If you go by past performance, you may be inclined to dismiss the following comment.

I’ve written half a dozen columns over the years predicting that the upcoming college basketball season will culminate with Gonzaga players parading around with nets around their necks, proudly carrying the NCAA Tournament championship trophy between them.

These were not exactly unpleasant opinions. The Zags men are always on the road and have not only made extended stays, but twice advanced to the title game.

Something always gets in the way. A sprained ankle here, some questionable mistakes there. Sometimes just bad matches against strong teams.

Even random things like one of their biggest chances being canceled by a global pandemic.

I won’t be foolish enough to suggest that they will capture the title this year due to karma debt or that the wheel of luck and fortune is finally coming their way.

They are a good pick this year as they are skilled, experienced and extremely versatile in the way they can attack defenses and counter play.

And the list, from top to bottom, seems to be growing.

The boys that remained trended upward en route to the Sweet 16 in March.

And those that were brought in have interesting abilities and seemed to have been acquired with specific intent, being just the right pieces to complete the roster puzzle.

Let’s not forget head coach Mark Few, who spent the summer with the US Olympic team in Paris. You don’t think the experience of coaching LeBron James, Steph Curry, etc. should that leave some residual gold dust he can sprinkle on this year’s Zags?

Yes, the absence of Zag quintessential Anton Watson is a loss. But it is the only one and it can be mitigated.

A few reasons why this is the year:

Four starters return. The group is so veteran that Graham Ike has the least game experience (80 games), joining Ben Gregg (106 games), Nolan Hickman (104 games) and Ryan Nembhard (99 games).

They are not only experienced, they are now experienced with each other, in the same system under the same staff.

Don’t overlook the significance of the fact that every key player from last year’s team returned to GU instead of being lured away by a school that might have better prospects.

No one can predict a team’s competitiveness better than the players on the roster. So trust these guys. Obviously, they sensed a critical mass building.

Throw in new Zag Khalif Battle, who is entering his sixth season and fourth team after playing 101 games at Butler, Temple and Arkansas before arriving in Spokane with some eye-popping stats.

That group has seen it all, done it all, and played against just about everyone.

The eight-deep features a nice mix of four guards and four bigs and looks as talented as any of the Zag’s predecessors. Play big, play small, play fast. What ever.

Returning Nembhard, Hickman, Gregg and Ike will likely be joined in the starting lineup by Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi at small forward. A first-team All-West Coast Conference selection last year, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Ajayi would likely be considered most effective in filling Watson’s role. But maybe with more firepower.

Ajayi averaged around 17 points and 10 rebounds last season while making 47 percent of his 3-point attempts. He didn’t shoot well in games against the Zags last season, but he did pull down 14 rebounds in one game.

Solid-to-spectacular guard play has driven many GU tournament runs, and both Nembhard and Hickman stepped up to the challenge late last season. Hickman had big games against Kansas and Purdue and had career highs in scoring and shooting percentage throughout the season.

Nembhard and Ike took a little time last season to acclimate to the Zags’ system, but toward the end of the year they found so many variations on the pick and roll with such perfect timing that they looked unstoppable at times.

Inserted into the starting lineup midway through last season, Gregg became a strong rebounder and range scorer with some toughness at the rim thrown in. Against Kansas in the NCAA, he made all six of his shots, including a pair of 3s, for 15 points with nine boards and two blocks. If Ajayi can replace Watson’s recovery, Gregg should supply any lack of cohesion, grit and fighting attitude.

The 6-9 Ike enters the season as one of the nation’s top big men. It wouldn’t hurt if he could provide a little more rim protection, but he’s so talented on offense that it feels a little picky to screw up.

What might be the most encouraging aspect of this edition of the Zags is the quality of the full rotation, which could force Few further down the bench than usual.

Perhaps the most exciting of the newcomers is Battle, a 6-5 guard whose late-season scoring burst at Arkansas produced massive stats.

Over the final seven games of the season, Battle averaged 29.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. This was against top competition. He scored 34 against Kentucky, 29 against LSU, 22 against Alabama, and on February 24, he hit 6 of 10 three-pointers in a 42-point effort against Missouri.

More of a known commodity but also a talent ready to go big, sophomore forward Braden Huff averaged about nine points in just 13.5 minutes per game for the Zags. With a light touch on the low block and perimeter range, Huff scored 26 against San Diego and 25 against Portland last season.

Imagine sometime in the first innings of games this season when the Zags send Battle and Huff off the bench together. Instant offense. Game changers, tempo changers, style changers.

It’s also easy to get seriously hungry from this pile.

After the loss to Purdue in March, no one in the locker room seemed interested in talking about anything other than getting down to business for the season that is now upon us.

“No one wearing a Zag uniform is going to go into any game feeling pessimistic or that we can’t win it,” Ike said.

And by “this,” he seemed to be talking about the whole thing.

After that loss, Gregg looked ready to find a gym somewhere that night to start working out.

“We’re going to be very hungry before this offseason,” Gregg said. “We’ve enjoyed going this far and we want to go further.”

I’ve been wrong before, but I think, more than ever, this is the year.