The Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team was one win away from dethroning the perfect 1976 Indiana Hoosiers as the last unbeaten team and securing a place in college basketball history. After 31 straight wins and an exciting buzzer-beater finish against UCLA in the Final Four, the Bulldogs fell to the #1 Baylor Bears, 86-70, at Lucas Oil Stadium Monday night in the NCAA tournament title game.

32 games. Only 31 wins. 

The overall tournament No. 1 ranked team had the chance to become the first champion outside of a power conference since UNLV won the tournament in 1990, coached by Jerry Tarkanian and led by future NBA star Larry Johnson. However, for the second time in five years, they fell short of greatness. 

For a team that looks exceptional on paper, why can't they convert their success into a national title? This year's squad led the nation in scoring, produced three All-Americans and won their 17th West Coast Conference title in the 22 years with Mark Few at the helm, yet still came short of raising the trophy. 

Is a team's success only limited to its ability to win a title? The day after the championship game, headlines praised Baylor for winning its first national title and finally securing a spot as a powerhouse in college basketball history. The headlines for Gonzaga read how the team had fallen short in their dream season once again.

"The common fan tends to downplay any team's success until they win a championship. Karl Malone and John Stockton were among the greatest duos in NBA history and took the Utah Jazz to incredible heights. However, the inability to overcome Jordan or Olajuwon will forever keep them out of the pantheon of the greatest basketball teams of all time in many people's minds," says Audie Murphy, secondary sports information director for Syracuse men's basketball.

"Gonzaga's success cannot be downplayed because of the chaos associated with March Madness. Because the tournament operates under a 'one-and-done' format, the best team will not always win. This format is why Gonzaga has yet to win a national title. If the NCAA Tournament operated like the NBA Playoffs, there is a good chance that the Bulldogs would have already captured a championship," adds Murphy.

Nestled in Spokane, Wa., outside of college basketball, few have ever heard of Gonzaga or know its 5,000 undergraduates even exist. Yet for the last 22 years with Few as head coach, the Bulldogs basketball team has put Gonzaga on the map, making the tournament 22 consecutive times and fighting for a national title as a mid-major underdog amongst larger powerhouse institutions.

Gonzaga joins Kansas and Michigan St. as the only three teams to have made the tournament yearly for the last 20 years straight.

Despite the inability to win the last game of the year, this turnaround for a small school program is exceptional. In 1999, Few took over a program that had only made the NCAA tournament twice in its history. Gonzaga has dominated their conference and even though they still don't have a championship banner, they've made the Elite Eight in four of the last six tournaments-- proving they can play with anybody.

When most mid-major teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, they are commonly known as 'Cinderella schools' that have the potential to do damage to brackets everywhere. These schools receive bids through winning their conference championships and may only see the tournament once every few years if they are lucky. Although mid-major, can a team as dominant and with as much star talent as Gonzaga be considered an underdog anymore?

Often seen with teams who play in smaller conferences, their success is downplayed due to easier opponents and lack of schedule difficulty. Gonzaga front-loaded its schedule to include tough non-conference opponents with the possibility of facing these teams in the tournament. The Bulldogs earned wins against #6 Kansas, #11 West Virginia, #3 Iowa and #16 Virginia before opening their WCC slate. 

The opposite is true for Power Five schools. Knowing that they will play tough conference games, schools in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and PAC 12 will load up on mid and low-major schools that pose a little threat. 

For mid-tier teams to be considered for the big dance outside of a conference title bid, facing – and defeating – ranked teams is one of the only ways to do it. Larger conference schools tend to face easier non-conference opponents hoping to secure an easy mark in the win column to boost their record for tournament consideration without a conference win.

However, just because a team is considered a mid-major program does not disqualify it from success in the tournament. Teams such as George Mason, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth have all made memorable runs to the Final Four. Even in the 2021 tournament, six of the Sweet 16 teams came from non-Power 5 schools: Gonzaga (1 seed), Houston (2 seed), Villanova (5 seed), Creighton (5 seed), Loyola Chicago (8 seed) and Oral Roberts (15 seed). While mid-major schools often have some tournament success each year, they have yet to come close to the prolonged domination Gonzaga has had for over two decades which makes the program so unique, especially given the money and resources backing larger institutions.

Few has had incredible luck attracting top-tier recruits to Spokane. When current freshman guard Jalen Suggs announced his commitment to Gonzaga, he became the first five-star recruit in program history. In March, Hunter Sallis chose the Bulldogs over top programs like Creighton, North Carolina, Iowa State, UCLA, Kansas and Kentucky, giving Few his second five-star recruit in two years and the potential to build a strong young core.

"Recency bias plays a role in Gonzaga's ability to recruit five-star talent. Few has found diamonds in the rough through shrewd recruiting, allowing his program to gain national prominence. High school players know that the easiest way to gain the attention of scouts is by playing for a winning team. Therefore, Gonzaga is an ideal bridge between gymnasiums and NBA arenas," Murphy adds on the program's operations.

The No. 1 ranked high school basketball player in the country and former teammate of Suggs, Chet Holmgren, is expected to announce his college decision in the coming weeks. Gonzaga currently tops his list.

Although the Bulldogs fell flat against Baylor, Gonzaga still has a bright future with one of the best head coaches in college basketball, an excellent recruiting class and a history of dominance in their conference. However, will it be enough to win the most important game?

"Gonzaga had an amazing undefeated season and lost to the team that was clearly the best. No shame in that," said Keenan O'Brien, the owner of one of less than 6% of ESPN brackets who correctly predicted Baylor beating Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament Finals.

Baylor played seven games against ranked teams in its regular season conference schedule, winning six. Comparatively, Gonzaga did not face a single ranked opponent in their conference schedule. While the undefeated record was undeniably impressive, the inability to face a daunting conference schedule may keep Gonzaga and all mid-major programs from going the distance. 

Gonzaga is already the early favorite to win the 2022 NCAA tournament – but Baylor follows narrowly behind.