Gonzo for Gonzaga

COEUR d'ALENE - These bulldogs are the top dogs, the cream of the hoop crop.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs reached No. 1 in the AP men's basketball poll Monday for the first time in program history, and the mania - or at least excitement - that comes with the top spot is creeping into North Idaho, too.

For some, not all.

But if the Zags keep their top billing come NCAA tournament time, expect some sports bars to be packed like the Kennel to watch them play.

And if the Zags march deep through the tournament to the Final Four, expect University of Idaho alums to, well, remain Vandal fans.

First, the hype.

"We moved all the Gonzaga stuff to the front of the store," said Tim Bashore, manager of Just Sports in the Silver Lake Mall, who noticed increased Gonzaga sales in the Coeur d'Alene store as the Bulldogs inched up the national rankings. "It has brought up sales a little bit."

Interest in Bulldog gear picked up when the team cracked the top 10, more so when they climbed to No. 2. That's around the time Bashore was told to make the Zag display more prominent, which has helped sales.

Now, after Monday's news? Trends say expect sales.

"We're just going to wait and see," he said.

Gonzaga is 29-2 and received 51 first-place votes to outdistance No. 2 Indiana, which received seven first-place votes. Spokane sports talk radio was abuzz with the local story, and the Spokesman-Review newspaper issued a press release Monday saying it was devoting Tuesday's front page to the "historic significance" of the top ranking news.

Top bill plays big in some sports here, too.

"It's definitely gotten busier as they've gotten better," said Teresa Capone, Capone's Pub owner, who chalks up Zag games as one of the bigger draws inside the sports bar, where televisions rest in every nook and cranny. "We're screaming busy and the Zags just makes it crazier."

The ultimate scenario, she pointed out, would be if Gonzaga plays deep into the NCAA tournament this year. That's the annual bracket tourney where 68 teams are given a shot at the college hoops title. It's called March Madness because it has had too many upsets to count, affectionately called "bracket busters."

So nothing, even with a top ranking, is a sure thing.

But if Gonzaga holds on to the top ranking the Bulldogs should earn a No. 1 seed for the tournament, which in theory is supposed to be the easiest way to get to the Final Four. Gonzaga has never been that far, so it would be another first in the program's history. The program has been on the national radar since the late 1990s, but never to the promised land. It's highest ranking before this year was No. 3 late in the 2004 season.

Not all of North Idaho is ready to throw the team a parade.

"I think they're kind of overrated," said John Provenzano, manger of Pic Six Sports Cards in Coeur d'Alene. There isn't a market for sports cards of former Zag players now in the NBA, but the store did order some hats to sell just in case. The No. 1 ranking could help sales a bit, he said, "until they get knocked out in the second round of the tournament."

Others said they probably won't change their schedule to even catch the Bulldogs' next game.

"Nah," said Kevin Zollman of Coeur d'Alene, a University of Idaho graduate, who was asked Monday if he would go out of his way to catch a Gonzaga game should the program continue its winning ways. He knows plenty of people who love the team, coworkers talk about them in meetings even, so why doesn't he jump on board?

"I'm a U of I grad," he said.