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RPI WATCH: 12/13/09

BracketCat — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:31 -0000

The circle is complete: By beating the brains out of Lon Kruger's team, perhaps we finally have erased the demons that have plagued K-State basketball for 20 years — roughly ever since he ditched us for Florida. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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Sorry, guys. I accidentally set this to publish at 11:45 p.m. tonight when I meant for it to go last night. My bad.

Wow, what a Saturday.

I guess I'll start with us. I've adding a ranking indicator, because now that Xavier beat Cincinnati today (likely knocking them out of the Top 25), it's a 99-percent certainty that we will be ranked at this time tomorrow.

Meanwhile, our RPI is an eye-popping TWO. I don't think we're likely to top Duke anytime soon, so this basically is the pinnacle for our resume this year, at least from a numbers standpoint. Kudos to Frank Martin for drawing up a PERFECT non-conference schedule, one that now is ranked fourth, after briefly spiking at second last night.

UNLV was added to the ledger of Top 50 wins, and Wazzu's win over Air Force, coupled with playing us, moved the Cougars into the Top 100. That gives us six quality wins so far, and to that you can add Fort Hays State's movement into the Division II Top 25 last week. We've beaten some damn good teams.

What does all this mean? Barring an absolute collapse in Big 12 play, we're going to be in the NCAA Tournament. And if things keep up like this, we'll have a pretty high seed, too. We almost don't need this feature anymore — the resume speaks for itself. But I'll keep tracking everything, nonetheless.

Here's a little trivia for you: Four teams in the country have three RPI Top 50 wins. Who are they? Answers after the jump. Oh, and be sure to vote in my poll.

Answer: Georgetown, Kansas State, Texas, Villanova

Bonus Answer: Kansas has ZERO Top 50 wins. LOL!

Current Kansas State Ranking = TBD

Current Kansas State Record = 9-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 2

Current Kansas State SOS = 4

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (6-2, 1-1) | RPI = 40: Win over San Francisco (66-63)
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320: Loss to Eastern Illinois (44-41)
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146: Win at Marist (88-72)
No. 25 Ole Miss (8-1) | RPI = 34: Win over McNeese State (83-67)
Dayton (7-2) | RPI = 24
IUPUI (8-3, 2-0) | RPI = 60: Win over Indiana-South Bend (92-56)
No. 22* FHSU (7-1): Win over Missouri Western (67-54)
Washington State (8-2) | RPI = 88: Win over Air Force (75-68)
Xavier (5-3) | RPI = 68
No. 18 UNLV (7-1) | RPI = 29: Loss to Kansas State (95-80)
Alabama (6-3) | RPI = 91: Loss to No. 5 Purdue (73-65)
UAPB (0-6) | RPI = 273
Cleveland State (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 232: Win over Wilberforce (113-61)
South Dakota (5-4) | RPI = 119
Missouri (6-3) | RPI = 161: Win over Fairleigh Dickinson (87-36)
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2) | RPI = 18: Loss to New Mexico (84-81)
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (8-0) | RPI = 5: Win over Texas State (87-54)
Oklahoma State (7-1) | RPI = 26
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105
No. 1 Kansas (9-0) | RPI = 21: Win over La Salle (90-65)
Nebraska (7-2) | RPI = 151: Win over Oregon State (50-44)
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (7-3) | RPI = 142: Win at Utah (78-73 in overtime)
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18

*Division II Top 25

Thursday Buff Bites - Hawkins Does Not Envision Any Changes to His Staff

irish1611 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:22:22 -0000

Woelk: Time to put CU`s past woes to rest - Boulder Daily Camera

Speaking of staff, Hawkins said he didn`t anticipate any changes in his assistant coaches, unless some of them choose to leave on their own volition. But nobody should have expected him to say anything different in that regard. If he makes any changes, it likely won`t happen for another month or so -- meaning the current staffers are needed to be out on the road recruiting. Honestly? I`ll be surprised if the Buffs start spring ball with the same staff that took the field in the season finale against Nebraska. The gut feeling here is that there will be at least a couple of new faces when the Buffs hit the practice fields in mid-March. Meanwhile, Hawkins has a laundry list of issues to address in the offseason. Hementioned special teams -- several times -- Tuesday, as well as penalties, the running game and turnovers.

Hawkins humbled - The Longmont Times-Call

"Living in this world, where your whole life is exposed to TV every night and Internet every day, it’s interesting," he said. "It really is. I’m trying so hard to be everything to everybody. And I’m trying so hard to say all the right things and I’m trying so hard to do all the right things. It’s frustrating for me. ... I don’t know if I’ll ever do that, quite honestly. "Where our record is and where we’re at, that’s all me. It is. When you have press conferences every day and (reporters) talk to me every day, I could just say it’s my fault and I have to fix it and walk away. And you’d guys would go, ‘Where’s the story there,’ right? "My comment about this program — I came here because Colorado has such a great tradition, but I’m also very well aware, as are our guys, that when an institution has a new president, chancellor, (athletic director) and football coach, and you get an entirely new compliance department, athletic department, trainers, strength people, every single person is new, that’s like going from scratch. "I’m not trying to disrespect anybody, I’m not trying to disrespect any games won here, any championships won, any alums here, any faculty, any former players. I’m not."

In other news:

Offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said Tuesday he was contacted by Portland State regarding its head coaching vacancy. Kiesau said he has decided the position is "not for me" and has withdrawn his name from consideration. Player news: Hawkins said receiver Kendrick Celestine and offensive lineman Sione Tau "might be" on the team in January. Spring dates: CU will return to holding two weeks of spring drills prior to spring break, and two more after spring break, which runs March 22-26, 2010. The spring game is scheduled for April 10.

CU Buffs show their killer instinct - Boulder Daily Camera

"We just wanted to basically stomp on them," explained Cory Higgins, who scored a game-high 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting with three rebounds, three steals and an assist in 30 minutes. "In the past we've had leads and relaxed a little bit and let teams get back into games. In this game we made a big step to show that we have that killer instinct.

On-fire offense gets win for CU - The Longmont Times-Call

If the Colorado men’s basketball team keeps shooting like it did during Tuesday’s 78-54 defeat of San Francisco, it’ll win some games this year. Maybe a bunch. Who knows? Of course, concerns linger about its defense and rebounding, concerns that Tuesday’s first half did little to alleviate when San Francisco created nine second-chance scoring opportunities. Those concerns were addressed at halftime, and San Francisco had none in the second half.

