NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: Texas Tech rises, Baylor and Providence fall
By Joey Loose
24. Saint Mary’s (22-6)
Recently in the rankings, the Gaels get back into national attention after this past week’s success. This team is certainly no Gonzaga, but there’s certainly room in the WCC for multiple ranked teams. Saint Mary’s has actually built a decent resume and should be an at-large team this season; last week certainly helped make that case.
Recovering from that tough loss at Gonzaga, the Gaels bounced back on Thursday night, securing a 69-64 win against San Francisco with a solid defensive effort, getting 22 points from Tommy Kuhse in the process. Ironically, the Gaels got another 69-64 win over the weekend, this time against BYU, with Kuhse scoring 25 points this time. Beating the other two top-tier non-Gonzaga teams is certainly a solid week at Saint Mary’s.
The Gaels now have a pair of wins over San Francisco to go with earlier wins over Oregon, Notre Dame, and Utah State. The resume is sneaky good and the team is playing some good basketball at the right time of year. We don’t know exactly what to expect from these Gaels, but they do get a highly anticipated home date with Gonzaga next week; perhaps we get a taste of what this team is capable of this coming Saturday?