NCAA TOURNAMENT • Zags assigned to Wichita as No. 8 seed in NCAAs ... Bulldogs open vs. Georgia on Thursday
From wire and news services and local reports
• MEN
Gonzaga received its lowest seed Sunday since it was an 11 in 2016 and faces an uphill battle to make a record 10th straight appearance in the Sweet 16.
The eighth-seeded Zags (25-8) will play No. 8 Georgia (20-12) on Thursday (1:35 p.m. PDT, TBS) in Wichita, Kan., in a first-round game of the NCAA tournament.
And more than likely, the Zags would have to beat Midwest Region No. 1 seed Houston on Saturday to get there.
The Zags rank second in scoring at 86.6 points per game. Ryan Nembhard leads the nation with 9.8 assists per game.
Gonzaga is making its 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 27th overall. The 26 straight berths to the field ranks as the third-longest current streak in the nation (Kansas 35 and Michigan State 27).
The Zags are 46-26 all-time in the 26 previous NCAA Tournament appearances with 14 trips to the Sweet 16, six trips to the Elite Eight, two Final Fours and two appearances in the national championship game.
Gonzaga is the eight seed for the third time in program history, in the Midwest Region. GU plays in Wichita in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Zags are 43-24 in the NCAA Tournament under coach Mark Few, with a berth in all 26 seasons.
Few’s 43 NCAA Tournament wins ranks fourth among active coaches John Calipari (56), Bill Self (56) and Tom Izzo (54).
Gonzaga is one of only two teams to win its opening-round NCAA Tournament game each of the last 15 tournaments, Kansas is the other at 17. The Zags are the only program to appear in the last nine Sweet 16s.
The Bulldogs have the most wins in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, going 22-7. Kansas is next at 17-6. GU's 27 wins in the tournament since 2015 is also the most, with Duke and North Carolina second at 23.
• Washington State and Boise State were selected to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown (CBC) tournament in Las Vegas, March 31 through April 6.
The 16-team field also includes Arizona State, Butler, Cincinnati, Colorado, DePaul, Georgetown, George Washington, Nebraska, Oregon State, Tulane, UCF, USC, Utah, and Villanova.
Washington State will face Georgetown in the first round, Monday, March 31 at 8 p.m. PDT at MGM Grand Garden Arena and live on FS1. It will be the inaugural meeting between the Cougars and Hoyas.
Boise State (24-10) will play George Washington (21-12) on March 31 at 2:30 p.m. PT on FS1 in the teams’ first-ever meeting.
The first round spans March 31 through Tuesday, April 1 with the quarterfinals following Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 3.
The Crown will move to T-Mobile Arena for Saturday’s semifinals and the CBC championship Sunday, April 6 at 2:30 p.m. PT on FOX.
The first two rounds of the tournament will air live on FS1. FOX will have the broadcast for the semifinal round and championship game.
Included as an incentive, an NIL package will be awarded to teams who reach at least the semifinal round.
WSU advanced to its second consecutive postseason tournament under first-year head coach David Riley, leading the Cougs to a 19-14 record, the second-most wins by a first-year coach in program history.
Boise State, which upended San Diego State and top-seeded New Mexico en route to a runner-up finish in the Mountain West tournament, did not receive an NCAA bid for the first time since 2021. The Broncos lost big to Colorado State in the conference title game.
Despite that, BSU head coach Leon Rice, the former Gonzaga assistant, thought the Broncos should have received an NCAA bid.
Rice, in his 15th season in Boise, spoke after the MWC title game about his team's continued aggressive scheduling and “great wins” this season over Clemson and Saint Mary's. He also lamented how the selection committee might look at a single loss in November at the end of an early-season tournament.
“So because, on the third day of a tournament, Boston College hits a step-back 3 to beat us, does that mean we’re not tournament-worthy? I mean when you’re breaking it down, ‘Well, they’ve got this one (bad loss).’ That happened in November with a different team basically than what we are now," Rice said. “So when you’re on the bubble … it’s a fine line that you’re on, and one shot can say you’re good enough to be in it, or you’re not good enough to be in it.”
• WOMEN
Gonzaga was selected for the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), and Washington State was selected to play in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
Gonzaga was selected as a top-16 team in the 32-team field, and will play host to Texas-San Antonio on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane.
Also in the first round of the WBIT on Thursday, UNLV (and former Coeur d’Alene High standout Teagan Colvin) will play host to Hawaii (and Lake City product Brooklyn Rewers) at 6:30 p.m. PDT. And Wyoming (and former Coeur d’Alene Viking Madi Symons) will play host to Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m.
Washington State was selected for the 48-team WNIT. The Cougars (20-13) received a first-round bye, and will play the winner of Friday’s game between Utah Valley (18-12) and Air Force (18-14).
First-round games are Thursday and Friday. Second-round games are scheduled for March 23-25.
In the WBIT, quarterfinals will be held on March 27 with four teams advancing to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., for the semifinals on Monday, March 31. The WBIT will conclude with the championship game on Wednesday, April 2. Illinois defeated Villanova, 71-57, to win the inaugural WBIT Championship in 2024.
Preliminary round WBIT games will be televised on ESPN+, while the semifinals will be on ESPNU, and the finals will be on ESPN2.
It will be WSU’s fifth straight postseason appearance.
First round games in the WNIT will take place March 20-22, before the second-round games run March 23-25. The WNIT Championship on Saturday, April 5 will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with all other WNIT games available to watch on Triple Crown Sports Network.