Gonzaga have ascended to the #1 ranked team in the nation for the first time in their history with a 81-52 home victory over Portland, the Bulldogs now sit at 28-2 with a perfect 15-0 record in Conference play. With the NCAA tournament looming less than three weeks away Gonzaga are looking like on of the favourites to go far when March Madness rolls around.

According to college basketball odds at Top Bet the Bulldogs are at +800 (that’s 9.00 or 8/1 for those of you not used to American odds) to win at March Madness along with Duke, Florida, Miami (FL) and Michigan, and sit behind just Indiana (+400) and Louisville (+750). This could Gonzaga’s best chance to proceed to the latter stages of the tournament as their last appearance in the Elite 8 was back in 1999 when they lost to eventual champions Connecticut.

Mark Few took over the head coaching duties following that game and remains head coach to this day, today’s win matched his highest win total in a season with Gonzaga at 29, which was also achieved in the 2001-02 and 2005-06 seasons. This year his team is led by Canadian Kelly Olynyk who is averaging 17.8 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game in just 25 minutes on 66.2% shooting from the field. The last game against Portland illustrates just how far Olynyk has come after his redshirt year behind Robert Sacre, as he put up 15 points (7-8 shooting) 11 rebounds and 4 assists and just 1 foul.

Butler have lost just two games this season, both against ranked opponents, Illinois and Butler, who were both ranked at #13 when they faced Gonzaga (talk about bad luck!) and were just a stolen inbound pass and lucky shot from Roosevelt Jones away from a win against Butler. Since that loss to Butler they have won 12 straight games to close the season. Credit must go to Few not only for the teams incredible play to close the season, but also for his relentless scheduling against strong non-conference opponents to make up for a Gonzaga’s weak conference schedule.

Focus for Gonzaga now turns to the NCAA Tournament, where anything less than a Final 4 appearance must be seen as a disappointment for them.

Written by George Rowland, you can follow him @georgerowland