Before Zag fans book that trip to Final Four ...
Stop.
Calm down.
Wrap your head in a towel and just lie here for a few minutes.
Look, I’m sorry to halt your excitement, but the Zags did NOT win the NCAA championship with that 30-point lashing of Saint Mary’s down in Moraga.
Yes, they looked terrific, if you ignore those six turnovers on their first 22 possessions.
It’s easy to overlook such nonsense when you score on 14 of those trips.
The Zags missed just one shot in that wild start, and it promptly became a put-back hoop.
No matter if you’re playing in Moraga or on Guam, waltzing off to a 34-12 lead almost surely will make the rest of your night enjoyable.
And obviously it did, because…
Gonzaga’s 90-60 blowout was the worst home loss in Coach Randy Bennett’s 19-year tenure at Saint Mary’s.
Please wait a sec, though.
Before you look up for the confetti, and prepare to enjoy the lovely strains of “One Shining Moment,” I’m sorry…
This was simply another WCC victory that will be ignored by the rest of the country.
POLL VOTERS and seeding committee members are only checking each morning to see if the Zags might lose.
Wins are ho-hum, whether it’s Saint Mary’s or Pacific.
Most hoops fans east of the Wasatch Mountains honestly don’t know the difference between Pepperdine and a pepper shaker.
As far as they’re concerned, Gonzaga is, ah…
Not Duke.
If you think I’m joking, the NCAA suits released their first just-for-fun tournament seeding over the weekend.
Somehow, Duke and Louisville both were granted No. 2 seeds — although Duke was fifth overall — yes, just one spot from a No. 1 seed — while Louisville was seventh.
If you think Duke doesn’t always get the benefit of the calls, Louisville is busy leading the ACC, has no bad losses — like, say, Duke going down to Stephen F. Austin at home — and in their lone head-to-head match so far, Louisville took down the Dookies at Cameron Indoor.
So tell me: How is Duke ranked ahead of Louisville?
I’m bringing up this goofy Duke-Louisville business because if you look at this first fake seeding board, you’ll see that Duke has landed at No. 2 in the East Region — which plays out in New York.
The Big Apple, you should know by now, is Duke’s second home.
The way it’s set up at the moment, the No. 1 team in the East would be either Gonzaga or San Diego State — whoever survives out here in cowboy and cactus country.
NORMALLY, I’d say the committee would never assign No. 1 seeds to Gonzaga and San Diego State.
Maybe one of them, but…
Both?
Hmmm…
Well, if they thought they’d be feeding an overrated West representative to Duke at Madison Square Garden?
Yeah, that would fly.
By the way, CBS had no sooner gotten it’s “Fake Sweet 16” on the screen Sunday than you heard some loud crashing sounds.
That would be West Virginia, Michigan State and Villanova falling off the board before they’d even gotten comfortable.
West Virginia has a shot to regain its spot quickly, though, with a home game against Kansas coming up this week.
Kansas also has a trip to Baylor still on the schedule, which might be a good thing for the suits.
You think they’d enjoy the Jayhawks winning the whole shebang while under active investigation for multiple NCAA infractions?
Meanwhile, I’m going out on a limb here by suggesting the Zags’ Saturday night massacre at Saint Mary’s wasn’t quite as awesome as the score suggests.
This year’s Zags line up perfectly to match the Gaels, who helped out immensely by turning in a stinker.
Let’s see how Gonzaga does at Pepperdine, and especially at red-hot BYU, before we decide on seedings and…
The Zags’ opponent in the national title game.
A little caution here, OK?
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.