BULLDOGS UPDATED: 10:30 A.M.

Why do we send reporters on the road with local sports teams? So we can put you, the reader, in the stands and in the locker room after the game.

Which is exactly what Steve Bergum did with this story of Gonzaga's victory over Stanford on Wednesday night.

The win, which Steve also covers on his blog, may have been as important to GU's NCAA chances – if the Bulldogs falter in the WCC Tournament of course – as the NIT win over North Carolina.

Gonzaga, led by the play of Jeremy Pargo, Derek Raivio, David Pendergraft and Matt Bouldin (pictured; AP photo) showed last night it can step out of conference, go on the road and beat a team that, arguably, was playing as well as any in America. After a terrible start. Despite adverse conditions.

My guess is, if the Zags take care of business this weekend at Pepperdine and Loyola, they'll jump to an eight or nine seed in all those bracketology sites.

Back to last night. Here's the San Francisco Chronicle story from the game.

Also, a lot of commentators on Steve's blog post wondered why Steve didn't mention the officiating. That's not his job. He's there to give an unbiased, objective view of the game.

That's my job. And I thought the officiating worked against the Zags. Not because the officials were out to get them, as fans often times think, but because how the trio called the game. They weren't biased for a team, but biased toward a style of play. Guards were given a lot of leeway to grab and impede without calls, bigs were not. That favored the bigger team. And Stanford is always the bigger team.

UPDATE: • There is more about GU on our basketball page today, with the WCC notes and a look at the conference weekend in our Week Ahead (second team) notebook.

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