THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Sunday, March 15, 2015

It's the first Monday night in April in Indianapolis, and it's early in the second half of the NCAA title game between Kentucky and ... yes, your Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Kentucky, with the (mostly) one-and-done players, bidding for the first undefeated season in Division I since Indiana did it in 1976, holds a slim lead over the Zags. And with its mixture of athleticism and outside shooting, the team backed by Big Blue Nation is beginning to take control.

Gonzaga, with the (mostly) four-year guys with some key transfers sprinkled in, decides to switch to a zone. You wouldn't think that would work against a well-rounded squad like Kentucky, but it does.

The Wildcats' outside shots start clanking off the rim. Gonzaga double-teams the posts, whose contested shots are now off the mark.

Frustration ensues for Kentucky.

Meanwhile Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga's wonderkid who couldn't find enough playing time in two seasons in Lexington, starts punishing his former team, mostly from behind the 3-point line - but also mixes in a couple of jump hooks in the lane, just to show the Wildcats he can.

Przemek Karnowski, one of the few centers in college basketball to stick around for more than a year, then takes over inside - and the Kentucky bigs suddenly feel like the big guys in the West Coast Conference who couldn't stop him.

Then, just for good measure, guard Kevin Pangos, the seemingly Zag-for-life, buries a couple of deep 3s in the closing minutes to effectively put Kentucky away.

Moments later, Byron Wesley's breakaway dunk caps an impressive, improbable closing stretch, and moments later the Zags cut down the nets, celebrating their first - and long awaited - national title.

NO, I didn't overdose on the official Kool-Aid of the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

But with everybody and their brother in agreement that this is the deepest Zag team of them all, it would stand to reason this is their best chance to win it all.

Then again, they could get bumped off again on the first weekend for the umpteenth time, falling victim to a team that plays a little bit harder, hits a few extra 3s, and didn't get the memo that they weren't supposed to beat the Zags.

Who knows?

(Question: Can a team have too many go-to guys, and not know who the real go-to guy is when it's time to go to him?)

PUTTING YOUR Zag-allegiances aside, do you want to see a team run the table for the first time since Gerald Ford was president?

The last team I wanted to see go undefeated was UNLV in 1991 - perhaps the last great team with players that stayed all four years. Sadly, Duke spoiled all that in the national semifinals, and just as sadly, as it turned out, that was the last time the Runnin' Rebels were relevant.

And what's with the talk of Duke and Virginia perhaps losing their No. 1 seeds because they lost in the semifinals of the ACC tournament? If that's the case, these teams have very little to gain and much more to lose by taking the floor in what are essentially fundraising tournaments for the power conferences.

Hello? McFly? Last time I checked, the more times you play really good teams, the more chances you have to lose.

Using that logic, Gonzaga's conference tourney results against San Francisco, Pepperdine and BYU are given the same weight as Duke playing Notre Dame and North Carolina, or Virginia playing North Carolina and Duke/Notre Dame.

Hopefully the elite teams won't be punished too much for slipping up against other elite teams this weekend. Conference tournaments are entertaining and full of drama, but the results from these fundraiser events shouldn't carry more weight than what a team did the entire season up to that point.

ALSO, WHAT becomes of the other area teams that made the tourney?

Does the NCAA selection committee make Eastern Washington a No. 15 seed, and match them up against the No. 2 Zags in Seattle? They could just play that game here.

And if the Zags win that, would they draw a second-round matchup with No. 10 seed Boise State, and former Gonzaga assistant Leon Rice? The game they wouldn't schedule during the regular season could be forced upon them in the tournament.

That is, if the Broncos even earn an invite.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.