Indiana wants revenge for last year’s loss to GU

BULLDOGS

As close to home as you might expect. Check. A first-round game against a guy’s team who snubbed you in the past and players you know. Check. An easy draw. Can’t check that one.

The Zags got some things they wanted Sunday when the NCAA draw came out, but the matchups, not so much. First-round foe, seventh-seed Indiana, is a tough one for the 10th-seeded Bulldogs, though the GU staff has an idea what a Kelvin Sampson-coached team will want to do.

Even with a win, UCLA looms in the second round, the same team, pretty much, that ended GU’s season last year.

We have all this covered in today’s S-R on-line, with Steve Bergum’s blog , his story , Steve’s bracket analysis , John Blanchette’s column on the chance for a great road trip and this team capsule on Indiana.

• There is also a lot to be found on our NCAA 2007 blog , which is the best place for links and information concerning the sub-regional in Spokane.

The stories from Indiana center around the revenge theme. The Hoosiers weren’t real happy to be knocked out of the tournament last year in the second round by GU, so they consider Thursday payback time . The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (Henry Blake’s home town newspaper) had this on the revenge factor, the Indianapolis Star has this story and Bob Kravitz’s column , which predicts a GU win, sort of. In the Star story about GU, there is this note: • IU can take advantage of: Watching Gonzaga’s games against San Diego. Raivio scored only five, seven and 14 points, respectively, in three games against the Toreros. I wouldn’t rate that advice too highly. Gonzaga won all three of those games.

From Sacramento, there is this story on how different these teams are this year. The Austin American-Statesman covers college basketball in depth, and has this preview of the West Region.

On the West Side, there is this Seattle Times story (along with a first look at the game) and the P-I has this piece .

Finally, the L.A. Times has a short note on Derek Raivio.

• By the way, the Gonzaga women will find out their NCAA spot today at 5 p.m. We’ll have something up.