Gifted with facing No. 15 Middle Tennessee State instead of perennial power Michigan State, No. 10 seed Syracuse ended Murfreesboro, Tennessee’s 15 minutes of fame with a 75-50 win on Sunday.

And just like that, a Syracuse team that was on the bubble a week ago found itself in the Sweet 16. Now No. 11 Gonzaga is another one of Syracuse’s obstacles on its path to the Final Four.

Get to know a bit about Syracuse’s next opponent with some facts about GU:

1. The Other Fighting Irish

Early in the school’s history, the Gonzaga football team was called the “Blue and Whites” or “The Fighting Irish.” Despite initial skepticism, Google told me there’s a rich Irish history in the Pacific Northwest. In 1921, perhaps before it became a cliché, a reporter wrote that Gonzaga “fought tenaciously like bulldogs.” Bam, the school had a new mascot.

2. Pistol Packin’ Mama

Bing Crosby, the crooner most famously associated with songs about Christmas and your gun-toting mother, attended Gonzaga for three years, but did not earn his degree.

3. Size doesn’t matter

With an undergraduate enrollment of just around 5,000, Gonzaga is the smallest school still left in the NCAA Tournament — fewer than half of Villanova University, the second smallest.

4. A world record, maybe

Kyle Wiltjer reportedly holds the world record for the longest behind-the-back shot in history, according to a video posted by a YouTube user “Kyle Wiltjer.” There’s reason to be skeptical with a record as unverifiable as this, but it is impressive to watch.

5. Down by the river

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, the winningest active coach by percentage at .809 (466-110), enjoys fly fishing, according to the school’s site.

6. Ahead of its time

Gonzaga, the college, was established in 1887. Washington, the state in which the college resides, achieved statehood in 1889.

7. Dimes

NBA all-time assists and steals leader John Stockton passed on offers from Idaho and Montana to follow in his family’s footsteps at Gonzaga. His grandfather Houston had been a football player for the Bulldogs and his father Jack also attended.

 

Logan Reidsma | Senior Staff Photographer

 

8. Like a saint

Gonzaga is named after Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian aristocrat who died while caring for the victims of an epidemic and was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1605. “Beatified,” it turns out, means the church acknowledges that you went to heaven. He became a saint a century later.

9. Imported Goods

Gonzaga, like Syracuse, has a pretty strict seven-man rotation but none of them are from the state of Washington.

10. I love it when they call me Big Poppa

Spokane, Washington, where Gonzaga is located, hosted the first Father’s Day celebration in 1910.

Published on March 21, 2016 at 10:57 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR