Busting Brackets
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WCC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Connor Gilbert

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mark Pope of the BYU Cougars applauds his players as he calls in a play during the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 26, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Mark Pope of the BYU Cougars applauds his players as he calls in a play during the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 26, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 02: Mattias Markusson #14 of the Loyola Marymount Lions (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 02: Mattias Markusson #14 of the Loyola Marymount Lions (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) /

7. Loyola Marymount

Last season: 11-21 (4-12), 8th place

The Lions’ youth is intriguing this time of year — they only graduated one starter with nine underclassmen on the roster last season, and Seikou Sisoho Jawara (4.4 points,  0.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists last year) is the only other departure after he left for Weber State.

Eli Scott is rapidly becoming a star in the league after putting up career-highs in every statistical category last year on top of an All-WCC nod, and his final year will likely be more of the same. As a senior, his role and freedom with the ball will expand far beyond the level he’s worked with in the past.

The prove-it year for LMU will be next year when that enormous freshman class is juniors, but the Lions will likely make some progress along that road this year.

6. Santa Clara

Last season: 20-13 (6-10), 7th place

Out of any team in the league, Santa Clara has the most carryover from last year’s team, which had no seniors and an average of 1.1 years of college experience per player. But just like USF, they were bitten by the transfer bug when rising junior Trey Wertz decided to transfer to Notre Dame for his final two years of eligibility. Wertz averaged 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Broncos last season, good for second in scoring behind Josip Vrankic.

Wertz went through multiple hot scoring streaks throughout the season and displayed star potential in a few games (33 vs. Jackson State, 28 vs. USC and 20 vs. BYU). Losing him is a momentum killer for the program, but there’s still plenty to build off of from last year.

In his final year, Vrankic might be able to make a case for an All-WCC team at the end of the season should the Broncos finish in the top half of the league. He’s not the flashiest scorer, but like Wertz has had a few games where he dominated from start to finish in multiple ways. This team will likely improve more throughout the season than over any offseason period.