Am I the only one in these parts that can't get enough of Gonzaga basketball? We're spoiled to get to watch a ridiculously high level of hoops from a local team. Here's to a deep tourney run, and if the basketball gods are kind, a Final Four.

The Daily Bee in Sandpoint runs an annual challenge where readers submit a Final Four prediction with a chance to win a cash prize. The majority of the entries had the Zags, which could be attributed to sentimentality, except the Zags are so damn good.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, here are some more Zags musings.

IS THERE a prettier stroke in college basketball than that of Kyle Wiltjer? With a hair trigger release, the 6-foot-10 potential lottery pick makes shooting a 27 foot jimmy look effortless, merely a flick of the wrist and splash.

The junior is just one of the many reasons a host of talking heads are penciling the Zags to make a deep tourney run, including the venerable Dick Vitale, who predicts a Kentucky/Gonzaga final. How epic would that be?

Before the tip-off of Friday night's opener against North Dakota State, one of the announcers said he thought the Zags were headed for the Final Four, and the other called Mark Few one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. The former would be a first. The latter is simply a fact.

If a checklist exists for success in March Madness, the 2015 Zags have an X in every critical box.

Senior guards? Check. Marquee front line? Check. Defensive stoppers? Check. Depth? Check.

Should Karnowski pick up a quick two fouls, another potential high NBA draft pick will come off the bench in Domantas Sabonis. What a luxury.

Bench player Angel Nunez, a long and athletic 6-foot-8 leaper who could probably start on half the teams in this tournament, sees spot minutes.

And should they ever need that big shot in the final seconds, there is none more equipped to take it than Kevin Pangos.

Must see TV, to be sure.

DOES ANYONE else look at Przemek Karnowski and see a latter day Mark Eaton? Eaton, a 7-foot-4, 290 pound left hander and two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year with the Jazz, who still holds the NBA record for blocks in a season with 456, and Karnowski, a 7-foot-1, 290 pound lefty currently climbing his way up NBA draft boards, even look vaguely alike, right down to the beards.

In a six degrees of Kevin Bacon stretch, Eaton was a teammate of Zag alum John Stockton on some those great Jazz teams. As a high schooler, I remember sitting near Eaton, Stockton and teammate Bobby Hansen at Wolf Lodge, enjoying the steaks the restaurant is renowned for. Eaton's knees seemed like they were a good four feet off the ground while seated at his table.

During his time with the Zags, Karnowski has transformed both his game and his body, and looks more and more like a high NBA pick with each passing game. He's always had great hands and a soft touch on his jump hook, but since arriving in Spokane he's dropped some weight and added some quickness, and is now much quicker off the floor and polished on the blocks.

As Red Auerbach once said, you can't teach height. Skilled bigs are a hot commodity.

Enough about the Zags, lest we coin a new term like "overZaguration."

CLOSER TO home, it merits mention that for a school that has never won a state championship, Sandpoint High School sure has left its mark in the state record book.

For all of the state titles the Bulldogs have won in soccer, volleyball and wrestling, they've never brought home a banner in hoops, boys or girls.

Scoring records, on the other hand, are a different story, as the Bulldogs hold both the 5A and 4A individual tournament scoring records, and also the 4A girls record of most points in a state tourney, scoring 191 (67 ppg) in 2003.

Alli Nieman, who went on to play at the University of Idaho, scored 83 points in the 1996 tourney, which is still the 5A state record.

This year, junior Madi Schoening scored 67 points in the 4A tournament, beating the old record by two points.

Strange as that double is, perhaps the biggest anomaly is that each of the girls was coached by Duane Ward, during separate stints stewarding the Bulldog girls.

HOW MAGNAIMOUS of the corporations out there offering millions or billions (Warren Buffett's challenge) for anyone who can pick a perfect NCAA bracket.

It's really going out on a limb, considering the odds are a quintillion to one of someone actually doing it. That's 18 zeroes after the one.

On the radio the other day it said the odds of picking a perfect bracket are higher than the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot two times . . . with the same numbers.

This year, which didn't seem to feature any more upsets than usual, only one person in more than 10 million ESPN online brackets was still perfect . . . and that was just after the first round.

Who wouldn't love to see Warren Buffet have to pay up one of these days? Just don't hold your breath.

FINALLY, A shout out to the handball players from Coeur d'Alene and Spokane who trekked up to Sandpoint on Saturday to celebrate Marty Presnell's 50th birthday..

Nearly 20 people mixed and matched in fun and competitive doubles games to 11 for more than three hours, with some of the top players in the region on hand.

In a classy gesture, Sandpoint West Athletic Club owner Don Helander called in a $50 credit for the post-handball revelry at MickDuff's Brewing Company.

The day was a great reminder that the spirit of sport is alive and well.

Eric Plummer is the sports editor of the Daily Bee in Sandpoint. For comments, suggestions, or story ideas, he can be reached at "eplummer@bonnercountydailybee.com."