Tag: Gonzaga Bulldogs

5 Big Ten men’s basketball teams earn AP Top 25 preseason ranking

Which Big Ten teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll?

The dawning of a new era of Penn State basketball is nearly upon us as the Nittany Lions begin building a new identity this season under Micah Shrewsberry. On Monday, we got our first look at the kind of company Shreewsberry hopes Penn State will be a part of soon enough as the Associated Press released its preseason AP Top 25 for the upcoming men’s basketball season.

Last year’s preseason No. 1 team is once again sitting on top at the start of the season. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, after ending last season as the national runner-up to Baylor, received 55 out of 63 first-place votes to take the top spot in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, which was released on Monday morning. UCLA, whom Gonzaga defeated in the Final Four last season, received the remaining eight first-place votes to help secure the nation’s No. 2 ranking.

Five Big Ten teams appear in the preseason AP Top 25, starting with the Michigan Wolverines at No. 6. Michigan finished in first place in the Big Ten’s regular season last year and is once again a favorite to win the conference this season. But Purdue, who is ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll, is just behind the Wolverines to start the season.

Illinois, last season’s Big Ten conference tournament champion, is ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25. Ohio State (No. 17) and Maryland (No. 21) also appear in the preseason AP poll.

Other Big Ten teams receiving votes in the preseason poll include Michigan State, Indiana, and Rutgers.

NEXT: The full preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll

Here is how the AP Top 25 men’s basketball preseason poll looks ahead of the 2021-2022 season.

  1. Gonzaga (55 first-place votes)
  2. UCLA (8)
  3. Kansas
  4. Villanova
  5. Texas
  6. Michigan
  7. Purdue
  8. Baylor
  9. Duke
  10. Kentukcy
  11. Illinois
  12. Memphis
  13. Oregon
  14. Alabama
  15. Houston
  16. Arkansas
  17. Ohio State
  18. Tennessee
  19. North Carolina
  20. Florida State
  21. Maryland
  22. Auburn
  23. St. Bonaventure
  24. UConn
  25. Virginia

Others receiving votes:
Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John’s 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3

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One exhilarating sequence of defensive effort explains how Baylor became national champions

The Bears play hard. Really, really hard.

Baylor and Gonzaga had been angling toward a meeting in the men’s national championship game for months now, so it was delightful when the tournament delivered us the game we wanted.

Then, in mere minutes, all the intrigue washed away as it became abundantly clear that the Bulldogs would not have much luck on this night dealing with the Bears’ relentless and well-schooled defense.

Sure, Gonzaga pushed back into the game briefly — pulling within 9 points with 14:30 remaining — but Baylor simply executed too well and too consistently to ever let the game look like it might slip away.

Bears big man Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, signaling a possible opening for the Bulldogs, but sublime guard Jared Butler urged Baylor through, getting to the line for two free throws and assisting on two other buckets to push the lead back to 16 points 96 seconds later and that, pretty much, was that.

Yet even as the game was dwindling toward the end, Baylor was doing stuff like this:

I don’t want to blow this out of proportion; the score is 82-65 at this point with less than three minutes left. You might point out that MaCio Teague is playing on sheer jubilation at this point, and that Gonzaga knows it is defeated and has sagged.

But this is worth noting. The original broadcast angle leaves Teague, of course, since he’s basically in a concession stand serving up hot dogs as the ball goes back into play. But then he magically reappears to disrupt the 3. It froze my brain the first time I saw it.

Plus, this is how Baylor played all night. All tournament, really. Saying that Scott Drew won this title by getting his players to buy in over-simplifies a lot — he had extremely good players, after all — but in a year disrupted by COVID-19 it was clearly a factor.

Baylor’s defense wasn’t exactly smothering; Gonzaga still got the shots it wanted.

Baylor was deep enough and constructed in a way that allowed it to make those important plays. The rebound in the above play is grabbed by Mark Vital, a 6-5 senior who had 11 boards on the night and thrived in that role all season.

