The Zags have had something of a down season by their lofty standards, with second-place finishes in the WCC regular season and tournament. Even so, they appear to be peaking toward season's end. The 30-win Cowboys crushed Southland competition but have one of the weakest strengths of schedule in the NCAA field.

This isn't the same Gonzaga team of years past. This McNeese State team is going to surprise people. The Cowboys are third in the country in field goal percentage defense (38.5) and fifth in scoring defense (61.5 points per game). They also shoot 49.3% on the other end and have lost just three games this season. This is their Super Bowl. Take McNeese State and the points.

McNeese has been a great team all season but Gonzaga is still on a different level here as they figured things out down the stretch. The biggest knock on McNeese is the atrocious free throw shooting at just 68 percent as a team, and Gonzaga simply doesn't put opponents on the line often. I make this line Gonzaga -9.