Las Vegas has become America’s playground over the past 10 years and it’s also becoming the place for conference tournaments out west, but no one was on that bandwagon before the West Coast Conference was and it’s become one of the best tournaments to watch overall. 2012 promises to be very interesting as the addition of BYU to the conference fold has made the top of this league even more competitive.
Just how competitive was the WCC? Well the top 4 teams were only separated by 3 games with regular season champion Saint Mary’s winning with a 14-2 conference record and a 25-5 overall record.
Don’t sleep on the three teams below the Gaels though as Gonzaga finished 13-3, newcomer BYU was 12-4 and 4th place Loyola Marymount went 11-5 and all those teams were involved in knocking each other off in conference play.
With the structure off the tournament it should be rather easy for the top 4 to make a run to the semi’s, but one team on the lower end of the bracket that may be capable of making a run are the Dons of San Francisco as they did take down Gonzaga and were 8-8 in conference play.
The game to watch for me is a possible semi-final matchup between Gonzaga and BYU. They split the regular season series and many wondered what a truly healthy Noah Hartsock would’ve had on the game last week that the Bulldogs won.
Picks & Predictions:
Champion: Mike: Gonzaga – Andy: BYU
Sleeper: Mike: San Francisco – Andy: Loyola Marymount
MVP: Well I could see any one of three players winning it really and they are Noah Hartsock (BYU), Matthew Dellavadova (Saint Mary’s), or Elias Harris (Gonzaga). Since I picked the Cougars to win my money is on Hartsock
Tournament Schedule * all times Pacific
1st Round- Feb. 29th
#8 Portland vs. #9 Santa Clara 6pm (wccsports.com)
2nd Round – March 1st
#5 San Francisco vs. 8/9 Winner 6pm BYUtv
#6 San Diego vs. #7 Pepperdine 8pm BYUtv
Quarterfinals – March 2nd
5/8/9 Winner vs. #4 Loyola Marymount 6pm (ESPNU)
6/7 Winner vs. #3 BYU 8pm (ESPNU)
Semifinals – March 3rd
4/5/8/9 Winner vs. #1 Sain Mary’s 6pm (ESPN2)
3/6/7/ Winner vs. #2 Gonzaga 8pm (ESPN2)
Final – March 4th
Semi #1 Winner vs. Semi ##2 Winner – 6pm (ESPN)
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