* - standings using Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted winning percentage
3MW’s All Conference Team:
Player of the Year: Corey Kispert, Sr., Gonzaga
Coach of the Year: Mark Few, Gonzaga
Newcomer of the Year: Jalen Suggs, Fr., Gonzaga
Freshman of the Year: Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga
Season Storylines:
Turns out that when you give Mark Few elite talent, the results are pretty great! Loaded with his first ever 5-star recruit (and several other burgeoning talents), Few and Gonzaga ran the table on the regular season, holding steady at the #1 spot of the AP rankings for the entire year. Corey Kispert won the WCC Player of the Year, but Drew Timme easily could have too, and Joel Ayayi and Jalen Suggs – the aforementioned 5-star recruit – may be the next two runners-up for that award as well. Quite simply, this team is mega-loaded, exquisitely coached, and seemingly quite hungry. It’d be a stunning upset for the Zags to not take home the hardware from Vegas.
If it’s not the Bulldogs, it will likely be BYU, a squad that at least kind of hung around with Gonzaga? Key word being kind of? The massive Cougars are playing their best ball right now, keyed by the promotion of Gideon George and Caleb Lohner to the starting lineup, jumping from 49th at KenPom to 24th during that six-game stretch. Both BYU and Gonzaga will wait comfortably until the semifinals on Monday, as the WCC (properly?) gives huge postseason rewards to its best teams.
The quarterfinalists are Saint Mary’s and Pepperdine, two dichotomous squads at this point. The Gaels lack individual talent but play terrific defense and grind out possessions, while the Waves have a prolific duo in Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards and love to get out in transition. Pepperdine could potentially threaten BYU in the semis if they get there (edged the Cougars by three in Malibu), but Lorenzo Romar’s squads are always liable to produce a dud against a lesser foe.
The bottom six faces a nearly impossible uphill climb, which is a bummer for teams like San Francisco and Loyola Marymount, both of whom showed serious potential at various points this year. The Dons’ early season wins over Virginia and at Nevada have aged quite well, but they went 0-5 after an early February COVID pause, while LMU has won five straight against non-BYU/Gonzaga opponents thanks to a towering lineup but lacks offensive firepower. Pacific probably warrants a mention too – the gritty Tigers could be the one to surprise Pepperdine.
Tournament Preview
Tournament Predictions
(8) San Francisco over (9) San Diego
(7) Santa Clara over (10) Portland
(5) Loyola Marymount over (8) San Francisco
(6) Pacific over (7) Santa Clara
(5) Loyola Marymount over (4) Saint Mary’s
(6) Pacific over (3) Pepperdine
(1) Gonzaga over (5) Loyola Marymount
(2) BYU over (6) Pacific
(1) Gonzaga over (2) BYU