Early look at Gonzaga and Washington State
AOL Fanhouse has started doing a ridiculously early look at they they believe are the top 25 college hoops teams. Griz opponents Gonzaga and Washington State were up today as they came in at 15 and 11 respectively.
Each preview gives a brief intro to then sections on why the team should be ranked where it is, why it should be ranked higher and why it should be ranked lower. Seeing as these are both legit top 25 teams and we or may not crack the top 144, let's take a look at why they should be ranked lower for hope we can pull off the upset.
No. 15 Gonzaga
Why This Team Should Be Ranked Lower: There's still the issue of when and how effective Josh Heytvelt will be when he returns. Because of the rest of the WCC, Gonzaga can't afford an inconsistent start to the season. If they stumble, early there won't be much of an opportunity to recover in the polls.
I absolutely hate that Josh Heytvelt is on this team. He was caught with hallucinogenic mushrooms, a felony. Because he hadn't been caught before, he got off on community service or classes. Maybe it's just me, but you'd think a private Catholic university would take a tougher stance on this. If it was someone outside the starting 5, they'd be gone.
No. 11 Washington State
Why they should be ranked lower: The surprise factor is gone. The Cougars were the darling of the West Coast last season, and they were able to sneak up on just about everybody. Even when they got ranked highly, opponents still seemed to fear the Cougs' cross-state rival more than WSU during the Thursday/Saturday match ups. People will be ready for the Cougs this year, so the guerrilla tactics of college hoops are obsolete.
The hope with this team is that we can sneak up on them like they snuck up on everyone else. Maybe an early season loss will shake their confidence and remind them of the team they were two years ago.