Game Day Info 1/31

It's the last day of January, can you believe it? Just one month sits between our present selves and our March madness selves.

7:00 PM PST

Brigham Young Cougars at Pepperdine Waves

Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, California.

BYU is 16-6 on the season, 6-2 in WCC play and currently on a one game winning streak.

Pepperdine is 10-10 on the season, 2-5 in WCC play and currently on a one game losing streak.

TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet and ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain and Northwest.

Radio: KSL 1160 AM & 102.7 FM along the Wasatch Front.

Satellite Radio: BYU Radio Sirius XM 143

Online: Live video from WCC Digital; live audio from KSL.

Portland Pilots at Santa Clara Broncos

Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.

Portland is 8-14 on the season, 1-6 in WCC play and on a four game losing streak.

Santa Clara is 16-6 on the season, 4-3 in WCC play and on a four game winning streak.

TV: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Northwest.

Radio: KPDQ 800 AM in Portland, KDOW 1220 AM in the Bay Area.

Online: Live audio from KDOW and KPDQ.

Two games at once, which do you choose? Each game features a team that is in contention for the WCC title and one that is far from contention. Each features a team that needs to do nothing but keep winning for the rest of the season and a team that wants to win a few more times this season. Each features a team that is exceptional on offense and a team that isn't. 

To that last point, the Portland at Santa Clara game features a team that is exceptional on offense and a team that is horrible on offense. The BYU at Pepperdine game features on team that is exceptional on offense and one that is okay on the offensive end. So, if you want to see a game with more scoring from both sides, that's the one to watch. If you want to see a potential blow out, it's Portland at Santa Clara. 

Tune into either game, or both, and you'll be watching a team with very legitimate hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. That's what makes this hard choice easier to make.

8:00 PM PST

#7 Gonzaga Bulldogs at Loyola Marymount Lions

Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles, California.

Gonzaga is 19-2 on the season, 6-0 in WCC play and currently on a two game winning streak.

Loyola Marymount is 8-11 on the season, 1-6 in WCC play and currently on a four game losing streak.

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KGA 1510 AM in the Inland Northwest, KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles.

Online: Live video from ESPN3, live audio from KGA and KXLU.

Here is another match up like the two that precede it. One team that is very good at offense and one that is not. Gonzaga is second in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.1%, Creighton leads at 52.1%. Loyola Marymount is pretty bad at defense on top of struggling on offense. The Lions rank 217th in the nation in opponent field goal percentage and 7th in the WCC. It's possible that the Zags jump into first in the nation in field goal percentage after tonight. 

As is almost always the case when a WCC team plays a WCC team we will have two great floor generals go at it in this one. Anthony Ireland is one of my favorite players to watch. He's 5'10'' but pulls down 5.2 rebounds per game, good for 13th in the WCC. At 19.6 points per game he ranks 18th in the nation and second in the conference. It will be interesting to see if he can keep that pace with Gary Bell Jr. guarding him. The WCC's leading scorer, Tyler Haws of BYU, wasn't able to score from the field with that match up last week. 

Game Info 1/30

7:00 PM PST:

Saint Mary's Gaels at San Francisco Dons

War Memorial Gymnasium, San Francisco, California.

Saint Mary's is 17-4 on the season, 6-1 in WCC play and currently on a five game winning streak.

San Francisco is 9-12 on the season, 2-6 in WCC play and currently on a one game losing streak.

TV: CSN California.

Online: Live audio from San Francisco Athletics.

The Gaels and Dons wrap up this year's two game series tonight at War Memorial. Last time the Dons played the Gaels they put quite a scare in the defending champions but ultimately came up short with a six point loss. War Memorial is a place where the big dogs in the conference go to suffer defeats. Okay, mostly just Gonzaga suffers that fate. Though BYU and Saint Mary's have come very close to defeat. 

The Dons are hard to figure out this year. They have a talented and deep roster but it's a young and inexperienced roster. They're four games under .500 but they're number 148 in the RPI. They've played very well against some of the top teams in the WCC, though they've come up short each time, or they've looked absolutely hapless against them. They've had streaks of five games on both the winning and losing side. I see them to be the only team not in the top four in the standings with the ability to beat a team in the top four. Tonight, based on how they played against the Gaels earlier this season in Moraga, may be their best chance to pull that off.

Saint Mary's is far superior talent and team wise to San Francisco but, as we learn each March when a David beats a Goliath thanks to a fortunate match-up, the Dons have the right personell to take down the Gaels. Guards Cody Doolin and De'End Parker have the ability to slash inside to create a mismatch with the Gaels' bigs. Cole Dickerson is .2 rebounds per game short of averaging a double-double and despite his lack of size (6'7'') he's a tough big man who could exploit a soft Gaels front court.

