For Few, Gonzaga, it’s new bloods against blue bloods
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Roy Williams has been here before. Just last year, in fact. And five times altogether, playing for the NCAA championship. Twice he got to celebrate winning the final game of the season with the Tar Heels, pushing their total to five tournament titles.
For Mark Few and Gonzaga, this is all new. Just getting to the Final Four was a first, and now they are one victory from lifting the trophy.
If it came down to history, tradition and experience, North Carolina would run away with Monday’s NCAA championship game. If only it were that easy for the Tar Heels.
“You know, on game night, kids got to play. That’s the bottom line,” Williams said Saturday night after the Tar Heels beat Oregon 77-76. “I’ve never won a game from the bench. I may have lost some, but I know I’ve never won one.”
The 66-year-old Williams called Few one of his best friends in coaching and said he was stressed out hoping that his poker buddy would finally break through and reach the Final Four this year.
The last time they played each other in the NCAA Tournament was 2009, when the Tar Heels eliminated the Bulldogs in the Sweet 16. Since the Zags graduated from upstart to national power, there have been lots of early exits in the tournament.
Few has been the coach of Gonzaga for 18 seasons and never once have the Zags missed the NCAA Tournament. He is 503-112 at Gonzaga, but there were always questions about whether the program was good enough to really be considered among the best in the country.
Those should be gone now and if there are any lingering doubters, the Bulldogs can take care of that on Monday by beating one of the bluest of college basketball’s blue bloods. This is North Carolina’s record 20th Final Four.
“I know Gonzaga, they don’t have the history that we do. But they’ve only lost one game this year. They’re a pretty good team,” North Carolina guard Joel Berry II said. “While the history matters to show how great your program is, at the same time it doesn’t because you got to play that game on Monday.”