Gonzaga, sadly, had played late into Saturday evening and needed an epic last-second shot to beat a tough UCLA team in overtime. The Bulldogs certainly looked fatigued and bewildered early as the Bears, who coasted against Houston in their semifinal, simply got to work.

There’s a version of this matchup that stays closer longer, but this Baylor team has been so difficult to play against for months and was not going to let this game go once it took control early.

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Here are all the celebrations from Baylor’s first NCAA men’s basketball title win

It’s been a long time coming for Baylor!

The Baylor Bears officially have their first NCAA men’s basketball title. The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ undefeated season is no more, as Baylor bested the No. 1 seed 86-70 in Monday’s championship match, a game that was never close after tip off.

Baylor never trailed to Gonzaga with the Bears getting going fast early on, eventually picking up their largest lead of the night at 20 points. There was no magical buzzer beater moment to be found for Gonzaga on Monday, as the Bulldogs could not put together much of a comeback in the second half against the dominant Bears.

Though there was no last-second moment of drama, Baylor’s celebrations upon winning their first NCAA title were worth the wait.

Can’t forget the confetti!!

And of course, the congratulations on Twitter flowed freely for Baylor after the final buzzer sounded.

What a moment!

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Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs was an absolute stud at quarterback in high school

His highlights are unreal.

It seems Jalen Suggs was one of those transcendent high school athletes, with an outrageously succesful career in basketball and football.

The Gonzaga star stole the show in the Final Four of the men’s NCAA tournament on Saturday. He nailed a game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer from nearly half court to send the Bulldogs to the national championship with a 93-90 win over UCLA.

And as the internet is prone to do, folks began to dig up whatever information it could about the 19-year-old star, considered one of the best prospects in college basketball. Turns out, he was also an elite quarterback prospect in high school. Georgia and Ohio State offered him scholarships after he served as a two-year starter at Minnehaha Academy, which had a 25-1 record (and a state championships) with Suggs at QB.

Here is his highlight reel.

It’s not totally clear if Suggs would’ve have remained at quarterback, had he joined one of these big programs. Most high school quarterbacks move to a new position in college. But Ohio State coach Ryan Day certainly seemed interested.

“We offered him, and in the end, just didn’t feel like he was going to throw it well enough to come in and play right away,” coach Ryan Day said, in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “I felt like if he spent 100% of his time on football, he had a chance to develop as a quarterback. He was just raw.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban suggested Suggs was on his radar, but didn’t get into the game of second guessing Suggs’ decision.

From 247Sports”

“Well I vaguely do recall him as a player and he was a really good player. He’s a really good basketball player, you know, too, so I can’t argue with anybody about the choice that he made.”

Suggs clearly made the right call, bypassing football in favor of basketball. The NBA draft is likely to make Suggs a very rich young man with a bright future.

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Watch to the joyous celebrations of Gonzaga fans and be reminded why sports can be good

So happy.

March — or in this case, early April — and college basketball combine to give us moments we’ll long remember and talk about with those we shared them with.

That’s, as best as anyone can really tell, pretty much the point of sports fandom. So when Gonzaga’s official basketball Twitter accounted asked for fan reaction video in the wake of the Bulldogs beating UCLA to advance to the men’s NCAA Championship game, we ended up with a trove of very happy people caught experiencing those moments.

We put cameras everywhere now, and there’s probably some larger examination to be had about filming so much of our lives, but in this case it gives us an unfettered look at the joy sports brings. And it’s worth watching.

Adam Morrison unleashed the most glorious shouts when Gonzaga clinched a spot in the NCAA final

Just pure glee.

Jalen Suggs banking an overtime game winner to send Gonzaga to the men’s NCAA Championship game will be an indelible memory for many fans.

