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NCAA Basketball: Matchups we would’ve loved to see in 2020 NCAA Tournament

By Donovan Darlington

JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 20: The NCAA March Madness logo on the floor during the NCAA Basketball First round practice session at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 20, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 20: The NCAA March Madness logo on the floor during the NCAA Basketball First round practice session at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 20, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 27: TJ Haws #30 of the BYU Cougars gets five from teammate Alex Barcello #4 (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 27: TJ Haws #30 of the BYU Cougars gets five from teammate Alex Barcello #4 (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

Any WCC Matchup

With Gonzaga, BYU, and Saint Mary’s all having solid seasons and receiving bids to the NCAA Tournament, it can be said that the West Coast Conference had one of the most exciting conference races in NCAA basketball. Having the opportunity to see another game between these WCC teams in the NCAA Tournament would have been a great surprise.

In the regular season, Gonzaga won both meetings against Saint Mary’s, then beat them again in the WCC Tournament championship. BYU split its regular-season meetings with both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, then fell to the Gaels in the WCC Tournament semifinals.

NCAA basketball fans have already been able to see that these three teams from the WCC were capable of wreaking havoc on the others, and it would have been great to see it in the NCAA Tournament. Just the opportunity to see the mindset each assumes when going into a game that not only has National Title implications rather than WCC implications would have been very exciting.

In a potential Saint Mary’s vs. Gonzaga match, I expect Saint Mary’s would try to make adjustments once again to make the fourth meeting between the two have a different outcome. Unfortunately, Gonzaga just has too much depth, so I do not things would have changed.

A BYU vs. Saint Mary’s, or a BYU vs. Gonzaga game, on the other hand, would be a different story. In the first scenario, I think Jordan Ford and Saint Mary’s would oust the Cougars in a close one. If BYU matched up with Gonzaga, however, I think BYU, having beaten them last time, would have the momentum to make it an incredible game once again.

In all of the cases in which WCC teams could have matched up, the league is very much Gonzaga’s. Thus, I could not see them losing a conference game in the NCAA Tournament.

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