Oregon 73-72 to set up a championship matchup with an unranked but talented Michigan squad. Michigan made easy work of Gonzaga, winning 82-64.
While the loss stung at the time, Gonzaga would lose just once more that season while Michigan would drop 12 of its next 24 games before the coronavirus pandemic ground the sport to a halt.
Will the third time be the charm for the Zags? Here are the teams that stand between Gonzaga and the trophy.
FIRST ROUND: WEST VIRGINIA
Gonzaga’s opening opponent will be the third Big 12 team it's faced this season.
Picked to finish 13th in the preseason poll, the Mountaineers aren’t expected to be much of a factor in the league. After multiple controversies in the span of just a few months, including a terrifying drunk driving incident, beloved longtime head coach Bob Huggins was forced out in Morgantown prior to last season. An interim head coach Josh Eilert took over last year, and the Mountaineers stumbled to a 9-23 record.
This season, the program gave the full-time head coaching job to Darian DeVries, who led Drake to three NCAA Tournaments in six years. He’s a promising young coach, but he'll need to rebuild in Morgantown before Mountaineer fans can expect much success. Massive roster turnover during the offseason has led to a West Virginia starting five that combined to play zero minutes for the Mountaineers prior to this year. West Virginia enters the matchup with the Zags sporting a 3-1 record, but suffered a blowout lost to the lone power conference team they've played so far (a 86-62 loss to Pitt).
SECOND ROUND: LOUISVILLE OR INDIANA
Barring Gonzaga suffering a major upset, one of these two storied college basketball programs will meet the Zag on Thanksgiving Day.
Sure, the Cardinals are the underdogs against Indiana, but fans in Louisville have plenty of reason to be happy despite that. Louisville went a combined 12-52 in two seasons under head coach Kenny Payne — a standout player for the Cardinals during the 1980s — the program decided to move in a new direction this offseason.
Under new head coach Pat Kelsey, who found prior success at Chattanooga and Winthrop, the Cardinals are off to a 3-1 start this season. However, in their only notable game so far this season, against Tennessee, Louisville fell flat to the tune of a 77-55 loss.
Indiana, on the other hand, has some serious expectations for this season. The Hoosiers head to Atlantis ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll, second highest in the field behind only Gonzaga.
Should Gonzaga and Indiana face off, it will be a reunion for former Zag Oumar Ballo (currently averaging 12 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season). After three seasons with Arizona, the big man moved to Bloomington for his final year of college ball.
Ballo isn’t the only familiar face for Inland Northwest sports fans, as former standout Washington State point guard Myles Rice (14.8 points and 4.5 assists per game) also took his talent to Indiana this season.
FINAL ROUND: ARIZONA, PROVIDENCE, OKLAHOMA, DAVIDSON
Gonzaga’s final game of the tournament will come against one of these four teams.
Coming into the season, a Gonzaga vs. Arizona — and by extension a Mark Few and Tommy Lloyd reunion-slash-showdown — seemed the most likely potential championship game matchup. But Arizona has convincing lost back-to-back games at Wisconsin (103-88) and home against Duke (69-55).
In terms of talent, Arizona still stands head and shoulders above the other teams in this quartet, but until the Wildcats can find their three point shot (a dreadful 21.7% this season), they won’t look like the team they were expected to be.
Oklahoma was picked 15th of 16 in the SEC preseason poll, but sits at 4-0 on the season. Don’t be fooled, though. Those four opponents have combined for just three wins against Division I teams so far.
Providence has the potential to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament out of the Big East Conference, and their 5-0 record is a good start down that path. Unfortunately, you can say the same thing about Providence as you can about Oklahoma. They haven’t played a single decent team yet.
Davidson may seem like the outlier in this field, as the only true mid-major program, but that’s not so much what makes the Wildcats different. It’s that head coach Matt McKillop, son of longtime head coach Bob McKillop, runs a program built on consistency. Players who come to Davidson stay at Davidson (ask Steph Curry).
Junior forward Reed Bailey (19 points and 7.8 rebounds per game) has been full-time starter since his first game as a freshman, and the 6-foot-11, old-school big man could easily wind up as the most productive player of the tournament.
Davidson is a dark horse, but unlike the rest of the field, they have a roster that knows how to play from that position.
UP NEXT
Men
BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS TOURNAMENT IN THE BAHAMAS
Gonzaga vs. West Virginia • Wed, Nov. 27 at 11:30 am • ESPN
Gonzaga vs. Indiana or Louisville • Thu, Nov. 28 at TBD • ESPN or ESPN2
Gonzaga vs. TBD • Fri, Nov. 29 at TBD • ESPN or ESPN2
Women
PARADISE JAM TOURNAMENT IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Gonzaga vs. Missouri State • Thu, Nov. 28 at 2:30 pm • ESPN+
Gonzaga vs. Texas Tech • Fri, Nov. 29 at 5 pm • ESPN+
Gonzaga vs. Florida State • Sat, Nov. 30 at 5 pm • ESPN+
