I'll offer my prediction here in a couple hours on tonight's Akron-Gonzaga game. But first here's a sampling of what folks are writing and saying about tonight's game.
Gonzaga might actually be feeling a little pressure tonight. Bud Withers of the Seattle Times opines of the Zags that "Early in a decade of NCAA appearances, the Zags maxed out, simply got as far in this thing as anybody could expect. What's the description lately? Is it … Underachieving?"
Withers also provided an interesting and insightful scouting breakdown of the game. He predicts a Gonzaga win.
Our own Tom Gaffney offered his scouting take here.
The Portland Oregonian posted this video preview of the Zips. It doesn't offer a lot, but I'll post it anyway:
| Zips look to represent their city with a strong game against Gonzaga |
And this one of Gonzaga:
| 'Zags' aren't taking Zips lightly |
In an interesting rundown on Gonzaga, John Hunt of the Oregonian agrees with Akron coach Keith Dambrot that Gonzaga really is not a mid-major anymore: "The Bulldogs thrive in the in-between zone, a small school playing with the big boys. They beat those teams on the court often enough and they win recruiting battles just enough to keep alive their astounding run — 11 consecutive tournaments and counting."
Finally, the University of Akron's fine Sports Information Department provided this page of facts and figures about the matchup.