RPI WATCH: 12/02/09

BracketCat — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:22 -0000

Other than our game, only Colorado was in action last night.

To see how the Buffaloes fared, click the jump.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 14

Current Kansas State SOS = 22

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (4-1) | RPI = 27
Western Illinois (3-3) | RPI = 207
Boston (2-5) | RPI = 142
Ole Miss (5-1) | RPI = 49
Dayton (3-2) | RPI = 42
IUPUI (5-2) | RPI = 84
FHSU (4-1): Loss at Kansas State (83-76)
Washington State (6-0) | RPI = 146
Xavier (4-2) | RPI = 114
UNLV (5-0) | RPI = 8
Alabama (4-2) | RPI = 109
UAPB (0-5) | RPI = 229
Cleveland State (3-4) | RPI = 191
South Dakota (4-3) | RPI = 95
Missouri (4-1) | RPI = 96
Texas A&M (5-1) | RPI = 21
Colorado (5-2) | RPI = 181: Win over San Francisco (78-54)
No. 3 Texas (5-0) | RPI = 3
Oklahoma State (5-0) | RPI = 16
Baylor (6-1) | RPI = 160
No. 1 Kansas (5-0) | RPI = 52
Nebraska (4-1) | RPI = 178
Iowa State (6-1) | RPI = 161
No. 25 Oklahoma (3-3) | RPI = 214
Texas Tech (7-0) | RPI = 48

WCC Power Rankings: 11/22-11/29 edition

everydayezag — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:39:47 -0000

More photos » by Eugene Tanner - AP

While everyone knows that Gonzaga will be in the top spot in the Power Rankings, the WCC actually had some other teams competing for hardware this week.

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Sometimes doing these Power Rankings can be a little bit of a grind, mostly due to the fact that it seems the same teams are always in the same spots. However, with the performance of Gonzaga, USD, and Portland, the WCC was officially fun this past week. In three separate tournaments, the WCC had one winner (Gonzaga) and two teams lose in championship games (USD and Portland). Slowly but surely, this conference is building depth and competition, and is doing a great job of building a solid national reputation with these performances. It was great hearing the national media gush over Portland the rest of the WCC. With that said, the most important thing for this conference is that there is improvement and consistency throughout the month of December. There will be some great match ups against power conference teams, and the more wins that everyone can pick up before WCC play, the better chance there will be for multiple bids in March.

1) Gonzaga (5-1): 76-72 win vs. Colorado; 74-61 win vs. Wisconsin; 61-59 win vs. Cincinnati

I really can't stress enough how impressed I was about the performance in Maui. I'm not as worried about the lack of bench production for the fact that I think that will develop throughout December and early January. However, this team better not be relaxing, because going up against Washington St. and Wake Forest this week will be incredibly difficult. If Gonzaga can get through this week unscathed, it's not unreasonable to expect to be 9-1 and facing a top 10 match up against Duke in the middle of the month.

2) Portland (5-1): 74-47 win vs. UCLA; 61-56 win vs. Minnesota; 84-66 loss vs. West Virginia

Portland put together an absolutely terrific performance in the 76 Classic. Not only did they demolish UCLA, (I'm still waiting for a formal apology from Jeff Goodman for ranking that back court ahead of the Zags back court) but the Pilots won an impressive game over Minnesota. That amounts to knocking off a highly ranked team and one of the greatest programs in NCAA history in back-to-back nights. I definitely would have liked to have seen a better performance against West Virginia, but Bob Huggins might just have a top 5 team on his hands. For all of this to matter in March, Portland must take care of business against Idaho and Nevada later this month, and also must give Washington a great game.

3) St. Mary's (4-1): 100-59 win vs. California Maritime

Not a huge week from the Gaels, but I like where this team is positioned heading into a huge group of games against San Jose St, Utah St, and Oregon. St. Mary's needs to keep developing the young bench, as it will be very important for some of these big non-conference games and of course for WCC play. However, Omar Samhan is having a terrific season, averaging 20.6 points and 11.2 rebounds, and he will be tough to handle in January and February. However, we will really know a lot more about this team in the middle of December after they complete that tough stretch of games.

4) USD (4-2): 76-64 win vs. Oklahoma; 72-65 win vs. Houston; 93-56 loss vs. Washington St.

I was totally prepared to move USD up to the third spot in the power rankings. Even though Oklahoma is a shell of the team they were last season, it was still an impressive victory. Following that up with a win against a solid Houston team had me thinking that the Toreros finally turned the corner on their inconsistent play. However, there is no way a team is moving up this list when they lose a game by 37 points. I understand Klay Thompson put on an epic scoring display, but there is no excuse to lose a game by that much. For this team to compete during WCC play, they will need a couple of guys to compliment the terrific back court of Brandon Johnson and De'Jon Jackson.

5) Pepperdine (3-4): 75-66 win vs. Hampton; 82-73 win vs. Monmouth; 86-82 loss vs. Wyoming

It probably wasn't publicized much, but Pepperdine did come away the winner of the World Vision Basketball Challenge. This was a round robin tournament hosted by the University of Wyoming, and although it didn't feature elite competition, I truly think that this is just a team that needs to learn how to win. Not surprisingly, Keion Bell came away with the MVP award in this tournament, and I will be stunned if he doesn't compete for the WCC POY. Bell is currently averaging 22.8 points and 6.8 rebounds.

6) Santa Clara (3-3): 88-72 loss vs. NAU; 74-67 win vs. Fresno St.

The one thing I like about this team is the fact that Kerry Keating is starting to give some of his younger guys more playing time. Chris Cunningham, Niyi Harrison, and Ray Cowels are all starting to see some action, and that is a nice young core of guys for Santa Clara to build around. Kevin Foster seems to be back on track academically, since he scored 25 points in the win over Fresno St. However, I still think this group is another year or two away from being competitive in this conference.

7) LMU (2-5): 79-65 loss @ Tulsa; 89-84 loss vs. UCSB

Although LMU lost games against two solid teams, I think I jumped the gun last week by moving them up the list so far. Much like Pepperdine, the Lions have the talent and depth to start competing at a high level, but they still have a long way to go before they learn how to win close games. However, with Drew Viney and a solid three guard lineup, this team has a very nice core to build around, and will certainly be a team that will scare Gonzaga, Portland, and St. Mary's by the end of January.

8) USF (2-4): 76-65 loss @ UCSB; 70-66 loss vs. Montana St; 91-75 loss @ Colorado St.

