Rumors of Mark Few leaving the Gonzaga basketball program to coach at the University of Oregon, his alma mater, have persisted ever since the U of O hired his buddy Pat Kilkenny as AD. But the stars have never lined up quite right for this to happen, namely because Oregon has never been bad enough to justify the ouster of longtime head basketball coach Ernie Kent, and Few seems to have learned a lesson from his predecessor, Dan Monson, whose decision to bolt Spokane for the bigger-time (back then, anyway) pastures  of the University of Minnesota proved a disastrous one (he's now at Long Beach State).

But if there were ever a year where Few might end up supplanting Kent in Eugene, 2009 is it. The Ducks are terrible this year, sure to finish in the bottom half -- if not the cellar -- of the Pac-10 and miss the NCAA tourney by a good margin. Meanwhile, for the first time in his career, Few is on something of a hot seat in Spokane, where his Bulldogs have underachieved lately after a torrid start that, for a couple weeks at least, had them on a short list of national title contenders. So here's my prediction: If Gonzaga doesn't make it into the round of 16 come March, Few will end up in green and gold next season.

Last night's game at Tennessee was a must-win for slumping Gonzaga if the Bulldogs hoped to remain ranked in the Top 25 and keep themselves in position for a lofty NCAA tourney seed. And lo and behold, they won in overtime. The key element to this win: Mark Few's decision to bench his most frustrating, inconsistent player, Micah Downs, in favor of his most consistent player, Steven Gray. 'Bout fucking time, that's all we can say. Gray is a unique offensive talent on the Bulldogs' roster, a wonderfully gifted swingman (he'll be a two-guard in the pros) who's as capable on the drive as he is from long range. Downs, meanwhile, is a poor man's Austin Daye, to put it kindly -- and Gonzaga already has the real Austin Daye to start up front.

Seeing basketball at KeyArena was both familiar and unfamiliar in certain ways. Whereas once the arena floor contained the words "Seattle" and "Sonics", the "Sonics" has now been removed and replaced by, well, nothing. As for the familiar, at least half of the concession stands were closed despite the fact that the nationally-televised game between #2 UConn and #8 Gonzaga was played before a packed house, which meant if you got in line for food at halftime, you were lucky to make it back by the time the Zags has built a 57-46 lead over the Huskies with 11:34 to play.

It was at about that time that Mark Few's charges began slowing their offense down, trying to juggle dual objectives of holding on to a lead and eating clock. Big mistake: the Zags never really regained the freewheeling rhythm that got them to that lofty plateau, and eventually succumbed to UConn in overtime, 88-83, squandering a virtuoso performance from Bainbridge High alum Steven Gray, who had 4 assists, 7 rebounds, and 23 points on 10-16 shooting from the field. Gray, known mainly for his three-point stroke, scored most of his points on dribble-drive moves against a cat-quick UConn D. If he wasn't on pro scouts' radars before this game, he is now.

Foul trouble plagued both squads. UConn's 7'3" center, Hasheem Thabeet, saw only 19 minutes of unproductive floor time, notching a mere 9 points and 2 rebounds before fouling out on an idiotic taunting technical after scoring the first points of the overtime. But this burst of elation was short-lived for Gonzaga fans, who lost their most-ballyhooed pro prospect, Austin Daye (13 points), to fouls in regulation -- and then lost both the maddeningly inconsistent Micah Downs and Matt Bouldin in the extra frame (Josh Heytvelt was also hamstrung defensively with four fouls).More >>

With all eyes on the UW-Wazzu senior day tilt tomorrow in Pullman, the 24-6 Gonzaga Bulldogs continue to fly under everyone's radar, even though they've reassumed their rightful position in the nation's Top 25. Why? Probably because they didn't get the huge early season, out of conference win that they usually do to remind everyone what giant kilers they are. But even at that, their only bad loss was to Texas Tech -- the rest were hard-fought failures at the hands of Tennessee, Memphis, Oklahoma, Wazzu, and St. Mary's (whom they just beat handily to exact revenge and lock up the WCC).

But Gonzaga's resume' isn't what should scare people; their talent, versatility, and depth is. Don't laugh when I say this, but they might have more talent, first through eighth man, than any other team in the country. These guys have size, speed, dexterity, and can play at any pace. They've got a quintet of NBA prospects in Heytvelt, Pargo, Bouldin, Downs, and Daye (and maybe even Gray from Bainbridge), and a steely senior leader in David Pendergraft, who's so ubiquitous that it feels like he's in his eighth collegiate year.

The problem? Maybe too much division of labor. For instance: Who's their go-to guy? Should be Bouldin or Pargo, but neither underclassmen has quite grown into that role. So while this squad should scare the pants off anyone they face in the tourney, smart money's on next year being the year of the Dog -- if Heytvelt doesn't try his luck in the pro draft.

First, let's talk about the boring game: The Sonics, for the second night in a row, hung around for three quarters against a very good Texan team (in this case, Houston) before tanking in the fourth. Ray Allen was magnificent offensively and the Border Collie (21 points, 17 rebounds) continued his string of double-doubles. But Weezy and the rest of the crew were virtually nonexistent. Collison, at this point, may be the story of the season, playing exactly like he did at Kansas and almost justifying his sky-high draft selection (almost). But, hey, Damien Wilkins need to start. Not because Mikey "Basquiat" Gelabale has been bad as a starter, but because unless he starts, Wilkins is either maddeningly inconsistent or doesn't seem to get proper minutes on a team that needs his offense. Also, Earl Watson needs to be told to shoot only when he's wide open and/or the shot clock's running down. He doesn't just miss three pointers, he misses them by a colossal margin.

But on to more exciting things: Anyone watch that 2OT Gonzaga victory at Stanford last night, which came on right after the Sonic's snoozer? Wow, did the referees try with all their might to give that game to the Cardinal, which has more players who look like butch lesbians than I have ever seen assembled on one roster. When Gonzaga was on D, obvious charges became blocks and boxing out became over-the-back.  I haven't seen that much home-cooking since the days of Hickory High. Yet Gonzaga, behind the heroic one-on-one play of Jeremy Pargo and Derek Ravio, still managed to win. The notion that the Bulldogs are a bubble team is a bit foolhardy: With a creampuff conference schedule and non-conference wins against North Carolina, Texas, Washington and Stanford, the 'Zags'll be there come March.