I mark it down to big-conference arrogance, but even with that, why doesn't Gonzaga get much respect from the average fan? It could be because the average fan doesn't even start thinking about basketball until after the Super Bowl, and by then Gonzaga is already into their conference schedule, which is admittedly not as tough as the power conferences. Maybe their games don't get watched on TV as much because they are on the west coast.
Right now the WCC is ranked #9 by Sagarin. Not bad, but not impressive when you are talking about the elite in the game. Only three other WCC schools are ranked in the top 100 teams. And that is a problem for Gonzaga in obtaining respect.
But when it becomes Dance time, conference rankings go out the window. Granted they have not (yet) had a national championship. But in the past five seasons, the Zags have been the Runner-up once, Elite Eight twice, and Sweet 16 twice. How many teams in the country have been as consistent over that period? Duke did not make it out of the Round of 32 in 2017. Ditto North Carolina in 2018. Ditto Kentucky in 2016. Ditto Kansas - twice. Ditto Villanova - thrice. UCLA's recent troubles are well documented, ditto Indiana, ditto UConn. Louisville did not even make the tournament in 2016 and 2018.
The bottom line is that of the ten programs with the most NCAA championships, NONE of them has been as consistent as Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament over the last five seasons. So why doesn't Gonzaga get respect from the average fan?
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