Some interesting WCC games this weekend.
Saturday:
-GU vs. Alabama, (10am…on now - CBS)
-USF @ 10-0 UNLV - 2pm
-Utah @ BYU - 3pm CBSSportsNet
-Pepperdine @ GCU - 5pm ESPN+
-Portland @ Oregon - 5pm Pac12 Network
Sunday:
-USD @ 10-1 Arizona St. - 4pm
-Colo St. @ SMC - 5pm
Solid Saturday night for the WCC.
GU over #4 Alabama, BYU beat Utah (#20 NET), USF beat UNLV on the road (#36 NET, their 1st loss of the season). And Pacific beat San Jose St…
Pepperdine lost in OT to GCU in PHX. Portland got blown out by Oregon.
SMC loses by 2 to Colo St., game was close throughout, SMC struggled with some poor offensive possessions late. Watched part of the game, freshman point guard Aiden Mahaney was inserted in to the starting lineup a few games ago, looks like a good one in the mold of Mickey McConnell, Emmett Naar, etc.
LMU beat a middle of the pack Cleveland St.
USD blown out by ASU.
USF, right after getting one of the better OOC wins for the whole conference by giving UNLV its first loss, turns in a helluva hangover game. They lost to UT-Arlington at home, a team with a single D1 victory before rolling onto the Hilltop. UTA just dominated the Dons on the glass and even led by as much as 17 at one point. The Dons mounted an awesome comeback to get it within 3 with under a minute to go, but UTA held on.
Anyways, our SJSU loss is a pretty distant fourth place in the Worst Losses So Far by Mid-Tier WCC Teams. USF-UT Arlington, Portland-North Dakota State, and BYU-South Dakota clearly out ahead in that category.
I haven’t been sold on USF despite their solid record and fairly high NET and Torvik rankings…this loss just solidifies that take.
They lost a ton from last season…4 starters incl two top end 1st team All-leaguers in Bouyea and Massalski. While they brought in some decent transfers, they just don’t match up to Bouyea and Massalski.
I am happy to see SCU and USF have two straight years of double digit OOC wins. I think both programs are in a much better, more consistent place than we were 5 years ago. Scheduling well, replacing talented players as they depart, and in USFs case, even replacing a coach without falling apart. Would like to see both or at least one (ideally us, of course) back in the NIT (if not the NCAA) this year.
That said, there’s still a big gap between GU & SMC and SCU/USF… still nice to see SCU/USF run like serious, consistent basketball programs. Though USF’s loss does sting.
Boise State a big one for us.
You as always are spot on. Though I don’t care much for USF the fact they had two coaches leave for greener pastures and yet kept on track is amazing. I do like how we are heading and if young talent like Carlos Stewart can keep coming our way as players see what Jaylen Williams was able to do at SCU it can lead to continued improvement. I get frustrated when we play down to our opponents but we are a lot more relevant than we were a few years ago. Gonzaga and SMC still ahead of us but I can see us giving SMC a run, we have split with them the last couple of years, and it would take a perfect game and perhaps a loud home crowd for us to upset Gonzaga sometime.
Sometimes the year after a winning coach departs can have some residual effect/result, and the true verdict will come in a few years. But it’s all positive up there in my opinion.
Frustrating as it was for us to play down and lose to SJSU, we have won 8 of the last 9. Rare stuff on the mission campus for a while.
Last year when we lost to Boise, it put us at 7-5… A win this time puts me pretty high on the hog, and a loss won’t spoil much.
Between the apparent budget for the non-conf schedule, the new practice facility, and IMO our coaching staff, we don’t want for much as a program… whether stringing two top-100 seasons can help propel us to being a to 50 program is not know… but I feel a lot better about the state of things than I can remember. Even under Davey there was tinge of plucky, aw shucks amateurishness to everything. Things seem more polished/professional now. Wish some folks would show up at the arena though.
Last year we didn’t lose a WCC to anyone besides GU, SMC, or USF. That will be very difficult to replicate. But with our OOC performance, a winning conference record would probably put us in the NIT… and if we really hit our stride and knock off SMC/GU as you mention, who knows the limit. This is a deep team.
USF up by 30 in the first half against #25 Arizona State
USF 97-60, was up at least 47pts at one point. Go figure…a few days after losing to a bad UT-Arlington. USF does play 4-7 Hartford tomorrow, could be a let down game.
SMC beat Wyoming by 12.
LMU just keeps on winning, 76-64 over Tulsa.
UT-Arlington loses to Cal by 22 …after beating USF. Got to love college basketball.
Looks like a two bid league for the WCC this year. For a non SMC, Gonzaga team to make it then that team is going to have to go 12-4 in league with at least one win over SMC or Gonzaga. Too much inconsistency in non-conference for someone to get in with a 10-6 conference record like last year.
Agree, though it is neat to see 9/10 teams with winning records entering conf. play, and the only sub .500 team at 7-8.
USF’s loss to UTA is too bad.
For SCU to dance would have to win today, then as you mention go something like 12-4 and beat GU and SMC… not feeling likely! Another NIT bid seems possible, if we hit our stride.
Or, win the conference tourney…
there’s always that! though we’ve only done it twice, and not since '93.
Some of you have probably noticed Torvik does a ‘Tourney Cast’ prediction of probability of making the NCAA tourney and seed estimates.
Confirming 'Bobs point…Torvik does give us and others a slight chance of winning the tourney and auto-bid but you’ll notice the Autobid probability = the total probability for everyone except SMC and GU and thus the At-large probability is effectively 0% for everyone except SMC and GU.
Just the advance analytics by a stat geek, in reality there’s always a chance.
Link to Torvik’s WCC league summary page; Tourneycast info at the far right of the team summary table:
T-Page for West Coast Conference - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank (barttorvik.com)