WCC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

After two straight seasons of walking away with the WCC Basketball Championship, Gonzaga looks like a favorite to be even more dominant. What teams will be the most competitive behind the Zags in the 2018-19 season?

Last season was a major disappointment for the WCC. Gonzaga had their season end after an injury to Killian Tillie kept him out of their Sweet Sixteen loss to Florida Stat, Saint Mary’s failed to earn an NCAA title bid when their poor non-conference schedule overrode their Top 25 finish in the AP Poll, BYU had its worst conference record since joining the WCC, and the bottom of the conference was incredibly bad.

Despite this, the middle of the conference was incredibly competitive. Three teams – Pacific, San Francisco, and San Diego – tied for fourth with a 9-9 record, while Santa Clara finished just a game back.

This year, while Gonzaga could have the best team in basketball, the WCC should be more competitive behind them. BYU appears to be the clear choice for second, but there are plenty of teams who could surprise. In fact, other than Saint Mary’s, the turnover in the WCC is not as high as it has been in years past.

This is not going to be another race between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s at the top of the conference, but instead, it will be a battle among five or six capable teams for second place, with a few teams having the schedule to justify a potential NCAA Tournament bid.

With Gonzaga being a premier team in the NCAA it will be easy to overlook the rest of the conference. Let’s take a look at our WCC basketball preseason projections for the 2018-19 season!