The Gonzaga program has reached the stage where it is measured by its success in the NCAA Tournament. That in itself tells you Gonzaga is an acknowledged national player in college basketball. And winning an eighth straight regular-season title when the WCC includes another team (St. Mary's) that was nationally ranked much of the season shows the Bulldogs remain one of the powerhouse programs on the West Coast.

However, the Bulldogs lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, and that makes the season a disappointment.

In fact it was the fourth time in the past five campaigns Gonzaga's season ended before it was expected to. The Bulldogs lost in the second round in 2004 and 2005 when they were No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, and they were a No. 10 seed last season when they lost by 13 points to Indiana.

This year, they led Davidson by as many as 11 points, before being outplayed down the stretch by the No. 10 seed Wildcats.

That loss, coming after losing to San Diego in the WCC tournament finals, left the Bulldogs with a bad feeling about the season.

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs figure to be the WCC favorite again next year, and perhaps for as long as Mark Few is the coach. There is no indication Few is leaving anytime soon -- although his name will always come up when an opening arises elsewhere -- and the Bulldogs will have more than enough talent to win the conference again next season. They may even be better next season, despite the loss of two blue-collar contributors -- Abdullahi Kuso and David Pendergraft.

Pendergraft was an all-conference player who was an excellent 3-point shooter, and he will be missed. But the return of freshman Austin Daye, who showed signs of becoming a star, and Josh Heytvelt, who may yet regain the level he achieved last season, should more than make up for that.

A backcourt of Steven Gray (who was excellent in the NCAA Tournament), Matt Bouldin (who slipped a bit late in the season) and conference player of the year Jeremy Pargo -- he tested but pulled out of the NBA draft, for which he announced his entry on April 15 -- should put the Bulldogs in the preseason rankings. Incoming freshman Grant Gibbs will improve that backcourt.

Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.