SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Second-ranked Gonzaga’s game at BYU on Thursday suddenly has national significance.
With No. 1 Indiana losing to Minnesota on Tuesday, the Zags might reach the top of the AP basketball poll Monday if they can beat BYU then defeat Portland on Saturday.
The feat would be unprecedented for the mid-major program from the small Jesuit college in Spokane. While Gonzaga has been running with the elite teams in the nation for more than a decade, few in Spokane dreamed that coach Mark Few’s gang could ever be No. 1.
Gonzaga (27-2, 14-0 WCC) beat BYU 83-63 last month in Spokane. But the Bulldogs lost last year in Provo, where more than 20,000 fans make for a tough environment.
