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WEST COAST MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Gonzaga
- BYU
- Saint Mary’s
- LMU
- San Francisco
- Santa Clara
- Pepperdine
- Pacific
- San Diego
- Portland
WEST COAST MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:
-Alex Barcello – SR,G -BYU
-Jamaree Bouyea – SR,G – San Francisco
-Logan Johnson – SR, G – Saint Mary’s
-Caleb Lohner – SO, F – BYU
-Andrew Nembhard – SR, G – Gonzaga
-Eli Scott – SR, G/F – LMU
-Khalil Shabazz – SR, G – San Francisco
-Drew Timme – JR, F – Gonzaga
-Josip Vrankic – SR, F – Santa Clara
-Jalen Williams – JR, G – Santa Clara
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Gonzaga has had five straight 30+ win seasons. I’m not sure if that has ever been done before in the history of college basketball. To be fair, the UCLA teams in the 1960s/1970s played fewer games and most likely would have done it, but that is a hell of a run. They’ve also been the national runner-up twice during that run. So, the fact that they are beginning this season ranked #1 shouldn’t be a surprise. They could hold on to that ranking for quite a while. They are once again a solid Final Four/national title contender. They did lose some key players but appeared to have just reloaded on talent. It is very likely that they will once again just run away from the rest of the conference.
-BYU will be moving on to the Big 12 after this season. As for this season, they are coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance from a year ago and despite losing three starters I like their chances to get back there this year. Two of their top three scorers are back and they appear to have some guys who are ready to step in to bigger roles.
-We are used to seeing Saint Mary’s near the top of the standings and inside the NCAA Tournament bubble, but they had a bit of a down year last year and are looking to bounce back. All five starters are back so the experience should help them out. They also have some key players back that they lost to injury last season so expect to see quite a bit of improvement out of the Gaels.
-After four straight 20+ win seasons, San Francisco took a step back last season winning just 11 games overall and finishing just 4-9 in WCC play. They do have some experience back but they’ll need to show substantial improvement if they want to get back in the top half of the standings and contend for a postseason bid. Now having said that, it wouldn’t shock me at all if they were able to make huge improvements. Truth be told I’m a little surprised that they’re not getting more preseason love. They appear to have a very strong backcourt and a good enough frontcourt to where they can make quite a bit of noise this year.
-LMU is another team with all five starters back. They had a nice season last year where they finished third and were looking pretty good at the end of the season. This is a program that appears to be heading in the right direction and could take another big step forward this year.
-I seem to pick Santa Clara as a dark horse every year, and while I think they do have potential they haven’t ever come through the way that I thought they would. They have three double-digit scoring starters back and some key transfers, as well as some guys who can step into bigger roles. They have all the ingredients of being a dark horse again this year!! I guess I haven’t learned my lesson because I’m going to once again pick them as a dark horse.
-Pepperdine was a very respectable 7-6 in the league last year and with three starters back they shouldn’t be completely dismissed or overlooked. They also add some key transfers which should help them out.
-Pacific is coming off a 9-9 season, but they did win three of their last four heading into the conference tournament and with three starters back they may be able to continue that momentum into this season. They have a fairly solid backcourt and will look to get some help from some transfer players.
-Portland and San Diego are bringing up the rear. Portland didn’t win a single game last year and with all five starters gone get the chance to kind of reboot. San Diego returns three starters from a team that won just two conference games a year ago, one of which was against…Portland.