Mark Few had reached two NCAA Division I Final Fours as Gonzaga’s head coach by the 2026 Hall of Fame class.
Few led Gonzaga to its first Final Four in 2017. The Bulldogs returned to the national semifinals in 2021, when they entered the tournament unbeaten and advanced to the national championship game. Gonzaga lost the 2017 title game to North Carolina and the 2021 title game to Baylor.
These appearances helped establish Gonzaga as a consistent national power. Few became the program’s head coach in 1999 after serving on the Bulldogs’ staff, and his teams built a long run of NCAA tournament participation and West Coast Conference success.
A Final Four appearance is not the same as winning the national championship. Gonzaga reached the championship game twice under Few but had not won the NCAA title by the time of the 2026 class.