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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON RANKINGS
- Gonzaga
- Saint Mary’s
- BYU
- Pepperdine
- Santa Clara
- San Francisco
- LMU
- Pacific
- San Diego
- Portland
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL WCC TEAM
Yoeli Childs – BYU, SR F
Tahj Eaddy – Santa Clara, JR G
Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine, SO F
Malik Fitts – Saint Mary’s, JR F
Jordan Ford – Saint Mary’s, SR, G
TJ Haws – BYU, SR G
Charles Minlend – San Francisco, JR G
Colbey Ross – Pepperdine, JR G
Killian Tillie – Gonzaga, SR F
Jahlil Tripp – Pacific, SR G
COMMENTS FROM DAVID. Like everyone else, I was shocked…SHOCKED, I SAY!!…to see that Gonzaga was picked to finish first at Media Day. We reached out to the WCC to make sure this wasn’t some sort of error. It’s not. The Zags are the preseason favorite to finish in first place.
All kidding aside, I don’t think everyone fully appreciates how good Gonzaga has been the last five years. They’ve won 30+ games in four of the past five years, been to five straight Sweet Sixteens, and have been past the Sweet Sixteen three of the past four years. I haven’t counted the number of weeks they’ve spent ranked in the top ten, but it’s a lot. It may actually be the most of any team in college basketball.
Now as for this year, four starters are gone from last year, and while they will still obviously be good and will remain in the rankings and nationally relevant, will they continue to be a Final Four caliber team like they have been for the better part of the last five years?? That’s tough to say. It looks like they will continue to have mostly upperclassmen in the starting line up, and it’s not crazy to think that the four new starters will embrace their new roles, but for three of the last four years HoopsHD has projected the Zags to be a Final Four team. I don’t think I will be making that projection this year.
Saint Mary’s was good last year and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after upsetting previously mentioned Gonzaga in the WCC Championship game. They should be even better this year with four starters back to help make up what appears to be a very strong and balanced frontcourt and backcourt. Their season opener against Wisconsin is a huge game for both teams that should tell us something about the Gaels right out of the gate.
As for the rest of the league, it hasn’t quite yet caught up to the Zags and Saint Mary’s, but the overall roster of coaches is impressive and you get the sense that a lot of them are moving in the right direction.
BYU is under new leadership as Mark Pope takes the reigns. With three starters back the Cougars should improve from last season and make a push for either the NIT or the NCAA.
LMU got off to an 11-1 start a year ago and was one of the teams that really grabbed our attention, especially since they only won 10 games against D-1 teams the year before. With three starters back this year, including what should be a really strong frontcourt, they could be a sleeper team this season
San Francisco was a 20+ win team a year ago that got off to a very exciting start and at one point seemed to be positioning themselves for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They tapered off some down the stretch, but overall it was still a big year for the Dons and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them build on that this year.
San Diego was another 20+ win team from a year ago. The problem is that the Toreros are going to be rebuilding this year with almost all of their starters being gone
Herb Sendek managed a winning record last year at Santa Clara and has shown steady improvement since he arrived there. With three starters back that trend could continue.
Pepperdine, Pacific, and Portland have work to do…