When your basketball team earns the country's top ranking for the first time ever, you've got to do something special.
And so when it was announced on Monday that the Gonzaga Bulldogs had jumped to the No. 1 ranking in this week's AP poll, the school brought out balloons, the school mascot, and a 20-foot long cake in the shape of a No. 1.
The dessert, which was cut into slices and handed out to students, read "Congratulations Zags!"
Since the AP poll was started in 1949, 56 schools had achieved the country's top ranking. The Zags became the 57th after starting last week ranked second. Then after No. 1 Indiana lost to Minnesota and the Bulldogs reeled off wins over BYU and Portland, Gonzaga leapfrogged the Hoosiers.
While the students had their cake and ate it too, there is an understanding around the basketball team that there's much more work to be done.
"We're not necessarily in pursuit of a ranking," assistant coach Tommy Lloyd told the AP. "We're trying to get to the NCAA tournament. When that's over, as coaches we can look back and realize what an accomplishment it is and how difficult it is."
