SALT LAKE CITY — The West Coast Conference is grabbing attention this year with a trio of teams expected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Would three NCAA teams make the WCC a power conference in the college basketball world, though?
ESPN’s Paul Sabin explores that topic, making the argument, using ESPN’s BPI metric, in favor of the WCC, which is traditionally seen as a mid-major.
“The traditional basketball ‘major’ conferences of the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC have at least three teams with at least a 10% chance to reach the Sweet 16, according to BPI,” Sabin wrote. “The only other conference that can make the same claim is the one that Gonzaga has dominated for the better part of two decades. In fact, BPI projects the WCC to get more teams, on average, to the Sweet 16 than the Pac-12 or SEC.”
BYU’s resurgence this season has helped the image of the WCC, with the Cougars expected to make their first NCAA Tournament in five years. Mark Pope has BYU at 23-7 this season, with the 91-78 win over then-No. 2 Gonzaga last weekend serving as the team’s crowning achievement on its NCAA resume.
The Zags, of course, are a national power and annual NCAA participant under longtime coach Mark Few. Saint Mary’s, too, is expected to make the NCAAs.
Sabin noted the competitiveness between the three programs during WCC play. BYU split its season series with both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, while the Zags won their first game against the Gaels and the two teams play this Saturday.
It was nonconference play, too, that’s helped provide a strong resume for each of the three teams to make the NCAAs. In out-of-league play, the Cougars beat Houston on the road and Utah State, UCLA and Virginia Tech on neutral floors.
“Each of these teams has taken advantage of this season’s new setup, posting strong nonconference resumes. BYU and Saint Mary’s have harder nonconference strengths of schedule this season than both had on average from 2011-2018,” Sabin wrote. “Gonzaga’s drop-off in nonconference SOS has more to do with down seasons from North Carolina, Texas A&M and Washington than Gonzaga’s eagerness to play quality teams.”