WCC Basketball power rankings: Can anyone challenge the big 3 teams?

By Andy Patton | Dec 13, 2019

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: Head coach Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs reacts during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional game against the Florida State Seminoles at Honda Center on March 28, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 03: Zafir Williams #1 of the Loyola Marymount Lions (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

10. Portland Pilots (6-3) KenPom: 235

Portland may be dead last in Ken Pom ratings, by a fair amount, but fans should still be encouraged by the team’s 6-3 record, even if the competition hasn’t been great.

The Pilots, now in their fourth year under Portland legend Terry Porter, have played a myriad of D3 opponents and rather bad D1 schools, but they do have victories over UC-Davis, San Jose State and Maine, along with a hard-fought loss to USC, 76-65.

They also lost to SeattleU and Cal-State Northridge, but a Portland team that did not earn a single conference win last year, things are indeed looking up.

Grad transfer Isaiah White, formerly at UNC-Asheville and Maine, has been a big part of that. The combo guard is averaging 14.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a team-leading 1.3 blocks per game.

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The do-it-all guard is joined by Jojo Walker, who is averaging 13.3 points and shooting 42.1 percent from downtown, as well as freshman Chase Adams, a five-foot-seven point guard averaging just 4.4 points but 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

The Pilots will likely find themselves scraping the bottom of the barrel in the WCC again once conference play begins, but at least things are starting to trend in the right direction for Porter and company on the bluff.

9. Loyola Marymount Lions (4-5) KenPom: 177

As of this writing, LMU, USD, and Pacific are back-to-back-to-back in KenPom’s rating system, almost making it a crapshoot as to how to order them for these power rankings.

LMU is one spot ahead of San Diego, but I felt USD’s quality of opponent slightly topped the Lions, whose best victory is against Southern Utah (172).

The Lions have lost close games to Colorado and Nevada, which is a good sign, but ultimately this team doesn’t have enough firepower to get out of the cellar in the WCC.

Eli Scott (15.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists) is very solid, leading the team in all three categories, but they need more from the supporting cast and I don’t really see it happening anytime soon.