While USF was competitive in all three of these losses, it doesn't seem like this group is quite on the level of the rest of the conference. Dior Lowhorn continues to be an elite guy, but the supporting cast still hasn't caught up with him and Kwame Vaughn. However, keep an eye on Rashad Green. The sophomore guard scored a season-high 21 points against Colorado St, and is doing a nice job with the extra minutes he has been seeing recently. He is exactly the type of guy that the Dons need to emerge throughout the season.

WCC Power Rankings: 11/15-11/22 edition

everydayezag — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:39:50 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

Consistent play from Matt Bouldin and the rest of the Zags will keep Gonzaga at the top of the WCC Power Rankings.

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Although it has been in a rather quiet manner, the WCC is off to a very solid start this season. Currently, six of the eight teams in the conference are above 500., with the other two teams showing some very nice signs of life. Saturday night would certainly have to be considered a banner night for the conference, as the WCC recorded two wins against Pac 10 competition. While many Gonzaga fans probably expected Portland to take care of business against Oregon, the fact that LMU was able to travel to USC and earn a big road victory came as a pleasant surprise. Even with the fine performance by Portland, I will continue to keep Gonzaga at the top of the rankings until one of these other teams proves they are a true contender for this conference.

1) Gonzaga (2-1): 75-71 loss @ Michigan St.; 90-55 win vs. IPFW

As anyone who has read this blog for the past year would know, I am not the kind of guy that believes in "moral victories". However, the toughness and grit that this team displayed against a hostile environment in East Lansing has made me believe that we could have a pretty darn special team on our hands this season. After appearing to sleepwalk through the first half against IPFW, the Zags turned up their game and completely dominated an inferior opponent. The biggest challenge for Mark Few this season will be his ability to keep this young team focused and hungry for every game on the schedule. If these guys can stay on task and take care of business when they should, it will be a very bright season.

2) Portland (3-0): 98-81 win vs. Portland; 88-81 vs. Oregon

I will admit that I was a little worried about the expectations that I had for the Pilots after their opener against EWU. Although they won the game, Portland just didn't seem to play with as much execution as I had expected. This past week, Portland showed that they are certainly deserving of all the preseason hype, with two very nice wins. Nik Raivio continues to play like a potential WCC POY candidate, as he is averaging 19 points and 9 boards. The Pilots have a very nice trio in Raivio, T.J. Campbell, and Robin Smeulders. In the impressive win over Oregon, the trio accounted for 57 of the teams 88 points. With so much experience and talent on this team, the WCC has a great chance at two NCAA bids.

3) St. Mary's (2-1): 80-58 win vs. San Diego St.; 72-70 loss vs. Vandy

It's pretty darn clear that this St. Mary's program will not fade back to irrelevance with the loss of Patty Mills. In fact, St.Mary's came very close to making this an absolute banner week for the conference. After turning the most impressive performance of the 24 hour marathon on ESPN, with their 80-58 domination of San Diego St., the Gaels had an excellent opportunity to stun Vanderbilt. Even with 25 points and 18 boards for Omar Samhan, St. Mary's could not overcome the early double digit deficit and ended up losing by two points. However, with Samhan and Matthew Dellavedova, this team has a very formidable duo that will keep them in a lot of games.

4) San Diego (2-1): 56-55 loss @ Pacific; 84-65 win vs. Point Loma

The reason I rank San Diego in the top half of the conference is because they would be undefeated if not for an injury to Brandon Johnson against Pacific. In the one point loss to Pacific, Johnson played only 20 minutes because of a hurt hamstring, and he was out for most of the second half. Once Johnson is fully healthy, USD will have a terrific back court, with De'Jon Jackson playing at a very high level. Jackson is averaging 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Toreros. Even more important for this team is the continued solid play of Roberto Mafra. When Mafra plays well, he gives USD a legitimate post threat, which is huge because of how talented of a back court they have.

5) LMU (2-3): 84-78 loss vs. UC Irvine; 67-59 win @ USC

Ignore the win-loss record and the fact that this is the same program that took nearly two months to win a game last season. With the talent that this program has from transfers and recruiting, I can assure that LMU will be one team that nobody in this conference wants to face in January and February. This is a very balanced and talented team, with Oregon transfer Drew Viney leading the way for the Lions. Viney is averaging 17.2 points and 5.2 boards, and he is one of the more talented scorers in this conference. Once Viney and Larry Davis fully mesh with Vernon Teel and Jarred DuBois, this will be a very formidable team.

6) Santa Clara (2-1): 79-55 win vs. Menlo College; 86-53 loss @ San Diego St.

Consistency has just absolutely haunted the Santa Clara program over the past couple of years. After opening the season with a nice 2-1 start, the Broncos traveled to San Diego St. and got absolutely destroyed. Normally I wouldn't make too much out of a loss to a quality opponent, but this is the same San Diego St. team that didn't even belong on the same court as St. Mary's. The only reason I am willing to forgive this performance is because Santa Clara was missing Kevin Foster. Hopefully Foster can get his academic obligations in check, as his 20 points per game is a huge boost to this team.

7) San Francisco (2-1): 92-66 win vs. Dominican; 104-65 loss @ Arizona St.

I'm sorry USF, but getting destroyed against a mediocre Arizona St. opponent is no way to work your way up these power rankings. Don't be fooled by the fact that Arizona St. made the NCAA tournament last season, because this is a very average team, that just happens to be extraordinarily well coached by Herb Sendek. Both Dior Lowhorn and Kwame Harris have started the season very strong, with each averaging 18.7 points per game. However, there is no support for these two from the rest of the team. In order for the Dons to be competitive in conference, at least one more guy needs to step up and be productive.

8) Pepperdine (1-2): 67-58 loss vs. Long Beach St.; 72-70 win vs. Cal State-San Bernandino

In Keion Bell, Pepperdine has arguably the most explosive player in the conference. Bell is averaging 21 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Waves, and he literally keeps this team in most games. The huge problem that Pepperdine is facing is the fact that they have no one to compliment Bell. In fact, Bell is the only guy on the team averaging double-digit points per game. If no one is able to step up on a regular basis to help Bell, this team will remain in the cellar throughout the season.

WCC Power Rankings: Opening week edition

everydayezag — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:37:46 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

Matt Bouldin is one of the many reasons that Gonzaga will start out on the top of the WCC Power Rankings.

