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WCC Basketball: 2023 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Joey Loose

Feb 25, 2023; Spokane, Washington, USA; St. Mary's Gaels guard Alex Ducas (44) shoots the ball against Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga won 77-68. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2023; Spokane, Washington, USA; St. Mary's Gaels guard Alex Ducas (44) shoots the ball against Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga won 77-68. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /
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WCC  St. Mary’s Gaels guard Aidan Mahaney Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Julian Strawther (0) dWCC Basketball Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
WCC  St. Mary’s Gaels guard Aidan Mahaney Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Julian Strawther (0) dWCC Basketball Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /

The WCC Tournament begins in Las Vegas on Thursday; which team will claim the conference’s championship and get that automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament?

When a random college basketball fan thinks about the West Coast Conference, their mind will immediately come to Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have dominated WCC Basketball throughout Mark Few’s 24-year tenure at the school. Gonzaga has won 19 of the last 24 WCC Tournament titles and has experienced success in the Big Dance in many of their recent runs.

While it seems to be a one-man show, Gonzaga is not even the top seed in this year’s tournament, with Saint Mary’s barely edging them out due to the tiebreakers in place. In the last decade, BYU has also been a program in position in the league, though they haven’t won the conference’s tournament and are heading to the Big 12 very soon.

All in all, this has been a league where you expect to see Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s at the very top, with these two teams facing off in the title game in ten of the last fourteen tournaments. Behind them, San Francisco has been sneaky good in recent years, while teams like Loyola Marymount and Portland have been trending in the right direction.

This season has seen teams like Pepperdine really struggle, while Santa Clara has been a welcomed surprise, finishing alone in 3rd place in the conference standings. This is one of those leagues where crazy things could happen in the early rounds of the tournament, but it’s hard to bet against Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s matching up again, especially when they get a triple-bye into the semifinals.

The WCC’s ten teams will battle with that very unique tournament format, where the bottom four teams will face off and then the winners ascend a stepladder format, with the aforementioned top two teams not having to play until the semifinals on Monday. Can anyone really topple either of these two teams?