“No matter how you cut it, they are one of the very best teams in the country, and it doesn’t matter what league they’re in,” CBS Sports Reporter Gary Parrish said.
Two weeks ago, Parrish had Gonzaga ranked No. 1 and Duke ranked No. 2 before the Blue Devils lost to North Carolina.
The internet reacted accordingly.
“I already had Gonzaga ahead of Duke. I simply moved Gonzaga to #1 when Tennessee lost. It was hilarious to watch because nobody had a problem when Gonzaga was two and Duke was three, but when Gonzaga became one and Duke became two, then it was a big issue like I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
The trolls come out every time Gonzaga has the No. 1 spot and it's even more intense this time of year with Gonzaga rolling through the WCC.
Obviously, there are plenty of arguments to have Gonzaga as the top dog and Parrish can definitely make those.
“Gonzaga’s sitting here at 27-2. They’ve got 11 wins over top 100 KenPom teams. They’ve won 18 straight games by an average of 31.3 points. They’re number one in the NET rankings, number two in KenPom, number two in Sagrin," he said.
"They’ve got a lottery pick in Rui Hachimura. They’ve got a guy in Brandon Clarke who has a player efficiency rating that’s second only in the country to Zion Williamson. They’ve got an experienced and accomplished point guard. I don’t know what there is to nit pick about this team," he continued.
Yet the WCC argument persists.
Parrish has analogy to knock that argument down as well.
“I guess I’d bottom line it this way: If the Golden State Warriors were in the West Coast Conference, they would also be undefeated in the West Coast Conference and they would be blowing out everybody. Would you, even if your eyeballs and all the computers told you one thing, would you still try to discount them because they quote still haven’t played anybody? Of course not," he said.
"You’d say that teams obviously good, because they’re not just squeaking by these inferior opponents, they’re beating their brains in every time they play. Again, 18 straight double digit wins by an average of 31.3 points. If you can acknowledge that if the Warriors were in the West Coast Conference, they would still be the Golden State Warriors, then you have to acknowledge that Gonzaga is not to be dismissed or discounted because of league affiliation. To do that to them is simply wrong," he continued.
