LAS VEGAS — The West Coast Conference is holding its annual men’s basketball Tip-Off media event Thursday at Orleans Arena, site of the 2020 WCC basketball tournament.
Coaches and selected players from the 10 WCC programs, including first-year BYU coach Mark Pope, are scheduled to be in attendance to discuss the upcoming season.
The preseason poll, as voted on by the league’s coaches, and the All-WCC Preseason Team, will be unveiled during the event.
BYU has been picked to finish third the past two seasons in the preseason poll. In their seven seasons as members of the conference, the Cougars have never been picked to finish higher than second or lower than third.
In 2018-19, the WCC was ranked eighth among Division I conferences in the KenPom rankings.
Last season, the WCC sent multiple teams (Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s) to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in eight seasons. The Zags played in their 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament and advanced to their fifth consecutive Sweet 16 and third Elite Eight appearance since 2015. Gonzaga ended up losing to eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Texas Tech.
The Zags went 16-0 last season in WCC play. It marks the first time a WCC team has gone unbeaten in conference play since Gonzaga accomplished the feat in 2013.
Saint Mary’s played in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since 2010 after knocking off top-ranked Gonzaga in the WCC championship game. The Gaels beat defending national champion Villanova in the NCAA Tournament.
San Diego recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time as a Division I program and earned its first NIT berth. Loyola Marymount advanced to the semifinals of the CBI Tournament.
Three WCC coaches — Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett, LMU’s Mike Dunlap and Pepperdine’s Lorenzo Romar — eclipsed the 400-career coaching victories milestone last year.
Gonzaga opens the 2020 league schedule on a 32-game WCC road winning streak, which is the longest in NCAA Division I history.
This season marks the second season of the 16-game WCC schedule format. Previously, the league had an 18-game league schedule but it was reduced to allow teams more opportunities to schedule high-profile nonconference games and bolster postseason resumes.