Busting Brackets
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WCC Basketball: Previewing the final week of games

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Gonzaga Bulldogs mascot Spike the Bulldog appears on the court before the team's game against the Saint Mary's Gaels in the championship game of the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena March 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary's won 78-74 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Gonzaga Bulldogs mascot Spike the Bulldog appears on the court before the team's game against the Saint Mary's Gaels in the championship game of the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena March 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary's won 78-74 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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With one week remaining in WCC regular-season play, every single game has significance for title hopes and tournament seeding.

Then there was one.

WCC basketball is heading into the final week of regular-season play, before heading to Las Vegas for the conference tournament next weekend, and every game this week has seeding implications for Sin City.

Going into the final two games for each team, only one squad knows what their seed will be in Vegas. The rest will have to play out the week to see where they slot in the bracket.

Let’s take a look at each team to see where they stand and where they could end up as far as seeding is concerned.

Related Story: History will be made from the mid-majors

Gonzaga (15-1 WCC)

(@ San Diego, @ BYU)

If the Bulldogs win out, they claim the regular-season title outright and the number one seed. A win against San Diego on Thursday clinches the top spot in the bracket and at least a share of the regular-season title.

Two losses though, and it opens the door for St. Mary’s to dethrone the defending champs and claim that first seed in Las Vegas. Neither game is necessarily a cakewalk either.

St. Mary’s (14-2 WCC)

(vs. Pepperdine, vs. Santa Clara)

The Gaels can’t fall any lower than the two seed, but they’ll need some help to overcome Gonzaga and jump to the number one spot.

St. Mary’s has to win both of their games, and hope that the Zags lose to the Toreros on Thursday night. If Gonzaga loses either game though, the Gaels get a share of the regular-season title.

BYU (10-6 WCC)

(@ Portland, vs. Gonzaga)

The Cougars have never finished lower than third place since entering the WCC, but that’s in jeopardy this year. They could finish as low as fifth if they lose both games and things fall into place for both Pacific and San Diego.

If BYU finishes tied with the Tigers, they’ll have the tiebreaker unless San Diego finishes alone in fifth place.

Pacific (9-7 WCC)

(vs. San Francisco, at Loyola Marymount)

The Tigers have a good shot to be the first team to earn a top-3 seed since BYU entered the league. For that to happen, they’ll have to win both games and hope for things to go wrong for the Cougars and right for San Diego.

If they lose both games, they could end up as low as the sixth seed in Vegas.

San Diego (8-8 WCC)

(vs. Gonzaga, @ San Francisco)

The Toreros have two key games this week. If they can win both, including an upset over Gonzaga, they could finish as high as third.

On the flip side, losing both could drop them to the seventh seed and into one of the play-in games in Vegas. The game against the Dons on Saturday will be huge for San Diego’s seeding.

Santa Clara (8-8 WCC)

(vs. Loyola Marymount, @ St. Mary’s)

The Broncos could finish anywhere from fourth to seventh. If they can beat LMU on Thursday, they’ll avoid that dreaded seventh spot and an at-large game.

An improbably win over the Gaels on Saturday can move them as high as fourth, mainly depending on how Pacific’s week plays out.

San Francisco (8-8 WCC)

(@ Pacific, vs. San Diego)

If the Dons knock off Pacific on Thursday, they’ll take on the Toreros on Saturday to clinch the fourth seed in the tournament. That’s the best-case scenario.

If they lose both, they’ll fall to seventh, earning a play-in game against LMU next Friday. That’s the worst-case. Both the five and six seeds are still in play for San Francisco as well.

Portland (4-12 WCC)

(vs. BYU, @ Pepperdine)

The Pilots can’t move any higher than their current eighth spot, and they can’t go move any lower than ninth. As a result, they already know who they’ll be playing in next Friday’s play-in game: Loyola Marymount.

They can play spoiler to BYU, though, and create a whole lot of chaos heading into Saturday if they knock off the Cougars.

Loyola Marymount (3-13 WCC)

(@ Santa Clara, vs. Pacific)

With their two wins over Pepperdine, they can’t be passed by the Waves. They know they’ll play Portland to tip-off the tournament next Friday.

If they can beat the Broncos and/or the Tigers, they’ll cause a lot of turmoil higher up in the standings.

Next: 10 teams to avoid picking in March

Pepperdine (1-15 WCC)

(@ St. Mary’s, vs. Portland)

The Waves lost twice to LMU, so they can’t climb out of the WCC cellar. They’re the only team that knows their seed headed into Las Vegas, they just don’t know who they’ll play yet.

They can still play the spoiler role, especially if they can pull of a shocker against the Gaels on Thursday.