The Gonzaga Bulldogs are just one win away from becoming the eighth team in college basketball history to cap off a perfect season with an NCAA championship.
Former Gonzaga star and Los Angeles Lakers center Robert Sacre believes his alma mater will "absolutely" rank as the greatest college basketball team of all time if they beat the Baylor Bears in Monday's national championship game.
"If they win, Spokane is going to be insane," Sacre told "The Jake Asman Show" on SportsMap Radio. "I'm excited for this community to embrace their team, and everything's basically shut down until this game."
Gonzaga's perfect season was put to the test in its Final Four matchup against a feisty No. 11-seeded UCLA squad, narrowly edging the Bruins 93-90 in overtime in what will be remembered as a classic showdown. The victory marked only the second time this season the Bulldogs won a game by fewer than 10 points.
Prior to being drafted by the Lakers, Sacre earned a pair of first-team All-WCC selections and the 2012 WCC Defensive Player of the Year honor during his five-year run at Gonzaga. He believes the Bulldogs' recent close call was exactly what the team needed to gear up for Baylor.
"I'm grateful for that to happen to us in the Final Four, granted it got close and a little too close for comfort. But at the same time, we needed that little wake-up call to go into a game like Baylor because they're an amazing team," Sacre said. "Give credit where credit is due, Baylor looks phenomenal. We just can't underestimate them going into this game."
A win over Baylor would make Gonzaga the first undefeated national champions since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers.
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