WCC Basketball: San Francisco's hopes are high after hot start

WCC Basketball: San Francisco’s hopes are high after hot start

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 04: Head coach Kyle Smith of the San Francisco Dons argues an official's call during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Santa Clara Broncos at the Orleans Arena on March 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Members of the San Francisco Dons band perform before the team’s semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs won 88-60. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

It’s been 20 years since San Francisco has been to the Big Dance, but a hot start has the Dons’ hopes as high as ever.

San Francisco is rolling so far this season, winning its first six games in style. If the Dons can keep up their high level of play, especially on defense, they could challenge the status quo in the West Coast Conference. They have a good shot at breaking into the top three – and may even find themselves in the conversation for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.

The West Coast Conference is looking as strong as ever this season, starting with the nation’s current #1 team, Gonzaga. The Zags have dominated the league for the better part of two decades and show no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, his year’s team may be the best that Spokane has ever seen, especially after their strong showing in the Maui Invitational.

After Gonzaga, the fight for runner-up in the league over the past decade has been mostly limited to just two teams: Saint Mary’s and BYU. In fact, since San Diego’s surprise run through the WCC Tournament – and an overtime upset of Connecticut in the first round – no other team in the conference has made it to the Big Dance from this league.

But this season, there are a few teams that are making more noise than usual. In the wake of the NCAA’s initial release of its new NET ratings, Loyola Marymount has been getting some press this week. The Lions are hovering just outside the Top 10 in the NET and ESPN’s Strength of Records rankings. But the predictive models aren’t so keen, with the three most prominent metrics predicting that LMU will ultimately fall outside the Top 100.

On the other hand, San Francisco is a team that has been flying a bit under the radar. For their part, the Dons have won six straight to open the year, including a home victory over a solid Harvard squad. While that game was a low-scoring nail-biter, the rest of their games have been blowouts. And though they really haven’t beaten anyone else of note, all of the metrics are taking notice.

The NET rankings have lots of love for San Francisco, currently ranking them at #22. ESPN lists the Dons’ SOR ranking at #35. But the high marks don’t stop there. Jeff Sagarin’s predictive model currently has USF at an astounding #30. The BPI and KenPom ratings are a little cooler on San Francisco, listing them at #64 and #69, respectively.

Yes, it’s still very early in the season. But enough games have been played that we can start to put a little more stock in the rankings. With that in mind, let’s take a deeper look at this Dons team.