THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Somebody has to win the NCAAs this year, so it might as well be the Zags

Don’t whine about Gonzaga’s landing spot in the NCAA tournament.

It could be worse.

For instance …

North Carolina went from being a preseason No. 1 to the disgrace of watching this year’s March Madness on television.

Meanwhile, the Zags WERE invited to continue playing, and wound up as the No. 3 seed in the West Region.

If you want to do some grousing, it might be about the fact that the West is basically loaded.

Kansas, which was ticketed for the No. 1 spot in the whole shebang, lost to Texas in the Big 12 tournament final — and its punishment was a move from the Midwest (played in Kansas City) to the West.

The NCAA selection committee, which always does some very strange things, claims that it likes to place its higher seeds somewhere close to home.

Yet …

Houston managed to jump KU into the No. 2 overall seed, and a possible date in Kansas City, despite the Coogs losing their own AAC tournament title game to Memphis.

(Yes, Houston insists that we spell the nickname “Coogs,” which probably should disqualify them from The Dance all by itself.)

Now, despite all this shifting geography …

Zags junkies MAY have some reason to feel good about the next few weeks.

ONE THING we’re learned from all the analytics and various other measurements concerning college hoops is that defense wins against big-time teams.

The Zags are sitting at No. 76 in KenPom’s ranking of defensive efficiency (they’re No. 1 in offense), and that doesn’t bode well.

All is not what it seems, however.

If Gonzaga can dispatch 14-seed Grand Canyon in its opener (the Zags are favored by 17), they are likely to wind up facing TCU — whose first game features the play-in winner between Nevada and Arizona State.

TCU was 9-9 in the Big 12 (21-12 overall) and would offer the first bruising test of what appears to be a MUCH improved Gonzaga defense.

Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett was impressed enough to say: “We played Gonzaga three times over several weeks, and their defense and rebounding got tougher and tougher with each game.

“They just got all over us in the last one (77-51 in the WCC title game).”

Saint Mary’s, by the way, won 26 games and is the 5-seed in the West.

The Gaels aren’t exactly chopped liver.

The Zags’ recent hard work on defense — and their toughness on the boards — hasn’t gone unnoticed.

CBS analyst Clark Kellogg picked Gonzaga to win it all on the network’s “Selection Sunday” show.

Even though there was consensus among the pundits that the West is the toughest region to negotiate, there are reasons to believe Gonzaga can survive it.

The Zags could find themselves facing No. 2 seed UCLA — assuming the Bruins navigate a good Northwestern team — at the bottom of the West bracket.

The Bruins are legit.

We saw Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jacquez two years ago, but they’ve lost guard Jaylen Clark (13 points, 6 rebounds, 2.6 steals) to a season-ending Achilles injury.

LET’S SAY Gonzaga gets that far, and winds up in an Elite Eight scrap with No. 1 Kansas (or dangerous No. 4 UConn).

KU finished the regular season with a loss at Texas, won two close games in the Big 12 tourney, then got pasted by the Longhorns again.

The Jayhawks, who have had to endure a spell with coach Bill Self in the hospital (he plans to be back for the tournament), have almost no depth and they’ve been playing exhausted basketball.

Forward Jalen Wilson is a matchup nightmare at 6-8 (a bit like the Zags’ Julian Strawther), and point guard Dajuan Harris quarterbacked KU to last year’s national championship.

A Gonzaga-Kansas battle for the Final Four would be fascinating, with Mark Few running his now-solid bench players in and out to wear down the Hawks with the fastest tempo possible.

So …

Did Gonzaga land in a spot too tough to handle with this No. 3 seed in the West?

I don’t think so.

National hoops reporter Matt Norlander claimed in his tournament preview that the Zags are playing the best basketball in the country right now.

And, hey …

Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed, and the Zags beat ‘em 100-90 in Birmingham — despite 36 points from future pro Brandon Miller.

The Zags learned a year ago that you have to be physical and relentless if you hope to survive and advance at The Big Dance.

They got the message.

As Drew Timme put it: “We just got to keep swimming, like in the (Finding) Nemo movie.”

If they can splash along on defense like they’ve been doing over the last month, these Zags can beat anyone.

We’ll just pretend that Timme is Michael Phelps.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”