THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Back before the Gonzaga Bulldogs were the team that the entire Northwest has fallen in love with, they came within a tip-in at the buzzer from advancing to the Final Four.

Instead, they came up short to Connecticut, who went on to win the NCAA title in 1999.

And Gonzaga hasn't been that close again.

THIS YEAR seems a little different however.

Gonzaga, for all it has done in the last 17 years, hasn't enjoyed the success of that team in 1999, led by Casey Calvary, Matt Santangelo or Richie Frahm.

The school has tried, with the 2013 team even locking up a top seed in one of the regions, only to be upset in the third round by Wichita State.

This time around, they've got depth, and lots of it.

In an early season loss at Arizona, had they hit a few more free throws, or had a better shot at the end of the game, they might have beaten the Wildcats, who were ranked third in the nation when they played on Dec. 6.

Since then, Gonzaga has only lost once to BYU, which had a huge lead slip away in a NCAA Tournament play-in game, won 22 straight games at one point, and has now won five straight heading into Friday's South Region semifinal with UCLA in Houston.

Gonzaga has already beaten UCLA this season, in Los Angeles, by 13 points. Some will say that UCLA is a different team now than they were in early December when the two teams met, but so is Gonzaga.

If confidence playing against the big schools was an issue before, it didn't seem like it that first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

WITH THE team in 1999, it never seemed as if they were out of a game that year in the tournament.

Beating Minnesota and Stanford in Seattle, then beating a heavily favored Florida team in the Sweet 16 in Phoenix, each time they found a way to win.

If they were behind, Frahm or Santangelo hit a shot to give them a chance.

Needing a defensive stop, they turned to Calvary.

With this group, it never really seems if they're too far out of a game.

Big shots fall on Kyle Wiltjer or Kevin Pangos. Defensive stops - look to freshman Domantas Sabonis.

Unlike the rest of his teammates, Witjer has already felt that joy of cutting down the nets as a member of Kentucky's last national championship team in 2012 before transferring out west.

WHETHER THIS weekend is the final time this Gonzaga squad takes the floor this season, or the Bulldogs advance to the Final Four, you've got to enjoy this while you can.

If nothing else, it's been an entertaining ride so far.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.