That said, none of that should be enough to warrant a Dons' victory. Saint Mary's is better in nearly every statistical category. They have better and more experienced players. I mean, they've even got an Olympian. They're one of the best offenses in the country. Not only are they efficient but they're high scoring. Put a well oiled offense up against a rather horrid defense and the offense should have no problem coasting to victory.

Well, "should have no problem" is why they play the game and it's why the Dons were able to put a big scare into the Gaels earlier this month. Another big scare tonight would be bigger than big it would be bubble-bursting big. If the Dons manage to pull of this upset the Gaels' at-large hopes would suffer a brutal blow. San Francisco has a bright future, a year or two from now. Saint Mary's does as well but they have an equally luminous present. If these teams are playing with the intent of making the conference look as good as possible Saint Mary's will win comfortably, but not after experiencing a few of San Francisco's freshmen have a break out game, and stay on track to earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. But they aren't and that's why this is going to be a really entertaining game.

Oh yeah and it's yet another WCC game featuring two exceptional floor generals.

Win Total Forecast

As of today the average number of conference games played by WCC teams is 7.111. Is that number important? Not as far as I can tell. It's just a good time to take a look at how things were at this nearly mid-point last season and compare them with the season we're going through right now.

20 win teams:

Last season, for the first time ever, five WCC teams had 20+ win seasons. At this point in the season that didn't look too probable. How does this season compare?

(Through seven conference games)

Contenders and Pretenders

WCC Game of the Week

January 26th, 2013

Santa Clara Broncos 64 @ San Diego Toreros 50

This is what the WCC Game of the Week should be like every week, important.

Santa Clara came into this game at 15-6 on the season but with a disappointing 3-3 record in conference play. San Diego was 11-10 but sat at fourth in the standings with a 4-2 record in the WCC. The Broncos had one of the WCC's most impressive non-conference seasons. Honestly they probably had the most impressive season not counting the Zags'. San Diego was picked to finish fifth in the standings by the coaches in the preseason poll (one point ahead of Santa Clara). They did absolutely nothing to warrant that early praise with their non-conference play. The Toreros 7-8 record at the end of that portion of the season was tied for worst in the WCC with Portland. However, Portland played a much, much, much tougher slate of games.

Just look at this.

WCC Saturday 1/26

Another full day of West Coast Conference hoops is upon us. As is the case on Saturdays, the WCC Game of the Week kicks off the action. This week's afternoon game is a good one to start a day full of good hoops. All five teams with records at or above .500 in WCC play are in action today. In fact the only team not in action today, Loyola Marymount, is the team with the worst record in the WCC.

WCC Game of the Week
1:00 PM PST:
Santa Clara Broncos at San Diego Toreros
Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California.
Santa Clara is 15-6 on the season, 3-3 in WCC play and currently on a three game winning streak.
San Diego is 11-10 on the season, 4-2 in WCC play and currently on a two game losing streak.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
Radio: AM 1090 in San Diego and KLIV AM 1590 in the Bay Area.
Online: Live audio from KLIV.

Santa Clara and San Diego are the two teams with the ability to disrupt the WCC's big three of Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU for a place atop the standings. Santa Clara had a very good non-conference season that culminated with an 11-3 record. Then they dropped three straight early in WCC play. They've recovered, which is expected when you have three players with at least 1,000 career points in your starting lineup. The Broncos now look like the team they were in late 2012.

San Diego took the opposite path. The Toreros struggled through their non-conference slate to a 8-7 record. Once conference play began though the Toreros surged to a 4-0 record. However, those first four games were against the four worst teams in the conference. Since then they've run up against the WCC's best and come up short. Back to back losses at BYU and Saint Mary's has the Toreros on a two game skid and things don't get any easier. With Santa Clara today then Gonzaga next week followed by visits from Saint Mary's and BYU in early February the Toreros may be set for a total tailspin. 

Santa Clara was strong early, stumbled and is now recovering. San Diego was disappointing early, surged to start conference play but is now stumbling. These two teams have taken nearly opposite paths but both have led to nearly the same place in the standings. Whichever team wins this game will be the only team with a legitimate chance to finish in the top three of the WCC standings. 

Game Info 1/24

It's a full slate Thursday for the WCC. The dual nightcap for today will be amazing as it features three of the game's best offenses. That's horrible news for me however, as they don't start until 10pm my time  and I'll undoubtably be very amped up at the end of a late night when I should go to bed early. Oh, being a fan of WCC basketball is so rough when the product is so high quality.

6:00 PM PST:
Pepperdine Waves at Loyola Marymount Lions
Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles, California.
Pepperdine is 9-9 on the season, 1-4 in WCC play and currently on a three game losing streak.
Loyola Marymount is 8-11 on the season, 1-5 in WCC play and currently on a three game losing streak.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet
Radio: KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles.
Online: Live audio from KXLU, live video from Pepperdine Sports.

