Big congratulations are in order to tonight Gonzaga University’s men’s basketball team, which defeated UCLA 74-62 to reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history.
The Zags will take on the winner of the Utah-Duke game on Sunday for the chance to earn a Final Four berth, something the team has never done before.
If Gonzaga wins just two more games, it will be playing for the national championship on Monday, April 6th. That would be a pretty big deal.
Gonzaga has only lost two games this season. Its 2015 squad is considered among the best in school history and certainly has a decent shot at making the Final Four.
Top-seeded Duke, which is predicted to win over Utah, would be a tough opponent, but hardly an unbeatable one.
In defeating UCLA, the Zags avenged a painful loss inflicted by the Bruins in 2006, which cost the team an Elite Eight berth that year.
Other Elite Eight matchups include Wisconsin vs. Arizona and Kentucky vs. Notre Dame. Louisville will be taking on either Oklahoma or Michigan State.
President Barack Obama had picked Davidson to beat Gonzaga in the second round of the tournament. That didn’t happen, of course, and it cost the President points.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had Gonzaga beating Davidson in his bracket, but picked Iowa State to win in the matchup to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Gonzaga was able to knock out Iowa State as well.
However, ESPN’s Jay Williams, himself a Duke alum, has Gonzaga as one of his picks all the way through to the Final Four. He predicts a Top Two matchup between Arizona and Gonzaga, with Arizona winning. Williams’ bracket is outperforming Obama’s, Nadella’s, and the Bing Official bracket by a substantial margin.