No. 1 overall Gonzaga begins West Region action against Georgia State Thursday
Gonzaga will kick off tournament action on Thursday against the Sun Belt Conference champions Georgia State Panthers.
Gonzaga men’s basketball is officially the No. 1 seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament and will kick off a potential run through the west region against No. 16 Georgia State in Portland on Thursday. This is the fifth time in program history that the Zags have secured the top regional seed in the tournament and the second consecutive year they’ve been elected the top overall seed by the selection committee.
GU rounded out its schedule up to Selection Sunday by taking down a ranked Saint Mary’s team last Tuesday to win the WCC overall title after previously earning the regular season title a few weeks before.
The Georgia State Panthers, set to be the Zags first priority this tournament, earned an automatic bid after winning the Sun Belt conference in an 80-71 championship game against University of Louisiana on Monday. The Panthers are 18-10 on the year and were 9-5 in their conference, but are currently on a 10-game win streak.
The West Region kicks off Monday with a last four in play off game between Rutgers and Notre Dame for the regional No. 11 seed. The first week of West Region action will be in Portland, Oregon, before moving to San Francisco for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. Competing in Oregon next weekend are seven conference champions from this season and six schools from power five conferences.
Three out of the 17 teams in the region were regular season opponents for the Zags this year. There’s regional No. 2 seed Duke, a team that beat GU by three at a neutral site in November, No. 3 Texas Tech, who the Zags defeated at a neutral site by 14, and No. 6 seed Alabama, who took the Zags out in the Battle in Seattle in December. For the Zags to match up with any of these three sides, it’ll have to wait until the Elite Eight as the Blue Devils, Crimson Tide and Red Raiders are all on the bottom half of the west bracket.
What will definitely be awaiting the Zags if they’re to make good on their first round matchup is either No. 8 seed Boise State or the ninth seeded Memphis Tigers. The Broncos, managed by former GU assistant Leon Rice, are 27-7 this year and claimed their first ever Mountain West Conference title on Saturday.
Penny Hardaway’s Memphis squad faced its ups and downs this season on the road to a 19-9 regular season record, but won two straight in the American Athletic Conference Championship tournament. In the championship on Sunday however, the Tigers fell short of the AAC crown to Houston, but received an at-large bid to make the NCAA tournament.
A win against either of these opponents would set the Zags up for a Sweet Sixteen contest against either the University of Connecticut (23-9), New Mexico State (26-6), Arkansas (25-8), or Vermont (28-5).
To round out the west region is No. 7 seed Michigan State, No. 10 Davidson, No. 14 Montana State and No. 15 Cal State Fullerton.
