Regarding Gonzaga’s selection as the No. 5 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Mark Few stated: “They seem to have rewarded us,”

SPOKANE: Competition is something that Mark Few has never shied away from, and this season his Gonzaga men’s basketball team faced one of its most difficult non-conference schedules ever.

The Zags (25-7, 14-2 WCC) received a No. 5 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday as a result of their schedule. With Gonzaga slated to play their first-round match in the East, the final bracket projections from ESPN and CBS Sports put them as the seventh or eighth seed.

Instead, the Zags will go to Salt Lake City for a brief flight on Thursday to play No. 12 McNeese.

Few stated, “I believe they rewarded us for going out and playing people in the nonconference” by allowing them to be in Salt Lake. “I say this every year: Being a part of this event is just such a blessing.”

Below is a summary of what Few stated on Sunday following the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket:

A few notes about the development of this team and their progress:

It encourages introspection and helps you value everything and this group in particular. Despite the fact that they are their own squad and had nothing to do with the former teams, they were the subject of intense scrutiny. They needed to set off on their own. They discovered the solution. We took a deep breath. They were coachable and listened all year long.”