The Front Row with Mark Nelke March 14, 2011

Gonzaga was the last team announced Sunday for the field of 68 for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament.

But with the Bulldogs being an automatic qualifier after winning the West Coast Conference tournament, it wasn't like fans were sweating it out, wondering if the Bulldogs were going to be picked.

Unless, of course, the NCAA messed up and forgot to invite the Zags - kinda like a few years ago, when they put BYU in the wrong bracket and had the Cougars in line to play a second-round game on Sunday - which the Mormon church frowns on.

IN FACT, the NCAA treated Gonzaga pretty well. Instead of shipping the Zags and their loyal followers to, say, Cleveland or Charlotte or Chicago or Tulsa or even Washington D.C. (though there is a Five Guys Burgers and Fries joint in our nation's capital, and the National Mall is a pretty place to walk this time of year), they gave Gonzaga a relatively short trip to Denver - the closest of the eight sites for this weekend's games.

And, they gave the Zags a pretty good draw, for a No. 11 seed. Their foe on Thursday, No. 6 seed St. John's, is one of the darlings of this year's season, in part because they are relevant for the first time in nearly a decade, in part because they are coached by former UCLA slickster and ex-ESPN analyst Steve Lavin, and in part because they are in the New York media market.

But the Johnnies are in the NCAAs for the first time since 2002, so this week's spotlight will still be new to them. They are an athletic bunch, but Gonzaga is playing well of late, and sometime on Thursday the Zags will throw a zone at St. John's, and if the Red Storm can't make 3s, Gonzaga will advance.

AND, IF Gonzaga wins on Thursday, the Bulldogs would probably get a BYU squad which has struggled since losing forward Brandon Davies to a violation of the school's Honor Code a few weeks back.

Jimmer Fredette may have to score 60 or 70 to beat the Zags in the second round.

That would send Gonzaga into a Sweet 16 matchup with Florida, a No. 2 seed for some reason - does the NCAA not know that Noah, Horford, Brewer, etc., moved on years ago? Likely waiting in a regional final would be No. 1 seed Pitt, which couldn't make it past the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

Now, that admittedly is a rather optimistic way of looking at the Zags' draw - St. John's could play on Thursday like it did when it throttled Duke - but you could see what could happen if the Zags play well and benefit from a little bit of good fortune.

IT'S FUNNY that, even when they expanded the field by three teams this year, there was still a lot of griping about the teams that were snubbed, like Saint Mary's.

It tells me that, if and when the field is expanded to 96 somewhere down the road, teams No. 97, 98, 99, etc., will be up in arms as well.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.