Bracketology Bubble Watch: Could WCC get more bids than the ACC?
By Bryan Mauro
West Coast
Locks
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Gonzaga has been here before, they are the best team in the league and one of the best teams in the country. They are going to be the one seed in the west and are one of the favorites to win the National Title. They have the top NET in the country and have won three quad 1 games this year. Gonzaga is in, can afford one or two losses, and still get a one seed in the NCAA tournament.
They are likely going to make the national final again. They are absolutely a blue blood program and play and recruit like it. It also is going to help their cause that the WCC currently has more top 40 teams than the ACC does which shows just how good that conference has been this year.
On the Bubble
Saint Mary’s Gaels
The West Coast Conference is likely going to get three teams in the NCAA tournament but it shouldn’t surprise you if they do get four teams in as they do have four teams who are deserving of a bid.
The Gaels are a team that was way higher on this year than anyone else was. The trouble was no one knew what to expect from Saint Mary’s, they returned their entire team from last year but that team last year was not a good shooting team and they were mediocre. That has changed this year they can shoot and they are, at least for my money, the best mid-major program not named Gonzaga in the country.
They have a NET of 22, have two quad 1 wins. They have yet to play Gonzaga, but if they can get one against the Bulldogs they are going to be a lock. The Gaels probably make the tournament anyway.
San Francisco Dons
The Dons are arguably the most decorated program overall in WCC history, except most of us were not alive to see it. San Francisco finally looks like a team that is going to make the tournament and they may have finally gotten their signature win to keep them alive on the bubble. They have as many quad 1 wins as Gonzaga, they have a NET in the upper 30’s and may only lose one more game for the rest of the season.
San Francisco is a team that can beat Gonzaga when they play them at the end of the month and if they do that the WCC is going to guarantee they get at least three teams in the tournament.
BYU Cougars
Two weeks ago BYU looked like they were close to being locked into the tournament then, they went out and promptly lost three games in a row, and in that losing streak, they took a quad 4 loss which is killer on the bubble. BYU is 3-1 in the quad 1 games and has a NET in the low 30’s.
Next. Predicting Conference POY Awards. dark
They already have a win over San Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Oregon, San Diego State, and Liberty. All of those teams are either in the tournament or will be discussed by the tournament committee. The Cougars seem disconnected right now and if they don’t right the ship quickly they can slowly find themselves on the wrong side of the bubble.