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Now that every team in the WCC has officially kicked off their season, we figured it was time to introduce the WCC Power Rankings. For those readers that are new to the site, every Sunday night I take a look at the past week of WCC action and put together a weekly power rankings of the conference. Last season, I made the mistake of not having Gonzaga at the top of my rankings on two separate occasions, and clearly that wasn't my smartest moment as a sports writer. Despite the returning talent at Portland, I am taking the approach that in order to knock Gonzaga off the top spot, these other teams must beat elite competition. I vow to longer be influenced by a great win-loss record when the competition is equal to my high school team (I'm looking at you St. Mary's). With that said, here is my take on how the WCC stacks up now that every team has opened the season.

1) Gonzaga (1-0): 94-75 win vs. MVSU

Like I mentioned before, until one of these other WCC teams goes out and beats some elite competition during the opening months of the season, I don't anticipate putting Gonzaga anywhere else. In the opener, the Zags looked very raw and very talented. It's clear that the skill and athleticism might be at the highest level in recent memory, but it may take a little longer for everything to gel. However, with Rob Sacre (17 and 9) and Elias Harris (18 and 7) playing so well in the post, this team will be able to handle nearly any front court they see.

2) Portland (1-0): 64-58 win @ Eastern Washington

Although it wasn't the blowout that some may have assumed, Portland deserves a lot of credit for going on the road and picking up a victory. The back court of T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio is going to be a handful for every opponent on the Pilots schedule. In the opener against EWU, Raivio scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Campbell scored 15 and dished out four assists. This team will not have the growing pains that some of the other teams will have, but I still question how high the ceiling really is for this group.

3) San Diego (1-0): 77-64 win vs. Stanford

Normally a win over Stanford would be quite impressive, but the Cardinal are a long way from being a relevant team on the West Coast. The nice thing for USD is that it appears that the headaches and disruptions that really limited last season are officially out of the program. Brandon Johnson looked good in his return from injury, as he and De'Jon Jackson led the way with 18 points each. If the Toreros can receive any sort of consistent contributions from Chris Manresa and Roberto Mafra, this could be the surprise package in the WCC.

4) St. Mary's (1-0): 100-68 win vs. New Mexico St.

Just when you think that this conference is finally done dealing with great Australian guards, Matthew Dellavedova bursts on the scene and scores 19 points in his first game. This St. Mary's team will play a very European style of play, with a guy like Ben Allen, who at 6'11 is more comfortable scoring on the perimeter. Allen was a bit of a disappointment last year, but he scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had nine assists in the opening win. It will be interesting to watch this team develop, as the only guy who has really proven himself is Omar Samhan. However, it seems that this is still a very talented group who may surprise some people.

5) Santa Clara (1-0): 84-81 win @ Cal State Bakersfield

This is the team that I really want to see make the jump to the next level in the conference. Kerry Keating has done a nice job bringing in the guys that fit the mold of what he is looking for, and they did pick up a nice win on the road. Kevin Foster is one of the most explosive young guards in the WCC, and he scored a game-high 21 points in the victory. Much like USD, if the Broncos can find some depth and consistency in the post, they might finally be ready to make the move to push for a top three finish in the conference.

6) Pepperdine (0-1): 67-64 loss vs. Pacific

Despite opening the season with a loss, I came away pretty impressed by Pepperdine. Pacific is a traditionally solid program and this game went 2 OT's before it was decided. While I don't think he will win WCC POY because his team will struggle, Keion Bell might be the best player in the conference. Bell opened the season with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, the Waves have not developed any guys to compliment Bell on this team.

7) USF (1-0): 73-62 win vs. Cal Poly

I hope people haven't forgot just how good Dior Lowhorn is. Lowhorn opened the season with a typically brilliant performance, scoring a game-high 22 points to help lead the Dons to a victory. However, unlike in the past couple of years, Lowhorn actually received help from his teammates. Sophomore guard Kwame Vaugh scored 15 points and pulled down seven boards, while Angelo Caloiaro added 15 more. If Lowhorn can receive this type of support every game, USF could be a nice team.

8) LMU (1-2): 90-87 loss vs. Boise St.; 83-60 win vs. North Dakota; 64-63 loss @ Montana

I can assure that LMU will not be in this spot towards the end of the season. Although they were a laughing stock throughout the 2008-2009 season, there is actually a nice core group of guys in the program. In fact, the Lions were just a couple of baskets away from a 3-0 start and a nice spot in these power rankings. Both Larry Davis and Drew Viney will produce well for this team after sitting last season because of transferring, and Vernon Teel is one of the better guards in the conference. Once this team gels and develops a nice chemistry, they will be a tough game for any team in this conference.

Previewing the 2009-10 West Coast Conference

Zach B — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:50:23 -0000

Brandon Johnson may have been the most exciting player in the WCC two years ago. Can he return to form after a terrible Achilles injury?

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As the lone West Coast Conference blog on SB Nation, we've taken it upon ourselves to do our best to publicize the WCC as much as we can. If you read the site last year, you know that we love to cover the conference as much as we can without alienating the Gonzaga faithful. Schools like St. Mary's and San Diego have had national success in recent years and the University of Portland appears to be destined for a breakout season. All these teams make the conference fun to watch especially when you combine that with the fact that all the schools in the bottom half of the conference at least appear to be headed in the right direction. San Francisco and Santa Clara are both proud programs that seem to be on the rise. Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount have really struggled the past few years but are still getting decent talent and should be able to compete in the conference.

The West Coast Conference has often been ridiculed by the national media for being a weak conference and that definitely holds some water. Gonzaga feels compelled to play, and travel to, a bunch of big time schools just to boost their RPI because once conference play hits, the odds are that Gonzaga's RPI will fall off a bit. This season, however, Gonzaga will probably get its greatest challenge for the regular season conference crown in recent memory. The Pilots of Portland under head coach Eric Reveno return 12 players from last season's team and are everyone's choice to give Gonzaga the most trouble. St. Mary's is always a challenging foe for the Zags and a great rivalry has kicked up between the two schools in the past few years. San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Diego are also all fully capable of putting together nice seasons as they each have some very exciting, veteran players leading their teams into 2009-10.

After the jump we'll take a more detailed look at each of the teams in the conference (except Gonzaga) and outline where we think they are headed this season.

Portland Pilots

Last Season: The Pilots had an outstanding season a year ago under Eric Reveno. They went 19-13 and made their first post season tournament since 1996 when they were selected to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Portland was bolstered by a group of veterans led by Nik Raivio but the biggest key may have been transfer T.J. Campbell. Campbell arrived at Portland and made an immediate impact at point guard, averaging 11 points and 5 assists a game.

Player to Watch: Everyone knows the talent that Portland brings back this season. The big question is whether all of that talent has enough upside to show great improvement from last season to this season. For this reason, the key player for the Pilots is T.J. Campbell. Campbell brought so much to the team in his first season that expectations are very high for this final year in Portland. He's a very heady guard with great penetration abilities who will be the key if UP hopes to knock off Gonzaga in 2009-10.

Season Outlook: The Pilots kick off their season with Eastern Washington on the 14th of this month and face a pretty tough nonconference schedule. Games against Oregon, at UCLA, and at Washington will test Eric Reveno's team and will give them great preparation for WCC play. Fittingly, Gonzaga and Portland open up the West Coast Conference schedule against one another in Portland on January 9th. Overall, Coach Reveno did an outstanding creating a schedule not full of insane traveling that should give his team good rest while playing a respectable batch of games. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pilots took 2/3 from their Pac-10 foes.

St. Mary's Gaels

Last Season: It was a banner year in Moraga a season ago as the Gaels brought home a school record 28 wins in 2008-09. Led by the now departed Patty Mills and Diamon Simpson, St. Mary's was selected to participate in the NIT Tournament and they were a game away from heading off to New York for the semifinals before San Diego State upended them. A weak nonconference schedule and being routed by Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament championship gave away any hope for the Gaels being an NCAA Tournament team.

Player to Watch: St. Mary's is sort of going through a Gonzaga-lite experience this season. The Gaels have seven freshmen this season, five true and two redshirt. With all this youth for St. Mary's, a veteran has to be looked upon to pick up the slack and that guy is Mickey McConnell. Mickey was very inconsistent a season ago but returns for his junior year with some great experience after filling in for Patty Mills when he was hurt. The show is McConnell's now and he'll have to step up his output if St. Mary's is going to stay in the West Coast Conference race.

Season Outlook: St. Mary's will get two outstanding early season tests at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga. San Diego State and Vanderbilt will make the trip to take on the Gaels on their homecourt and it will give St. Mary's a great idea of where they are at. Vanderbilt is a popular pick to be a top tier SEC team and San Diego State will challenge in the Mountain West. St. Mary's will also take on Oregon in Eugene and Utah State in Ogden to give them two nice road tests. Their hardest stretch of WCC games will be in mid-February as they take on Gonzaga, Portland, and San Diego all on the road in a seven day stretch.

San Francisco Dons

Last Season: It was a difficult year a season ago for the Dons. After not really playing anyone of note in their nonconference slate, San Francisco was greeted with some harsh reality and lost their first six games in conference play. The finally got off the hook with a win over Loyola Marymount but the season didn't really look up from their. The Dons would go on to win two more games in WCC play and were eliminated from the conference tournament by Pepperdine in their first game. The final tally for the Dons was an 11-19 record with three of them coming in conference.

Player to Watch: When I think about San Francisco, I actually feel happy that I won't have to watch Gonzaga take them on in person anymore. Not because it was such an awful game, but because I always feel terrible for Dior Lowhorn. Lowhorn is a combination of size and ability that even Gonzaga has trouble defending. He's been the leading scorer in the conference twice and averaged a little over 20 points a game last season. He has outstanding NBA potential and it is really hard to say where San Francisco would be without him on their roster...I'd wager somewhere near LMU.

Season Outlook: USF will be challenging itself this season with three very difficult road test in nonconfernece play. The Dons will face off with Arizona State, BYU, and Washington this season all away from their home court. They'll also make a trip to the Mountain time zone to take on Colorado and Colorado State. It's clear that Rex Walters is hoping to test his new, young nucleus of players with some road game that are winnable but will take a nice effort.

Santa Clara Broncos

Last Season: Santa Clara went 8-9 in their nonconference schedule a year ago with games against Georgia, FAU, UAB, Arizona, UNLV, Pacific, Stanford, Harvard, and New Hampshire all resulting in losses. They were able to defeat UTEP in a thrilling effort but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot of quality wins on the schedule. A 7-7 record in the conference is what head coach Kerry Keating led his team to. Their only real surprising victory last season was their last game of the year when they took down Portland. They were led by John Bryant who is now graduated from the university and his shoes will be tough to fill.

Player to Watch: This is probably the easiest player to watch in the conference, save maybe for Pepperdine. Kevin Foster returns to Santa Clara for his sophomore season and will be expected to make a big jump from a season ago. The WCC's co-newcomer of the year with T.J. Campbell, Foster was also a Freshman All-American having averaged 15 points per game. The guard from Katy, Texas is an outstanding outside shooting threat as he broke Steve Nash's single season SCU record for three-pointers made. If SCU is going to be able to cope with the loss of John Bryant, it'll have to be Foster that puts in most of the work.

Season Outlook: Not a whole lot of beef in the nonconference schedule for the Broncos. San Diego State and UNLV will be two tough Mountain West opponents and Santa Clara will also be looking to avenge losses against New Hampshire and Harvard from last year.

San Diego Toreros

Last Season: San Diego's magical run a few years ago when the defeated Gonzaga in the conference championship and beat Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament feels like an eternity ago after a disappointing year last season. It got off to an awful start as senior Brandon Johnson tore his Achilles tendon after eight games. The Toreros wound up finishing with a 16-16 record and losing in the second round of the WCC Tournament to Santa Clara.

Player to Watch: Brandon Johnson was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA after his horrific injury. His return to the Toreros is enormous because without him, they might have challenge LMU for the spot in the cellar. Having also lost Gyno Pomare (graduation) and Rob Jones (transfer), Johnson will have to return to his old form and guide this team. There is a little experience with Johnson in the backcourt but the frontcourt will have sever growing pains for Bill Grier's squad.

Season Outlook: Games against Stanford, Oklahoma, San Diego State, and Mississippi State will give Bill Grier and the Toreros all they can handle in the nonconference slate. It appears that San Diego State has decided to schedule nearly ever WCC game, Oklahoma is a power in the Big 12, and Mississippi State could be a dangerous squad in the SEC. Stanford's basketball program is probably still a few years away but they still are Stanford and it will be a nice Pac-10 test right off the bat.

Pepperdine Waves

Last Season: Tom Asbury's return to coaching came with some mixed results in Malibu. They dropped 13 of their first 16 games including losses to Arizona State, USC, and Georgia Tech. Their only wins out of conference came against Western Oregon, Cal State-Monterey Bay, and Coppin State. They added five regular season conference wins and actually played inspired basketball. Wins over Santa Clara and San Diego were nice for Pepperdine but they were never able to challenge the heavy hitters and finished with a 9-23 record.

