A reporter on the teleconference call with Gonzaga coach Mark Few started one of those “premise” questions.

He speculated that Gonzaga’s tough non-conference schedule and success against nationally recognized programs made it the kind of team that seems destined for the Sweet 16 in this NCAA tournament.

Few has led the Zags to 10 of their 11 consecutive NCAA bids, and he’s seen the tournament play out from too many angles to bite on the setup.

“Or,” he interjected at that point, “… we’re capable of losing in the first round.”

It’s the sort of comment that a critic might make rather than the head coach. But it’s certainly not a possibility lost on Few, and one of which he shouldn’t have to remind his team.

If it happened this year – for the third consecutive time – it would be a significant upset.

In a South Regional match in Portland on Thursday between the alphabetically akin Zags and Zips, Gonzaga (26-5) is a No. 4 seed to Akron’s No. 13. The Akron Zips (23-12) won the Mid-American Conference tournament to gain an automatic bid.

Last year, the Zags fell in the opener to a Stephen Curry-led Davidson team, whose regional finals appearance proved that it was better than its No. 10 seed. The previous year, the 10th-seeded Zags were downed by No. 7 Indiana.

Sixteen West Coast Conference wins in a row and the 35- and 27-point WCC tournament wins over Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s in Las Vegas suggest that the Zags are peaking at the right time.

“I think the last few years we haven’t been playing very good basketball going into the tournament,” GU guard Matt Boldin said. “I think this year is a lot different. I do think how we played in Vegas has helped us a lot and given us a lot of confidence and put us on the right track to continue being successful.”

The Zags are at their best when using their length to defend (as one of the nation’s top field-goal percentage defenses) and their offensive versatility to confound opponents.

Those qualities allowed GU to hit a higher percentage of its 3-point shots (39.4) than opponents made of any field-goal attempts (36.7).

Another example of the versatility and depth: The Zags’ sixth-leading scorer, Micah Downs, came away as WCC tournament MVP.

Does that make them immune to cold shooting or a 40-minute slump? Are they upset-proof? Hardly.

The Zags lost four games in a five-game stretch in December, and were hammered by an athletic Memphis team in early February. In those losses, senior point guard Jeremy Pargo had 23 turnovers, and the Zags were outshot and outscored from behind the 3-point arc in all cases.

“We’ve always had the confidence we can beat some of the best teams in the country,” Pargo said. “It’s frustrating when you know you had games in hand, but a little mistake – by myself – can give that game away.”

Recently, though, Boldin has taken over more of the ballhandling duties and kept the Zags under steady control. He had seven assists in each of the WCC tournament games.

Few came away from the league tournament very satisfied, and thought it was as well as his team had played all season, or at least matching the effort in the sweep through the Old Spice Classic in November. But he won’t make comparisons further back than that.

“Comparing teams year to year is apples and oranges,” Few said. “The groups are so much different. This team has done a nice job down the stretch. It was an incredible accomplishment to go 16-0 in the league, especially when you’re talking about (three total wins over) a team like Saint Mary’s.”

If the prior two NCAA tournaments were the “apples” to which Few referred, they’ve been somewhat sour.

But the Zags come in on a roll, are playing close enough to home that they’ll be loudly supported, and they surely won’t have to be reminded how bad it tastes to have to go home on the first day.

Dave Boling: 253-597-8440

dave.boling@thenewstribune.com