For Gonzaga, trips to the NCAA tournament are more about the journey than the destination

Back in October, when Gonzaga was jigsawing in seven new faces and trying to replace four of its top five scorers, guard Matt Bouldin had a conversation with his father back in Colorado.

"This," Bouldin told his dad, "could be a long year."

For Gonzaga, it ended up being the same kind of year as all the others recently, one that ends in the NCAA tournament.

This is 12 years now, a dozen times in a row Gonzaga has been dancing. With the end of Arizona's 25-year streak, the Zags are now tied for fourth with Wisconsin and Texas on the roll call of successive appearances, behind Kansas (21), Duke (15) and Michigan State (13).

On that short list, since Gonzaga began its streak in 1999, are 13 Final Fours and three national championships.

Of course, Gonzaga is responsible for none of those, and that's a sore point to detractors of the program. Where some see consistency, others see underachievement.

You can make the case that Gonzaga has been the most consistent high-level program in the nation over a decade and change. But it's consistency with a higher floor and lower ceiling.

"Look at the teams that aren't getting to the tournament this year," said coach Mark Few. "They'd do anything to be in it. You've got to be in it to get to a Final Four.

"As long as we're getting it in, I'm sure we'll get there. When we do, I'll still be most proud of our consistency to stay there, instead of two years in, two years out."

As Few said, look at those teams. Look at UCLA and North Carolina and Connecticut.

And look at Florida, which, down the stretch, was in danger of missing the tournament a third straight year on the heels of back-to-back national titles. Look at Georgia Tech, where Paul Hewitt took his team to the NCAA final in 2004, and after three absences and one tournament win since, has been under considerable scrutiny.

Look at Maryland, where Gary Williams won it in 2002, missed the tournament three of four years and heard that he wasn't the right coach anymore.

"It's been an unbelievable ascension to where we are now," Few says. "What a fine line it is, to negotiate your way through all the potholes and cliffs that get most programs."

No doubt the average Zags fan would accept in a heartbeat a national championship, followed by two years schlepping through the NIT or CBI. But it doesn't work like that around the twin spires of Spokane. You won't find any of Gonzaga's past five recruiting classes ranked in Scout.com's top 25.

Stumbles in March for Gonzaga? Without question. In particular, in 2005, when the Zags exited in the second round against Texas Tech, they seemed capable of far more. The next year, they collapsed down the stretch against UCLA and denied themselves an Elite Eight date against Memphis, which they could have won.

In 11 trips, there have been three one-and-dones. And there have been five Sweet 16s. If somehow it's possible to mix overachievement and shortfall into one package, the Zags have done it, making for fuzzy analysis.

We like our sports stories to provide crystalline resolution. To give us pat hero-or-bum conclusions. Gonzaga isn't so easily pigeonholed.

"In the world of big-time college sports, good is never enough," wrote Jeff Pearlman of SI.com in a recent piece unrelated to Gonzaga. "Winning is never enough. If you went 23-5, you should have gone 24-4. If you reached the regionals, well, you should have reached the finals.

"There's always a need to jump to a larger conference; to recruit a higher caliber of player; to 'take that next step' — even if happiness seems to reign as is."

Recalling preseason practice the other day, Few said, "I can't deny, I thought, 'This is gonna be a real test to keep this streak alive.' We had so many new guys and young guys. All the stuff we were spending time on ... we're fundamental, but it was really fundamental."

Then came Sunday, and Few knew there could be an undercurrent of disappointment in Gonzaga's seed (8) and site (Buffalo). So he decided his keynote to the team would be big-picture.

"I wanted them to understand just how special a deal the NCAA tournament is," he said. "To just truly enjoy the moment and feel very proud. When you go to Gonzaga, there are incredible expectations on your shoulders. With this team, I don't think it was particularly fair.

"I don't think I've been as proud of a group as this one."

The Gonzaga program has always seen itself as a little bit different. Leave it to the Zags to make it more about the journey than the destination.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com