Not to suggest it was ever in real doubt — because it wasn’t. But it should still be noted that Gonzaga officially punched its ticket to a 26th straight NCAA Tournament late Tuesday with a 58-51 win over Saint Mary’s in the championship game of the 2025 West Coast Conference Tournament.
Twenty-six straight is crazy.
Here’s a history lesson: In November 1998, I was a senior in college at the University of Memphis, which was hosting a tiny school from Washington named Gonzaga. Even as a lifelong college basketball fan, I don’t remember recognizing the Zags, perhaps because they played in a small conference on the West Coast and, at the time, had literally never won a game in the NCAA Tournament.
The Zags beat Memphis 88-73 that day. Roughly four months later, they beat Minnesota to win their first NCAA Tournament game in history, then beat Stanford to advance to their first Sweet 16 in history, then beat Florida to advance to their first Elite Eight in history.
Wild story.
Even wilder is the fact that the program has literally never missed the NCAA Tournament since. Again, the streak is 26 straight (and would be 27 if not for the 2020 NCAA Tournament being canceled). It’s difficult to make a proper comparison. But imagine if something like, I don’t know, Louisiana Tech in Conference USA, built its program to a place of respectability, then randomly made the Elite Eight — and then went on to make the next 25 straight NCAA Tournaments and appear in two national title games.
It sounds ridiculous, I know.
But that’s more or less what Gonzaga has done. As I often say, don’t take it for granted or get bored with it because it won’t last forever — and it’s possible we’ll never see anything like it again.
Saint Mary’s falling to Gonzaga resulted in the Gaels dropping to No. 21 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 based on the strength of its body of work. For what it’s worth, Jerry Palm currently has Saint Mary’s projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament in his latest Bracketology.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
1
Auburn Chaney Johnson was 1-of-3 from the field with four fouls in Saturday’s 93-91 overtime loss to Alabama. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. — 27-4 2
Duke Cooper Flagg finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in Saturday’s 82-69 win at North Carolina. The Blue Devils are the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. — 28-3 3
Houston L.J. Cryer finished with 23 points and two rebounds in Saturday’s 65-61 win at Baylor. The Cougars are the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. — 27-4 4
Florida Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 23 points and eight assists in Saturday’s 90-71 win over Ole Miss. The Gators are the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament. — 27-4 5
Michigan St. Tre Holloman finished with 20 points and three rebounds in Sunday’s 79-62 win over Michigan. The Spartans are the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 26-5 6
Tennessee Chaz Lanier finished with 23 points and three steals in Saturday’s 75-65 win over South Carolina. The Vols are the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament. — 25-6 7
Alabama Grant Nelson finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 93-91 overtime win at Auburn. The Crimson Tide are the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. — 24-7 8
St. John’s RJ Luis finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s 86-84 win at Marquette. The Red Storm are the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament. — 27-4 9
Texas Tech JT Toppin finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s 85-57 win at Arizona State. The Red Raiders are the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. — 24-7 10
Texas A&M Wade Taylor IV finished with 17 points and six rebounds in Saturday’s 66-52 win at LSU. The Aggies are the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament. — 22-9 11
Iowa St. Curtis Jones finished with 24 points and five assists in Saturday’s 73-57 win at Kansas State. The Cyclones are the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. — 24-8 12
Wisconsin John Tonje was 2-of-13 from the field in Saturday’s 86-75 loss to Penn State. The Badgers are the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 23-8 13
Purdue Purdue allowed the Illini to shoot 63% from 2-point range in Friday’s 88-80 loss at Illinois. The Boilermakers are the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 21-10 14
Maryland Julian Reese finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s 74-61 win over Northwestern. The Terrapins are the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 24-7 15
Louisville Chucky Hepburn finished with 16 points and four steals in Saturday’s 68-48 win over Stanford. The Cardinals are the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament. — 25-6 16
Clemson Viktor Lakhin finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s 65-47 win over Virginia Tech. The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament. — 26-5 17
Kentucky Otega Oweh finished with 22 points and three steals in Saturday’s 91-83 win at Missouri. The Wildcats’ next game will be in the SEC Tournament. — 21-10 18
Arizona KJ Lewis was 1-of-8 from the field in Saturday’s 83-76 loss at Kansas. The Wildcats are the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. 1 20-11 19
Marquette Stevie Mitchell was 0-of-7 from the field in Saturday’s 86-84 loss to St. John’s. The Golden Eagles are the No. 5 seed in the Big East Tournament. 1 22-9 20
Memphis PJ Haggerty finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in Friday’s 84-68 win over USF. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the AAC Tournament. 1 26-5 21
Saint Mary’s Paulius Murauskas was 0-of-7 from the field in Tuesday’s 58-51 loss to Gonzaga. The Gaels are 8-1 in their past nine games. 3 28-5 22
Michigan Tre Donaldson was 1-of-5 from the field in Sunday’s 79-62 loss at Michigan State. The Wolverines are the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 22-9 23
Oregon Nate Bittle finished with 36 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday’s 80-73 overtime win at Washington. The Ducks are the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 23-8 24
BYU Dawson Baker finished with 15 points and one steal in Saturday’s 83-73 win over Utah. The Cougars are the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. — 23-8 25
Illinois Will Riley finished with 22 points and four assists in Friday’s 88-80 win over Purdue. The Illini are the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 20-11 26
UCLA Eric Dailey Jr. finished with 25 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s 90-63 win over USC. The Bruins are the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. — 22-9
