What's happened to Gonzaga?

The term Cinderella applies no more aptly to any school than Gonzaga University. The no-name Bulldogs earned the nickname by advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive years. The success made shining stars out of Casey Calvary, Dan Dickau, Richie Frahm and Blake Stepp. However, as Gonzaga has increased success recruiting actual stars to it's Spokane campus, the NCAA Tournament success has dwindled.

In 1999, Gonzaga shocked the college basketball world and advanced to the Elite Eight. As a 10-seed, they upset Minnesota, Stanford, and Florida. They cemented "The Runner" in the lexicon of college basketball. The Zags even took eventual National Champion UConn to the final minute before losing, 67-62. The following year, Gonzaga did the unimaginable and returned to the Sweet 16. Again as a 10-seed, the Bulldogs defeated Louisville and St. John's to make the second weekend. In 2001, they did the impossible and returned once more to the Sweet 16. This remarkable run earned them the Cinderella moniker and title of America's Team.

2002 is the year in which the trouble started. The NCAA Tournament selection committee screwed Gonzaga by handing them a 6-seed, despite the fact Gonzaga was ranked 6th in the nation. Instead of showing the tournament committee up, the Bulldogs blew it and lost in the first round to 11th seeded Wyoming. The following year, the Bulldogs heroically took the #1 overall seed Arizona Wildcats to their absolute limit, eventually losing in double-overtime. In 2004, Gonzaga received their highest seed from the selection committee to date (#2 in the West), only to get smoked by the Nevada Wolfpack in the second round. In 2005, Gonzaga received a 3-seed, only to lose again in the second round, this time to Texas Tech. In 2006, Gonzaga received another 3-seed. This time, the Zags got out of the tournament's opening weekend for the first time since 2001. However, they blew a huge lead against UCLA and lost an absolute heart-breaker in Adam Morrison's final college game.

In the last two years, Gonzaga has seen disheartening opening round defeats. They were worked by Indiana as 10-seed in 2007. Just this past weekend, Gonzaga was upset by upstart Davidson. Despite their 8 West Coast Conference Championships, Gonzaga has advanced past the first weekend only once since 2001.

Gonzaga has only lost to a lower-seeded team three times in this 10-year span. Even still, only one of those games (2004 against Nevada) should be considered disasterous. He who giveth also taketh away. The light that shone on Gonzaga early in their run has turned to new keepers of the mid-major flame, namely George Mason, Davidson or whatever the Missouri Valley Conference has to offer. It would be easy to label the Gonzaga Bulldogs as overrated or choke-artists; looking at the facts, however, it seems they're just victims to the fickel fate of the NCAA Tournament.