Look at what people thought of the Big 10 vs. Big 12 this season. Who did people think was a stronger conference?
Big 10 fell flat on its face. Embarrassing performance by the Big 10. Pandemic-era sports are just different. That factors into this to. EVERYONE is affected by the times we're in differently.
Overall, to me, the biggest thing is you can't be a team that destroys teams with extreme prejudice all season long and then almost lose to a play-in team in OT and not expect that to mess with your head. Gonzaga showed clear signs of hangover and being dazed at the start of the Baylor game. Credit to Baylor for sure, but to dismiss what Goliath was thinking after he'd taken a couple of standing 8's at the hands of UCLA can never be discounted. UCLA got in the Zags heads big time. Probably still thinking about how they almost lost to a play-in team and wondering if they were a farce all season based on that.
Always good to put it into terms that make sense to you. Whatever it is that you're good at and think you're better than someone else at is always messed with when you run across someone who is your equal/nemesis. It happens all througout life from childhood into adulthood. Once someone rocks the perception you had of yourself it takes awhile to deal with that. Gonzaga did a very poor job of recovering after UCLA planted the seed of doubt. The thing is NOBODY had planted that seed or even dug a hole to put it into so Gonzaga had literally no experience dealing with adversity until the UCLA game. Not different than the golfer crushing a major for the first time who all of a sudden chokes in the final holes to lose. The game becomes different due to circumstance and the Zags were playing 16 on Augusta after leading a whole year and had to scramble to make par there and then fell apart on 17 and 18 to close it out.