Mid-Week Non-Conference

7:00 PM PST:
Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners at Santa Clara Broncos
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.
The Roadrunners are an independent (joining the WAC next season). They are 7-13 on the season, 1-9 on the road and are currently on a one game winning streak.
The Broncos are 14-6 on the season, 3-3 in WCC play, 9-4 at home and currently on a two game winning streak.
Radio: KDOW 1220 AM in the Bay Area, KERN 1180 AM in the Bakersfield/Kern County area.
Online: Live audio from KDOW and from KERN.

The start of conference play does not mark the end of the non-conference schedule. Tonight Santa Clara hosts one of Division 1's newest members, the independent Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners. The Roadrunners, once a power in Division 2, should pose no threat to the Broncos tonight. They've already suffered two setbacks to Loyola Marymount this season, and the Lions sit at the bottom of the WCC standings right now.

Perfect Saturday

I love college basketball.

This year I've listened to college basketball podcasts on my way to work. I've studied statistics, both classic and new, in advance of and after games. I've paid money for subscriptions to ESPN, Kenpom, Basketball State and The Mid Majority. I woke up at 5 AM to watch the Australian Boomers play in the Olympics. I watched Summer League games, even though I don't watch the NBA, to keep up with former players. I've posted over 1,300 tweets and over 150 blog posts. This week I've watched the thrilling games from the Big 10 and battles between tough, urban teams from the Big East. 

That's not why I love college basketball. All of that which I've done this year is a result of the reason why I love college basketball.

As exciting as a top ten match up of powerhouse programs from the big conferences can be, and pretty much always ends up being. As high of a level of basketball is played by these hyper-talented teams. That's not why I love college basketball. I love college basketball as much for the stories, the culture that it can create, the history and the impact on the current that it has as I love it for the basketball itself. 

#8 Gonzaga at #13 Butler, but more specifically the two teams involved, is why I love college basketball.

Because of Matthew Dellavedova

So, this happened tonight...

That caused the following:

• The San Diego Toreros now hold a half-game lead atop the conference.
• San Diego, 11-8 (4-0); Gonzaga, 16-1 (3-0); Brigham Young, 14-5 (4-1) and Saint Mary's, 14-4 (3-1) are the top four teams in the conference standings.
• All four of the teams currently in the top four of the WCC standings have made the NCAA Tournament in the past 10 years.
• All four have won games in the NCAA Tournament during that span. 
• These four teams are the only four teams to have made the NCAA tournament from the WCC in that span.

Crazy ending changes nothing. The WCC's top teams are the WCC's top teams. This is fun to watch.

Game Day Info 1/16

It's a WCC Wednesday! There are two games on the docket for today. First, Loyola Marymount heads south to San Diego to face the Toreros. Then, just an hour later, the Saint Mary's Gaels will face off with the Brigham Young Cougars in Provo. I'd rather be in San Diego in the winter time but Provo is making a strong case with this match-up.

7:00 PM PST:
Loyola Marymount Lions at San Diego Toreros
Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California.
Loyola Marymount is 8-9 for the season and 1-3 in WCC play. They lost at home to Portland on Saturday.
San Diego is 10-8 for the season and 3-0 in WCC play. They beat Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Comcast SportsNet California and Root Sports Northwest and Rocky Mountain.
Radio: KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles and 1090 AM in San Diego.
Online: Live video from WCC Digital, Live audio from KXLU.

8:00 PM PST:
Saint Mary's Gaels at Brigham Young Cougars
Marriott Center, Provo, Utah.
Saint Mary's is 13-4 for the season and 1-2 in WCC play. They beat San Francisco on Saturday.
BYU is 14-4 for the season and 4-0 in WCC play. They beat Santa Clara on Saturday.
TV: ESPNU.
Radio: KSL 1160 AM and 102.7 FM along the Wasatch Front.
Satellite Radio: BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143.
Online: Live audio from KSL.

BYU is On Top

Until Thursday the team that will sit atop the WCC standings is a team that wasn't a part of the standings two years ago. It's a team that has never been atop the WCC. The Brigham Young Cougars have a half game lead over the Gonzaga Bulldogs for first place.

Saturday afternoon's 82-64 win over the Santa Clara Broncos in Santa Clara, California propelled the Cougars to the top of the standings. It also gives the Cougars their first RPI top-100 win on the season.

These two teams figured to be, along with Saint Mary's, battling for second place behind the top-10 Zags. However, now it's the Cougars that hold first place.

Santa Clara, true to form, lived behind the arc. Raymond Cowels III did the damage from deep in the early going. Then Kevin Foster took over, set the WCC all time record for made threes in a career, and led the Broncos early in the second half.

