There has been a changing of the guard in the West Coast Conference.
The Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team won its second-straight outright regular-season championship this season. Gonzaga won six straight titles between 2016 and 2022, and the Bulldogs and Gaels shared the championship in 2023.
Now the Gaels (27-4, 17-1 WCC) are looking for their second-straight WCC Basketball Tournament title. The tournament begins on Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The championship game is scheduled for March 11 at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN. All games in the tournament will be televised on ESPN’s network of channels.
Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga (23-8, 14-4) own the top two seeds in the tournament, which come with a quadruple bye. Neither will play until the semifinals on Monday. San Francisco (23-8, 13-5) is the No. 3 seed, and Santa Clara (20-11, 12-6) is No. 4. Neither will take the court until the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Oregon State is the No. 5 seed, followed by Washington State, Loyola Marymount, Portland, and Pepperdine. Pacific and San Diego earned the final two spots and will face each other in the first round on Thursday.
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WCC Basketball Tournament Odds
| Team | BetMGM Odds |
| Gonzaga | -130 |
| Saint Mary’s | -135 |
| Santa Clara | +1700 |
| San Francisco | +2500 |
| Oregon State | +5000 |
| Washington State | +15000 |
| Loyola Marymount | +25000 |
| Portland | +30000 |
| Pepperdine | +30000 |
| Pacific | +30000 |
| San Diego | +30000 |
Gonzaga is the college basketball betting odds favorite to win the tournament as of March 5, according to BetMGM.
West Coast Conference Tournament Prediction
I predict Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga will meet for the third time this season in the WCC Basketball Tournament championship game and the Gaels will come away victorious.
Saint Mary’s swept Gonzaga in the regular season for the first time since 2015-16. The Gaels beat the Bulldogs, 62-58, at home on Feb. 1, and they beat Gonzaga, 74-67, in the rematch on Feb. 22.
The Gaels outrebounded the Bulldogs and got some help from WCC Sixth Man of the Year Mikey Lewis in both games. He led Saint Mary’s with a team-high 16 points off the bench in their first meeting and led them again with 18 points in the rematch.
Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga are the top two rebounding teams in the WCC. The Gaels lead the league with 39.5 a game. The Bulldogs are No. 2 with 38.9. Saint Mary’s has a leg up on defense, where it’s giving up just 60.8 points a night, but Gonzaga is scoring a WCC-leading 87.6 points a game.
Saint Mary’s almost swept the WCC’s major awards this year. Head coach Randy Bennett won Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year. Point guard Augustas Marciulionis was named Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row, Mitchell Saxen was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row, and forward Paulius Murauskas was named Newcomer of the Year. The only award the Gaels didn’t take home was Freshman of the Year, which went to Portland’s Austin Rapp.
If there’s a dark horse that has a chance to knock Saint Mary’s or Gonzaga off, it’s Santa Clara, which ranks No. 2 in the WCC with 81.5 points a night and leads the conference with 335 made 3-pointers and a .378 3-point percentage. Washington State is No. 2 in the conference with 270 made 3-pointers.
Santa Clara beat then-No. 16 Gonzaga, 103-99, on Jan. 18, but the Broncos lost the rematch. They dropped both games against Saint Mary’s this season.