Player to Watch: Easily my favorite player not in a Gonzaga uniform is Keion Bell. The high-flying sophomore guard was one of the lone bright spots on the Pepperdine roster. Bell average about 13 points a game last year and brought some flare to the program. Keion is a very reckless player on the court however. He averaged about four turnovers a game last year and only dished out two assists. That will have to change in a big way for the Waves to show any signs of improvement.

Season Outlook: UCLA, Utah, Georgia, and Miami will all test Pepperdine in their nonconference schedule. The good thing is that they get Utah and Miami on their home court in Malibu. The rest of the schedule is anyone's best guess. Pepperdine will suffer some head-scratching losses but the key is for their veteran core to show some improvement and get some quality wins.

Loyola Marymount Lions

Last Season: You kind of have to give LMU a pass for their play a season ago. All summer and fall leading up to the season, we talked about LMU being the next program to challenge the top dogs. Bill Bayno was in charge and recruiting well but that all changed when Bayno took a leave of absence and eventually left the program. Max Good stepped in at the embattled program and led them to a historic 3-28 record. Wins over Bakersfield, San Diego, and San Francisco were all this team could muster.

Player to Watch: Believe it or not, the Lions do have some talent. They have two outstanding transfers who will be making an impact this season and one of them is former Oregon Duck Drew Viney. A 6'5'' sophomore forward, Viney left the Ducks after a short stint there due to injuries. He was a Scout top 100 recruit when he came out and will be called on to not only start immediately but be a leader on the team.

Season Outlook: In all honesty, every game for LMU will test them this season. With such a rough past few seasons, the program is still searching for an identity to build upon. Hopefully the new young players and transfers can build this program back into a proud on. Games against USC and Notre Dame stand out on the schedule for the Lions this season

ZB's Preseason Power Rankings
1. Gonzaga
2. Portland
3. St. Mary's
4. Santa Clara
5. Pepperdine
6. San Francisco
7. San Diego
8. LMU

Top 10 Players Not in Gonzaga uniforms:
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Kevin Foster, SCU
Keion Bell, Pepp
Mark Trasolini, SCU
Omar Samhan, SMC
TJ Campbell, Port
Nik Raivio, Port
Jared DuBois, LMU
Drew Viney, LMU
Brandon Johnson, USD

Poll

Outside of Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and Portland, which WCC team has the best shot for a breakout year in 2009-10?

San Diego

152 votes

San Francisco

30 votes

Pepperdine

18 votes

Santa Clara

51 votes

251 votes | Poll has closed

BtB 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:18:44 -0000

The theme of the 2009-10 season in the West Coast Conference's is rebuilding. While Gonzaga ended 2008-09 in the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to North Carolina, and St. Mary's ended a season that began with so much promise in the NIT quarterfinals, both these teams suffered significant losses that will result in tempered expectations this time around. And the changes aren't limited to the teams who finished at the top of the standings, as Loyola Marymount begins their first full season under Max Good, their fifth coach in this century.

With just about everyone going through some changes, the WCC race should be more competitive than last year's, when the Bulldogs ran the table and swept through the league tournament. The big question is how will a more even, and potentially bruising, league race impact the conference's chances at multiple bids. Las Vegas will serve as the neutral host for the conference tournament for the second straight year. With the Zags dominance last season, this will really be the first year we get to see if a neutral-site event will impact the conference's postseason fortunes, if at all. More on the eight WCC members after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's WCC standings.

West Coast Conference Standings

(updated 3.28.2009 at 12:54 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Gonzaga Bulldogs	14	0	28	6
St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels	10	4	28	7
Portland Pilots	9	5	19	13
Santa Clara Broncos	7	7	16	17
San Diego Toreros	6	8	16	16
Pepperdine Waves	5	9	9	23
San Francisco Dons	3	11	11	19
Loyola Marymount Lions	2	12	3	28

Now, here are my WCC picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order.

Loyola Marymount (last NCAA: 1990) This March, 20 years will have passed since the Lions made their electrifying, emotional run to the Elite Eight. To me, it seems like only yesterday that Bo Kimble shot his free throws left-handed to honor his late friend Hank Gathers. For fans of LMU, the story of Alexander the Great must seem more recent. In those two decades, the Lions have become the WCC's perennial bottom feeders, averaging 20 losses a season during the new millenium. Head coach Max Good will attempt to improve on last year's 28-loss campaign with the help of five freshmen, Seton Hall transfer Larry Davis, a 6-4 guard, and Oregon transfer Drew Viney, a 6-7 forward.

San Francisco (last NCAA: 1998) The Dons are another program that's fallen on hard times. (Remember the dismissal of Jessie Evans and ill-fated interim tenure of Eddie Sutton back in '07-'08?) Rex Walters begins his second season by the Bay looking to climb up the standings. He'll get a lot of help from Dior Lawhorn (20.1 ppg), who's somehow managed to win the WCC's scoring title twice despite the presence of the high-flying Zags, and Manhattan transfer Rashad Green, brother of Danny, who just won a national title in Chapel Hill. USF will also feature an international frontcourt, as Walters secured the services of three European players, 7-foot C Tomas Bruha, 6-10 C Moustapha Diarra, and 6-8 F Nikola Stojiljkovic. The big question for Walters is who will run the offense now that Manny Quezada has graduated.

Santa Clara (last NCAA: 1996) Kerry Keating's third season at the helm of the Broncos could be a rough one. Santa Clara finished just under .500 at 16-17, and that was with WCC Player of the Year John Bryant on the roster. Keating will have to find a way to replace his 18 points and 14 boards a game. Sophomore forward Marc Trasolini will really have to step up to match those numbers, though he did average 6.8 points and 4.8 boards in limited action last season. Expect the Broncos to be more guard oriented this season, with 6-2 sophomore Kevin Foster (14.9 ppg, 2.5 apg) taking a bigger role in the offense.

Pepperdine (last NCAA: 2002) Tom Asbury begins the second year of his second stint on the sidelines in Malibu with a lot of hope. In a league where just about everyone is going through significant changes, the Waves actually return all five starters and most of their bench contributors. However, these returnees will have to, well, play A LOT better to move up the standings. The Waves simply didn't take good enough care of the ball or score enough to be very competitive. Point guard Keion Bell was the only player on the team to average in double figures (12.9 ppg), but he turned the ball over nearly 4 times a game. Comparatively, he dished out just a bit more than 2 assists per contest. The Waves will need more from their frontcourt this season to be a force. Mychel Thompson can improve on his scoring average of just under 10 points per game and Taylor Darby needs to make sure his scoring and rebounding averages aren't mirror images of one another (6.1 of each per game).

