It was a wild week in college basketball and an even more wild week in the West Coast Conference. We thought that the conference had basically mellowed out after the Mills injury but the Toreros of San Diego have been making some moves; sadly for them it has been in the wrong direction. USD has lost six of their last seven, including one very astonishing loss. The good news is that EDZ and I still agree on the conference power rankings. Here they are...
| Rank |
Slipper Still Fits' Rank |
Movement |
| 1 | Gonzaga Bulldogs (19-5) | - |
| 2 | St. Mary's Gaels (20-5) | +2 |
| 3 | Portland Pilots (16-9) | -1 |
| 4 | Santa Clara Broncos (14-14) | -1 |
| 5 | Pepperdine Waves (8-18) |
+1 |
| 6 | San Francisco Dons (9-17) | +1 |
| 7 | Loyola Marymount Lions (2-24) |
+1 |
| 8 | San Diego Toreros (13-13) |
-3 |
continue reading after the jump for the rankings explained...
Everydayezag explains the rankings...
- Gonzaga (19-5; 10-0): Gonzaga survived two poor performances in Northern California and now have pretty much wrapped up the WCC title. This team has a tremendous opportunity to work out the kinks and build some tremendous confidence when they host LMU and Pepperdine this week.
- St. Mary's (20-5; 7-4): Despite going 1-1 this week, I think St. Mary's was the most impressive team in the WCC. It looks like Randy Bennett has helped this team find its identity without Patty Mills, and the 77-65 dismantling of Portland was one of the most impressive performances from the Gaels this season.
- Portland (16-9; 7-3): The Pilots were 20 minutes away from staking their claim as the second best team in the WCC. However, a 31-29 halftime lead disappeared, and St. Mary's ran the Pilots off the court in the 77-65 defeat. It's vital that this Portland takes care of business against the Southern California schools, as they are still in control of their destiny.
- Santa Clara (14-14; 6-5): The most stunning result of this past week was Santa Clara losing to Pepperdine in Malibu. The Broncos led by 15 points in the second half, but threw away the game down the stretch. However, Santa Clara has won 7 out of 8, and is probably playing the best basketball in the conference outside of Gonzaga.
- Pepperdine (8-18; 5-5): I hope WCC fans recognize the tremendous turn around that is occurring at Pepperdine. After struggling for nearly the entire season, the Waves have now won 3 straight WCC games and could conceivably finish in the top half of the conference. The sweep of Santa Clara and USD last week was tremendous, and this team has a truly bright future.
- USF (9-17; 1-10) Perhaps disciplining 4 of his players, including Manny Quezada, was the move that Rex Walters needed to make to rejuvenate this team. Although they were swept last week, the Dons were competitive in losses to Portland and Gonzaga. Hopefully this team will continue to play hard the rest of the way, and maybe secure a couple of confidence boosting wins.
- LMU (2-24; 1-9): There is no denying that this is one of the worst teams in college basketball, but it's still fantastic to see the Lions get their first win in WCC play. Credit must go to the terrific Vernon Teal, who scored 21 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 8 assists in the win over USD.
- USD (13-13; 5-6): If you lose to LMU, you're automatically relegated to this spot in the power rankings for at least a week.