Gonzaga steamrolls USC en route to Final Four and 30-0 record

Yahoo Sports College reporter Pete Thamel explains how a dominant, still-undefeated Gonzaga team breezed past USC and into the program’s second-ever Final Four.

Video transcript

PETE THAMEL: The biggest fundamental tension of this college basketball season has been whether Gonzaga can go undefeated and become the first team in college basketball since 1976 to go wire to wire and win the NCAA Tournament without losing a game. That was, of course, Indiana-- Bob Knight's team with Quinn Buckner and the boys. Well, on Tuesday night, in one of the least dramatic Elite Eight games in NCAA history, number 1 Gonzaga has set the stage for a wild week from the sport of college basketball. The Zags dispatched number 6 USC, 85-66.

The first team that was alleged to potentially give Gonzaga problems this NCAA Tournament fell behind 7-0 and was never in the game for a single dribble. Gonzaga cruised. They shot 50% from the field, which is their fourth-worst shooting performance of the season.

So here in Indianapolis, just 50 miles from Indiana's campus, Gonzaga will be chasing the immortality that has been the standard-bearer of the sport for more than 40 years. The Zags will face the winner next Saturday of number 1 Michigan and number 11 UCLA. And from now until then, the Zags will be the biggest story in the sports world.

This is Pete Thamel at the NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium, where we'll wait for next week to see if Gonzaga can finish the job.