Should the number 1 team in the country be the number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?

... Is No. 1 Gonzaga overrated? Undefeated but unappreciated 

The Gongaza Zags are currently 28-0 in their quest to finish an undefeated regular season and earn a top seed in the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Zags, also known as the Bulldogs, are also listed at the number 4 seed overall, being placed as a number 1 seed in the west bracket.

They retain their spots as number 1 in the AP and Coaches polls.

However, the argument is always the same. As ESPN noted a few weeks ago, "No. 1 Gonzaga will enter its final stretch with a legitimate chance to win out and enter the NCAA tournament with an unblemished record.

"And still, those who question Gonzaga’s record, conference, opposition and ability will persist with their slights. Anything short of a Final Four berth -- an unfair barometer for any program -- will only magnify their criticism."

The Bulldogs have often been a sentimental favorite. They have been for me. Here is the small school in Spokane, Washington, that has just about 7,000 students, one that plays in a lower-ranked conference with a relatively small budget, yet tries to compete against the powerful. Who could not love them?

Nevertheless, despite their success under Coach Mark Few, they have never won a national title, have never advanced to the Final Four. In the 2014-15 season, the Zags advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champion Duke. That was the first time since 1999 that Gonzaga had advanced to the Elite Eight. They also won the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships, the third time in three years that they had done so.

The 2014–15 team also set the school record with wins in a single season with 35 wins.

Still, as they make their move to secure a number one seed in 2017, there are those nay-sayers.

The players understand the dilemma. "We're not thinking about all that," 6-9 junior forward Johnathan Williams said about the questions of their number 1 ranking. "We're thinking about getting better each and every week because if we keep getting better, nobody can stop us."

The number that naysayers use against Gonazaga is that they play a weak schedule. In fact, in the ESPN week 15 RPI rankings, the Zags are ninth. The reason is simple: SOS. Strength of schedule.

They have a ranking of 102 in that area. Why? The questionable strength of the West Coast Conference.

The premier numbers cruncher, Jeff Sagarin, whose rankings appear in USA Today, has the Zags number one in his power rankings. He obviously uses a different system than does ESPN.

However, Sagarin ranks the West Coast Conference 11th in the country. No other team in the WCC ranks in Sagarin's top 25, even though St. Mary's has a 24-3 record and is 26th.

One thing that is evident from just watching the Zags: They are big. Two of their two three scorers, Przemek Karnoski and Zach Collins are both 7-footers. Karnoski, a senior from Poland, is averaging 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Collins, a freshman from Oregon, averages 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Their leading scorer is Nigel Williams-Goss, a 6-3 junior from Oregon who is averaging 16.3 ppg, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

Mark Few

Since being hired by Gonzaga in 1999, Coach Mark Few has had many opportunities to leave. He has not.

Few's teams have reached the NCAA Tournament each of his 17 seasons, and he has won at least one game in the tournament for the past eight seasons.

That is unparalleled in Gonzaga's history, but that is not the reason that he stays in Spokane, Wash. When asked on the Seth Davis Show why he has remained there, he says, "When you see how Gonzaga does everything, and you see the type of guys that Gonzaga is getting in, and my lifestyle, and you get to know me, then I think they kind of go, ‘Oh, OK. I get it.' ”

He added, “It’s a nice life for yourself and your family in Spokane.”

One of the things had Few likes is fly-fishing, and the Spokane area, and Washington in general, are great for that hobby.  

However, his final response to Davis was this, "I mean, Gonzaga is who I am."

Nevertheless, while he had a great recruiting class last year and appears to be solid for a few years, the one thing that Few would love is to make the Final Four. The second thing, of course, is to win the national title.

They have been on the edge of greatness, but now may be the time for them to finally reach that pinnacle.