Best Of 2017: Gonzaga

By: Jeffrey Newholm

Best Of 2017.

I would say Gonzaga finally breaking through to the Final Four, for two reasons. First, the Zags proved yet again that the NCAA tournament is idyllically egalitarian; every team in division 1 can play their way into the tournament, and if anyone wins four games, there you go, welcome to the Final Four. Also, it is testament to the power of perseverance because Gonzaga entered the tournament from every angle imaginable for 20 years only for something to always go wrong, but Mark Few kept at it, didn’t bolt to a bigger program for more money (seen all the time in college football, usually just for the coach to be canned three years later anyways), and finally led his school to the biggest stage in the sport.