San Diego (last NCAA: 2008) The biggest moment for the Toreros in a 16-16 campaign was their upset win over Mississippi State in Starkville late last December. Point guard Brandon Johnson, who lost most of last season to a ruptured Achilles, was granted a fifth year of eligibility and will be back running the offense. The importance of Johnson's return can't be understated, as he averaged almost 17 points and 3.5 assists per game during his junior season. San Diego will have some frontcourt issues as F/C Gyno Pomare, who averaged almost 14 points and 6 boards a game, graduated, and Rob Jones, who averaged nearly 10 points and 5.5 boards left the program. Coach Bill Grier hopes 6-9 Brazilian junior college transfer Rafael Crescensio and 6-9 holdover Roberto Mafra (5.0 ppg. 2.5 rpg) can make an impact inside.

Saint Mary's (last NCAA: 2008) Everyone knows that the Gaels lost Patty Mills to the NBA Draft, but he wasn't the only significant player to leave Moraga after a 28-win campaign. Saint Mary's lost three other starters, most notably F Diamon Simpson (13.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg). Center Omar Samhan (14.1 ppg, 9.4 pg) is back, however, as is Mickey McConnell, who gained valuable experience running Randy Bennett's offense when Mills was out with a broken hand. Wayne Hunter will also see some time at the point, and watch for 6-1 Jorden Page, who played on Australia's team at the U19 Worlds this summer. He's seen by many as the natural successor to Mills. Bennett will need more from players like F Clint Steindl (2.7 ppg) and C Ben Allen (2.2 ppg) for the Gaels to stay high in the standings.

Portland (last NCAA: 1996) The Pilots won 19 games in 2008-09 and nearly pipped St. Mary's to second, falling a game short in the standings. Now, Portland, boasting five returning starters (four of them seniors) has rebuilding Gonzaga in its sights. The backcourt is a dangerous one. T.J, Campbell runs the offense efficiently (11.1 ppg, 4.8 apg, 53.1% 3 point shooting), while Nik Raivio (16 ppg) and Jared Stohl (11.2 ppg, 45.6 % from beyond the arc) can really score. The forward corps, featuring the 6-10 Robin Smeulders (10.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6-9 Kramer Knutson (6.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and 6-8 Luke Sikma (6.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) should do pretty well against most of the teams they meet in conference play. If the Pilots can do some damage in the non-conference portion of their schedule, which features three games at the loaded 76 Classic in Anaheim, a home game against Oregon, and trips to Nevada and Washington, an at-large bid is a definite possibility.

Gonzaga (last NCAA: 2009) Sure the Bulldogs lost a lot after last season, but write them off at your peril. Mark Few simply doesn't rebuild, even after losing four starters. While Gonzaga lost Austin Daye, Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt, and Jeremy Pargo, who combined to average 47-plus points per game last season, there are plenty of players who are able to step up. Matt Bouldin (13.6 ppg, 3.4 apg) is the only returning starter, but he'll be joined in the backcourt by the talented Steven Gray (9.1 ppg) and Demetri Goodson (3.8 ppg, 1.6 apg). If Goodson can consistently play like he did against Western Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAAs last season, the Zags offense will be in good hands. The Bulldogs' two BIG men, 7-footer Robert Sacre and 7-5 Will Foster, will have to produce more than the average of 4 points and 5 boards they combined to contribute last year. The real inside scoring will probably have to come from a crop of newcomers that includes 6-9 Sam Dower, 6-7 Elias Harris, 6-10 Kelly Olynyk, 6-11 Andy Poling and most intriguing of all, 6-7 Bol Kong. Kong, born in the Sudan, comes to Spokane after a stay in Vancouver. This looks like a lot of question marks for a team picked to finish first in its conference, but it's Gonzaga. They seem to provide good answers consistently.

So, the Bulldogs are, yet again, the preseason pick for the WCC's auto bid. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-WCC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-WCC Team

Player of the Year: Matt Bouldin, 6-5 G, Sr. (Gonzaga)

Remainder of the Team
T.J. Campbell, 5-9 G, Sr. (Portland)
Dior Lawhorn, 6-7 F, Sr. (San Francisco)
Nik Raivio, 6-4 G, Sr. (Portland)
Omar Samhan, 6-11 C, Sr. (Saint Mary's)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the WCC this season?

Gonzaga

242 votes

Loyola Marymount

2 votes

Pepperdine

2 votes

Portland

29 votes

Saint Mary's

3 votes

San Diego

3 votes

San Francisco

2 votes

Santa Clara

2 votes

285 votes | Poll has closed

Quick Primer for the WCC Tournament

Zach B — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:07:53 -0000

It's hard to believe that postseason play begins tomorrow for the West Coast Conference. After a very odd year, even by WCC standards, the top of the conference looks the way most people thought it would at the start of the season. Gonzaga continued their dominance over the conference with a 14-0 record and St. Marys, despite losing Patty Mills, battled back to overcome Portland and take the #2 spot which gives them a two game bye. Don't expect too much from the low seeds in the conference tournament. The bottom half of the conference has proven to be quite terrible and I would not be surprised at all if we had no upsets throughout the entire tournament.

continue reading after the jump for a few things to watch for in Las Vegas...

If you find yourself watching one non-Gonzaga game in this tournament it should be... Santa Clara and San Diego possibly matching up in the second round of the tournament. While I think neither of these teams will really have any sort of impact on the outcome of the tourney, I could see this being one of the better games to watch. The Broncos feature conference player of the year John Bryant and the Toreros still have the talent to pull the upset and make it all the way to the third round despite being without their star player Brandon Johnson. Gyno Pomare and De'Jon Jackson are two players that are good enough to take down John Bryant and Santa Clara and Bill Grier is still one of the best coaches on the West Coast. I'd be very surprised if this wasn't a great game.

Three players to watch that aren't getting the attention they deserve...

