In terms of seeding, a ten was about as high as Gonzaga could have hoped for, and wanted as a 8 or 9 is worse than a 10 or 11 in many ways, after dropping 11 games, including 3 in the WCC and being without their best inside presence for the tournament. Due to Gonzaga’s record there was no doubt they would go into the tournament as an underdog in all their games, and drawing a seven seed as a first round opponent was as good as the team could have hoped for. However, not only were the Zags given the best seed they could have received, but they were also allowed to stay in the west for their first round game. While seeding and matchups are by far the two most important elements in tournament success, game location is a close third. By staying on the west coast it will be much easier for the team to get to the site, be on local time, and have fresh legs come Thursday, but just as importantly playing in Sacramento will allow Zags fans to travel and hopefully provide some noise and support for the team.

As the ten seed Gonzaga drew a familiar tournament opponent in the Indiana Hoosiers, who they defeated in last year’s second round. Indiana, one of the most successful programs in NCAA tournament history, has somewhat of a new look this year because of the coaching change and some new faces. Gone are last year’s two best players, Vaden and Killingsworth, but back is DJ White, the Hoosiers best big man who was injured last year and it was his absence that allowed the Zags to dominate inside. This year’s Hoosier’s ball club also plays much harder because they are now led by Kelvin Sampson, and toughness and effort are the trademarks of his programs. As a team the Hoosiers rely on this toughness and effort at both ends of the floor, especially because they are fairly small aside from White, often playing a smaller three-guard lineup. Offensively the Hoosiers will look inside for White first and look to attack the Zags with the three point shot next, as Indiana has shot over 35% of the shots from 3 this year and shoot about 40% as a team. Defensively Gonzaga will have to slow White inside, but contest the Hoosier’s outside shooters or a it could be a long night for the Zags. Offensively the Zags need to attack inside as they did against the Hoosiers last year, putting foul pressure on White. Mallon, Pendo and Kuso must be assertive and attack the rim, as well as make some open jump shots, while the guards, mainly Bouldin, Pargo and Downs, need to attack with dribble penetration and use their size advantage over the Hoosier guards.

Indiana and Gonzaga have two common opponents this year, Butler and Dukc, and just like the Zags, the Hoosiers lost both games.

While the Zags are clearly the underdog against the 20-10 Hoosiers who took 3rd in the Big Ten, the seed and placement are as good as Gonzaga could have asked for and hopefully the team will play with a tournament level effort and pull off the upset Thursday, adding another surprising victory to a season that as already been better than expected.