No. 1 Seeds: Gonzaga: No, St. Joe's: Yes

Even with their recent success in the regular season and the NCAA Tournament, this year has brought unprecedented highs for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are undefeated in the West Coast Conference, which they have surprisingly never gone through without a loss before. At the moment, they are also ranked fourth in both the AP and ESPN/Coaches polls; their highest ranking in school history.

Coach Mark Few has already made the claim that if the 'Zags run the table the rest of the way in the WCC, they should receive a No. 1 seed this March. On one hand, Few does have a point. Gonzaga is 25-2, with its only losses coming to the undefeated Stanford Cardinal and the St. Joe's Eagles, the No. 1 and 2 teams in the nation.

The team has done everything that the selection committee could expect out of a mid-major team. This includes A) playing elite teams away or on neutral courts (Stanford and St. Joe's), B) having a perfect or near perfect conference record (14-0), and C) having a high RPI (13th highest).

Even with Coach Few's statement, there are definite weaknesses to Gonzaga's Tournament resume. You could say that the Bulldogs have taken care of everything put in front of them, but they do have two losses on their record. To be truthful, there is a different standard to which mid-major teams and power conference teams are held.

While the Duke Blue Devils or Mississippi St. Bulldogs are allowed several losses and still be considered for a No. 1 seed, Gonzaga would have to be perfect to earn one. The Bulldogs have been beating opponents by an average of 17.1 ppg, but that has to say something about the quality of play in the WCC.

Some of these weaknesses all revolve around their lack of play against the nation's top teams. The Bulldogs' 90th ranked strength of schedule is exponentially too low for a No. 1 seed. Obviously, their strength of schedule is a little misleading, because their conference opponents bring their rating down significantly, but even their non-conference SOS is only 24th highest in the nation. More importantly, they only have seven games against the Top 100 in RPI and are 0-2 against teams in the Top 25 in RPI. This lack of success against the only two good teams that they have played will ultimately be their seeding downfall.

Let's say that Gonzaga was in the ACC, which based on the RPI is the nation's toughest conference. It is highly unlikely that the Zags would escape without a conference loss. That's what the top conferences do; their teams beat up on each other. It's hard to say that Gonzaga hasn't done everything it needs to do to get a No. 1 seed, but it just hasn't had the competition. In reality, the Bulldogs would be in perfect position for a No. 2 seed.

On the other end of the spectrum, St. Joe's is being pushed out of a No. 1 spot, which is completely baseless. Granted its strength of schedule and opponents aren't as tough as competition in the ACC or SEC, but it has taken care of everything put in front of it.

Sure, just like Gonzaga, the Eagles would have at least one if not more losses in a major conference and they may get killed by a middle of the pack team from a power conference, but the point is that they have not lost all season. The selection committee shouldn't take that away from them.

St. Joe's has the nation's toughest non-conference schedule to make up for some of the cupcakes in the A-10 Conference. The Eagles have the nation's second highest RPI -- even higher than top-ranked Stanford, who even though it plays in the Pac-10, hasn't played that many tough teams with the exception of the Arizona Wildcats and Gonzaga.

The RPI takes into account the opponents' record, so obviously the Cardinal's opponents are no Goliaths either. Yet everyone keeps talking about St. Joe's illegitimate status as a No. 1 seed as they continue to blow all of their opponents out. Give the Eagles their due. There haven't been any undefeated teams going into the NCAA Tournament since the UNLV Rebels in 1991, so give them some credit already.

One thing is for sure. The Bulldogs are assured an at-large bid even if they fail to win the WCC Tournament. They have clearly transcended the role of mid-major spoiler or "Cinderella", but they are not worthy of a top seed.