Keion Bell (Pepperdine): Bell is one of the most talented young players this conference has seen. As a freshman, he has stepped into an immediate leadership role for the Waves and has shown the capability to be a Brandon Johnson type player for the Waves. He's averaging nearly 13 points a game in his first collegiate season and has played particularly well against Gonzaga, averaging 18 points. Look for him to lead the Waves past the Dons in the first round.
Kevin Foster (Santa Clara): John Bryant may have trimmed down through his career at Santa Clara but he still casts a large shadow over the rest of his team. One such player that has been largely left in the dark is Broncos' guard Kevin Foster. All Foster has done this year is avearge nearly 15 points a game and has really become a great second option for Santa Clara. Not only that, but he comes into the game on a hot streak. Three of his last four games have been 20+ point performances.
Dior Lowhorn (San Francisco): There hasn't been a player that I have felt this bad for in quite a long time. Lowhorn has got it all. He is a physical specimen and he can really play the game but he is trapped in one of the worst situations in college basketball outside of LMU. Rex Walters seemingly has no control over the situation and is carrying out some sort of soap opera in the Bay Area and all Lowhorn does is pour in 20 points a game for the Dons.

Prediction Time: The first round match up should be a cake walk for USD and I also like Pepperdine behind Keion Bell and Mychel Thompson to defeat the Dons. In the second round, I think Bill Grier and the Toreros pull it off. They've been struggling but they know how to play in the postseason as we saw first hand last year and I think they pull the upset. No chance for the Waves however, as Portland easily rolls over them. The top two seeds at this point are just light years ahead of the competition right now and they should easily cruise to the championship on Monday. While I have gone back and forth on who would win this game if Patty Mills was healthy, I have to predict that Gonzaga takes down the Gaels to win the automatic bid from the WCC. Mills is a gamer but with the injury that he suffered, I don't think he will be ready to blow up against the Zags so quickly. The game will be close which could be enough for St. Mary's to sneak in the tournament as an at-large but overall, Gonzaga just has too much.

All-WCC Tourney Team:

Center: Josh Heytvelt, Gonzaga: Hottest player in the conference right now.
Power Forward: Diamon Simpson, St. Mary's: One of the best defenders and most consistent players in the conference in recent memory.
Guard: Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga: As EDZ says, Bouldin is Mr. WCC and he should have a great tourney
Guard: De'Jon Jackson, San Diego: Jackson is the surprise spark for a nice tournament run for the Toreros.
Guard: Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga: Pargo should outshine the rehabing Patty Mills in the tourney and finish his WCC career in great fashion.

WCC Power Rankings 5.0: We Agree!

Zach B — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:32:50 -0000

This is huge news. For the first time all season, Everydayezag and I agree on our WCC power rankings. We've both gone our separate ways over the past five weeks but it appears that the conference has gotten calmed down and everything is settling into place. Can you believe our top three's though? Gonzaga is the only team projected to finish in the top three that is still remaining in place. San Diego and St. Mary's have both been replaced by upstart Portland and the unpredictable Broncos of Santa Clara. The Gaels are Toreros have been bit hard by the injury bug and are seeing the ill effects. So without further build up, here is the evidence...

Rank	EDZ's Pick	Movement	BuffZag's Pick	Movement
1	Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-5)	-	Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-5)	-
2	Portland Pilots (15-8)	-	Portland Pilots (15-8)	-
3	Santa Clara Broncos (13-13)	+1	Santa Clara Broncos (13-13)	+2
4	St. Mary's Gaels (19-4)	-1	St. Mary's Gaels (19-4)	-1
5	San Diego Toreros (13-11)	-	San Diego Toreros (13-11)	-1
6	Pepperdine Waves (6-18)	-	Pepperdine Waves (6-18)	-
7	San Francisco Dons (9-15)	-	San Francisco Dons (9-15)	-
8	Loyola Marymount Lions (1-23)	-	Loyola Marymount Lions (1-23)	-

And...since we agree on the rankings, I'm going to let everydayezag explain the choices because we've got pretty similar views on this one.

1) Gonzaga (17-5; 8-0) Despite the embarrassing performance against Memphis last weekend, the Zags remain the cream of the crop in the WCC. This team could pretty much end the WCC race this Thursday with a win over the reeling St. Mary's Gaels.

2) Portland (15-8; 6-2) As I watched Portland play a terrific first half in their loss to Gonzaga on Thursday, all I could think about was how good this team will be next season. Keep in mind that the Pilots will not lose one player to graduation off this roster. How crazy would it be to see the Portland Pilots in the top 25 next season?

3) Santa Clara (13-13; 5-4) Here come the Santa Clara Broncos. After opening WCC play with 4 consecutive losses, the Broncos have won 5 in a row and are playing tremendous basketball. They are receiving great contributions from their supporting cast, and I would not be surprised to see the Broncos in the WCC tournament championship game.

4) St. Mary's (19-4; 6-3) After seeing this team without Patty Mills for the last two weeks, I am hard pressed to remember a team that relied so much on one player to do everything. The Gaels are a shell of the team that was nationally ranked two weeks ago, and are quickly fading to irrelevance.

5) San Diego (13-11; 5-4) It was nice to see the Toreros play hard after their disappointing weekend in the Pacific Northwest. While USD lost a tough game to Santa Clara, they bounced back with a solid win over USF. However, without Brandon Johnson, there is no way USD makes any noise in the WCC tournament.

6) Pepperdine (6-18; 3-5) It was good to see Pepperdine take care of business against LMU. The Waves are slowly starting to learn how to win under Tom Asbury, and they have one of the best young talents in the conference in Keion Bell. In the victory over LMU, Bell scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

7) USF (9-15; 1-8) Not only is USF struggling to win, it is now at the point where the Dons are not even competitive. USF lost to both St. Mary's and USD by double-digit points, and it sadly appears like they have thrown in the towel on the season. I hope that Rex Walters can get this team focused next year, or he could have a very short stay in the Bay Area.

8) LMU (1-23; 0-8) There is nothing that hasn't been said already.

SB Nation - San Francisco Dons

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WCC Power Rankings: Opening week edition

Previewing the 2009-10 West Coast Conference

Portland Pilots

St. Mary's Gaels

San Francisco Dons

Santa Clara Broncos

San Diego Toreros

Pepperdine Waves

Loyola Marymount Lions

Outside of Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and Portland, which WCC team has the best shot for a breakout year in 2009-10?

San Diego

San Francisco

Pepperdine

Santa Clara

BtB 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preview

West Coast Conference Standings

Preseason All-WCC Team

Who is your pick to win the WCC this season?

Gonzaga

Loyola Marymount

Pepperdine

Portland

Saint Mary's

San Diego

San Francisco

Santa Clara

Quick Primer for the WCC Tournament

WCC Power Rankings 5.0: We Agree!