A generation ago, Gonzaga and UCLA gave us a different lasting image during the men’s NCAA Tournament: A gangly, long-haired, mustachioed kid who’d played his heart out breaking down in tears, right there on the court.

In the 2006 Sweet 16, the Bulldogs had built a 17-point lead but saw it wilt away in the second half, and Adam Morrison’s brilliant college career came to a sudden end. He wept.

Morrison is a radio broadcaster for Gonzaga now, and his reaction to Sugg’s shot dropping is an instant classic:

There’s a little bit of redemption in those shouts.

In case you’d forgotten about that other UCLA-Gonzaga classic — or were too young to watch it at the time — here’s the closing sequence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4

Morrison breaking down on the court happens around the 4:25 mark. UCLA star Aaron Afflalo eventually came over to hoist Morrison off the court, captured in the photo at the top of this story.

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Zags’ Jalen Suggs on legendary shot: ‘That’s something that you practice on a mini hoop as a kid’

SportsPulse: Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs describes his legendary shot that sent the Bulldogs to the national title game.

SportsPulse: Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs describes his legendary shot that sent the Bulldogs to the national title game.

After winning instant classic, Gonzaga sets up championship bout for the ages with Baylor

SportsPulse: They’ve been the best two teams all year – maybe the best two teams of the last two season – and they finally get to meet for the national title. Mackenzie Salmon previews a championship bout for the ages.

SportsPulse: They’ve been the best two teams all year – maybe the best two teams of the last two season – and they finally get to meet for the national title. Mackenzie Salmon previews a championship bout for the ages.

Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs was a star quarterback in high school

Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs was good enough as an HS QB to get recognition from Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.

Before Jalen Suggs started hitting unforgettable shots for Gonzaga, he was a two-sport star at the high-school level in Minnesota.

The superb freshman sent the Bulldogs into the NCAA Final with an incredible shot to sink UCLA in overtime, 93-90, Saturday.

Everyone knows he is a star on the basketball court. What many don’t realize is he also starred as a quarterback for Minnehaha Academy, which went 25-1 and appeared in two state championships and winning one over his final two seasons.

Per 247sports:

During Minnehaha Academy’s 2018 state championship, Suggs took a shotgun snap from the left hashmark of the 11-yard line, sprinted past the hashmark on the opposite side and lofted a cross-body rainbow for a touchdown to his tight end. “It’s the most amazing throw,” head coach Chris Goodwin said. “I can’t even believe it when I see it now.”

On his opponent’s ensuing drive, Suggs picked off a pass and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown. A five-point game was now a 19-point game. Game over.

Suggs finished his senior year averaging 9.6 yards per rushing attempt. He also averaged 8.8 yards per passing attempt, had a 6-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and nabbed four interceptions, two of which were pick-sixes.

Ohio State was interested as was Georgia.

“We offered him, and in the end, just didn’t feel like he was going to throw it well enough to come in and play right away,” coach Ryan Day said, in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “I felt like if he spent 100% of his time on football, he had a chance to develop as a quarterback. He was just raw.”

Per the Baltimore Sun:

Suggs’ father is Larry Suggs, who is second cousins with former Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who lived in Jalen’s native Minnesota until moving to Arizona in the ninth grade.

… As a senior, he was named Minnesota’s Mr. Football after passing for 2,213 yards and 25 touchdowns, rushing for 978 yards and 12 touchdowns and leading his high school team to a runner-up finish in the state playoffs. He also had nine interceptions on defense, returning two  for touchdowns.

Some of Suggs’ gridiron highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUYb8vWMHeM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB-n1IgNJN8

Still perfect: Gonzaga reaches Final Four, continues historic season

SportsPulse: They’re now 11th team to reach the Final Four undefeated. Scott Gleeson believes they have what it takes to become the first undefeated national champion since 1976.

SportsPulse: They’re now 11th team to reach the Final Four undefeated. Scott Gleeson believes they have what it takes to become the first undefeated national champion since 1976.