NIAGARA FALLS —

Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin is no newcomer to Niagara Falls. As a 12-year-old, Bouldin and his family made a stop in the Cataract City en route to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, enjoying a ride on the world famous Maid of the Mist, although his father didn’t share the then-youngster’s enthusiasm.

“My dad was too scared to go on it,” Bouldin said, “so he just videotaped it from the dock.

“But I had a blast.”

When the West Coast Conference player of the year visits the Niagara Frontier this time, there won’t be time for sightseeing, although he hopes the thrill factor is comparable. The Zags — a No. 8 seed in Friday’s NCAA Tournament West Regional at HSBC Arena — got beaten up in the WCC Tournament final by St. Mary’s, but they’re still a dangerous bunch.

In fact, despite playing under the “mid-major” umbrella, Gonzaga was a sure thing to be selected to its 12th straight NCAA Tournament, even if the WCC is just two notches above the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in the conference RPI rankings.

With a big budget, a 6,000-seat arena that’s nearly impossible to get into, and a string of top national and international recruits, Gonzaga has become the poster child for the emergence of mid-major basketball. Using a power-packed non-conference schedule — this year, the Bulldogs met Michigan State, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Duke and Oklahoma before starting their WCC slate — the Spokane, Wash., school keeps a high profile without playing in a high-profile conference.

Still, most casual fans consider Gonzaga an underdog, a team that can disrupt the balance of power that major conferences work so hard to maintain.

Niagara University coach Joe Mihalich said he’ll be pulling for the Bulldogs, along with a number of other mid-major schools, when the tournament opens today.

“I’m rooting for Butler, I’m rooting for Siena, I’m rooting for Gonzaga, I’m rooting for Murray State,” Mihalich said. “For me, that’s the charm of the whole tournament. Every time a Davidson or George Mason pops up, it reminds the big boys we have some pretty good players and coaches down here.”

But Gonzaga has long evolved from a feel-good story into a burgeoning basketball power.

When Dan Monson left for Minnesota nearly a dozen years ago, the move seemed logical — after taking the small school on a magical NCAA Tournament run, Monson made the leap to the lucrative Big Ten. But Monson’s departure pushed mild-mannered Mark Few into the limelight and Few, the son of a Presbyterian pastor, didn’t lose any of Monson’s momentum.

The team reached the Sweet 16 in each of Few’s first two seasons, and continued a run of 12 WCC regular-season titles in 13 years.

Few’s name pops up whenever high-profile jobs open, but he insists — with the program firmly entrenched as one of college basketball’s elite destinations — that he’s happy he stayed in eastern Washington.

“It's been an unbelievable ascension to where we are now,” Few said. “What a fine line it is to negotiate your way through all the potholes and cliffs that get most programs. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of opportunities.

“But (Spokane) is home for me and I’ve been treated very, very well.”

As for this year’s team, Bouldin is clearly the leader, a point guard with exceptional vision on a football frame, but Stephen Gray is a sharp-shooter from the outside and freshman Elias Harris adds another offensive dimension with his explosive athleticism.

And while the Bulldogs reached the Sweet 16 last year by beating Akron and Western Kentucky, a young roster and a pair of regular-season losses followed by a surprisingly decisive loss to St. Mary’s in the WCC final have dropped Gonzaga back into an underdog role. If the Bulldogs can get by No. 9 seed Florida State on Friday, they’ll likely meet top-seeded Syracuse on Sunday against a pro-Orange crowd.

Bouldin isn’t worried.

“I think this team’s closer. The chemistry is better than last year, and that’s saying something because I thought last year we had good chemistry,” he said. “We’ve got a grittier mindset than in years past.”

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

WHEN: Starts today, but games in Buffalo are Friday

TV: CBS, starting at noon