Over the course of the second half Santa Clara couldn't hit shots and BYU could. The Cougars turned a back and forth, close game into an 18 point road victory. Five Cougars scored in double figures led by Tyler Haws' game high 24. Matt Carlino, Brandon Davies, Brock Zylstra and Anson Winder also scored in double figures. Five Cougars scored in double figures; only six Broncos scored at all.

BYU now has a quality win, a 4-0 start in the WCC, a league leading status and a date upcoming with the reigning league leader Saint Mary's Gaels in Provo on the 16th.

WCC Saturday #2

The WCC Game of the Week for the second weekend of WCC play should be one of the best games involving WCC teams thus far this season. Brigham Young visits Santa Clara at 1:30 PM Pacific in a game that both teams need to win if they want to keep up in the hunt for the #2 seed in the WCC Tournament (is it too early to say Gonzaga has the #1 pretty much locked up?). That game is followed by two, Portland at Loyola Marymount and San Diego at Pepperdine, at 7:00. Those games will either further muddle or help solidify the middle of the WCC pack. San Francisco at Saint Mary's, the night cap, was one of the best match-ups down the stretch last season. This time around should be no different, despite the Dons' sub-.500 record, as both squads need a win right now.

1:30 PM PST:
Brigham Young Cougars at Santa Clara Broncos,
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.
Brigham Young is 13-4 on the season and 3-0 in WCC play.
Santa Clara is 12-5 on the season and 1-2 in WCC play.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Root Sports Rocky Mountain and Root Sports Northwest.
Radio: KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM along the Wasatch Front, KLIV 1590 AM in the Bay Area.
Satellite Radio: BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143.
Online: Live audio from KSL.

WCC Saturday #1

The inaugural WCC Game of the Week on Time Warner Cable SportsNet is set for today at 1:30 PM PST with Loyola Marymount visiting Saint Mary's. Last year this was one heck of a game but I had to listen to it on the radio. This year, in line with the WCC's continued growth, the game will be televised (by more than one network!). The first two games of the day are being televised by Root Sports Rocky Mountain, which puts two WCC conference games on the televisions normally dominated by Mountain West games.
Gonzaga at Santa Clara is going to be an enormous game, bigger even than the Broncos' trip to Durham a week back. Gonzaga isn't #1 like Duke, but #10 is pretty close, and unlike that game this one will have a massive impact on the WCC title race and the Broncos' chances of an at large berth to the big dance. All that and it's only the first Saturday of the season!

A Bay Area Beginning

The West Coast Conference season begins tonight, at 7:00 PST, when San Francisco descends from the hilltop and makes the 40-something mile drive south on US 101 to face Santa Clara. Before the season began nobody would have known what to expect in this match up. That can be said about any match up before you get a feeling for the teams, but this one was especially puzzling.

San Francisco had been steadily improving under head coach Rex Walters and was coming off their first 20 win season since the 1981-82 season. Despite the Dons' success and bright future six players decided to transfer out of the program this offseason. On the other end of the spectrum Santa Clara did not win a single game in WCC play and had only eight total (they're already at 11 this season) but nobody on Kerry Keating's squad bolted. The Dons certainly looked doomed to a fate similar of the 2011-12 Broncos than to continue their upward trajectory. The Broncos? Nobody knew. They brought back key players who missed most to all of last season but also a core that played the whole season without any success. Today though, with roughly half of the college basketball season behind us, there is an understanding of how these two teams have handled the past 365 tumultuous days.

San Francisco has rebounded quite well thanks to their two key returners Cody Doolin and Cole Dickerson and reloaded thanks to newcomers De'End Parker and Tim Derksen. They're 7-6 on the season, only two below last season at this time, and have suffered no bad losses.

Santa Clara has been the hottest team in the WCC not named Gonzaga. Other than their most recent loss, at #1 Duke during which they led the Blue Devils multiple times and never let the best team in the land run away to a blowout, the Broncos have only lost games in overtime. They're 17th in the nation in assists per game and 24th in points. Kevin Foster, Marc Trasolini and Evan Roquemore make Santa Clara the only team in Division-1 with three players who have amassed 1,000 points in their careers. Trasolini missed all of last season with a torn ACL and Foster missed most of WCC due to a DUI.

These two unknowns turned success stories will open WCC play tonight on ESPNU. It's a fitting first game for a conference that also was once an unknown but is now successful.

7:00 PM PST:
Santa Clara Broncos vs. San Francisco Dons
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.
Santa Clara is 11-3 on the season, 7-2 at home and currently on a one game winning streak.
San Francisco is 7-6 on the season, 1-2 on the road and currently on a two game winning streak.
TV: ESPNU.
Radio: KDOW 1220 AM in the Bay Area.
Online: Live video from ESPN3 (blacked out in all of the USA except Hawaii); live audio from KDOW.