There are not many stone-cold locks when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Upsets happen, Cinderellas get hot and your bracket is probably going to be busted by the time you reach the end of the first weekend.
But there is at least one constant you can rely on, for almost the past decade. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are not only going to advance, they are probably going to make a deep run
Mark Few and Co. reached the Sweet 16 on Saturday with a huge 89-68 win over No. 4 seed Kansas. They used a couple of dominant scoring runs to pull away for the win.
It is the ninth consecutive year that the Bulldogs have reached at least that round of the tournament, and the 15th consecutive year they have won at least one tournament game.
The nine consecutive Sweet 16 appearances tie an NCAA record that is also owned by North Carolina (1985-93) and Duke (1998-2006).
GONZAGA BLOWS OUT KANSAS AND ADVANCES TO THE SWEET 16 FOR A RECORD-TYING 9️⃣TH STRAIGHT YEAR! pic.twitter.com/uf6hgooA0P
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 23, 2024
It is an incredible run of success and consistency for the program — all of which has come under Few.
Since he took over the program at the start of the 1999-2000 season, Few has never missed an NCAA Tournament and has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 on 13 different occasions. That includes six trips to the Elite Eight and two different national title game appearances.
It is a tremendous run for the program. The only thing Few and the Bulldogs are missing is a championship,
They'll get a chance to take another step toward that goal in the Sweet 16 when they face the winner of Purdue-Utah State.
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