West Coast
Dates: March 7th-12th
Location: Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV
Top seed: Saint Mary's Gaels
Winner: Gonzaga Bulldogs
Was there ever any doubt yes, the Bulldogs didn’t win the regular season in the West Coast and entered as a two seed, but they are still a talented team who has picked it up over the last few weeks to even earn themselves a good shot at an at large. St. Mary’s has won a ton of games and they are ready for a loss to reset themselves heading into the NCAA tournament, but we all knew coach Mark Few was going to get Gonzaga playing like they are capable.
They don’t shoot the ball all that well, their frontcourt doesn’t have nearly what they had in the past, but their backcourt does most of the heavy lifting. Gonzaga belongs in the NCAA tournament, and they have made it. Will they continue their Sweet 16 streak?
Sleeper: Santa Clara Broncos
There is not a team outside of the top two who are going to win the league because no one is good enough but the Broncos get the nod here for the sleeper. Santa Clara is the only team outside of Saint Mary’s to beat Gonzaga and they do have a few things they can do to give teams a problem. The Broncos have a great backcourt led by Adama Bal. They shoot the ball well from three and have two guards who can pass and get the ball inside to their big men for easy baskets.
Santa Clara can pose matchup problems for the two top teams if they are making shots. They are talent-deficient when it comes to the top of the league but with a perfect storm, Santa Clara could make some significant noise in the tournament.