The West Coast Conference had a banner 2008, getting three teams into the NCAA tournament. But any hopes of the WCC being a multiple bid conference this season evaporated as quickly as Portland's halftime lead on Thursday night.St. Mary's did snap a two-game losing streak by beating San Francisco on Thursday night. But unless Patrick Mills is a fast healer, there is no chance of the Gaels making the NCAA tournament.
Last year's Cinderella, San Diego, lost at Santa Clara on Thursday night in a battle of the conference's most disappointing underachievers. Let this be a lesson to all of you coaches who achieve success in your first year. Take the money and run. Bill Grier probably wishes that he did.
That left Portland holding the conference's lone hope to challenge Gonzaga. And it happened ... for a half.
But in the end, the Bulldogs have too much depth and rolled for the victory. Too much scoring from Matt Boldin and Jeremy Pargo, while Austin Daye looked pretty good on the boards. Gonzaga -- as pointed out during the ESPN broadcast -- needs to get tougher on the boards. There, however, is nobody in the WCC that will challenge them.
Especially now that the conference tournament is moving to Las Vegas. There will be no opportunity for any team to ride its home court for an upset bid. Though, if you want to think of a sleeper team, keep an eye on Santa Clara. That team really should be much better.
Portland's Nik Raivio is a stud, but he's just not enough to push the Pilots over the top. And Luke Sikma is developing into a nice player. But it's just not going to happen.
And here's a look at some of the other mid-major action.
- Cal State Fullerton welcome former coach Brad Holland back, as Satan's lap dog is currently an assistant at UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos went on a huge run in the first half and looked to continue the Titans misery at home. But somehow Cal State found its stride in the second half and ran Santa Barbara off the court to win its fourth consecutive game. The Titans were 8-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half. You know, this was supposed to be a down year for Cal State that lost four starters from its tournament team from last year. But you know, this team could repeat as conference champs. Believe it.
- Mainly because Long Beach State lost at home to UC Davis. Is Dan Monson already preparing his resume? The 49ers earned a nice BracketBusters game against Wisconsin-Green Bay -- and this is the way they respond. Long Beach obviously hasn't recovered from Cal State rolling into town last week and beating them in front of a soldout crowd. The 49ers are talented, but inconsistent. At least Raiders, I mean Long Beach fans don't have to worry about its team peaking too soon.
- No. 25 Utah State pounded New Mexico State in Logan. I like to make fun of the Aggies' schedule, but nobody is going to beat them up there. It's not happening.
- Louisiana Tech went to Reno and beat Nevada. Utah State isn't getting a lot of help from its conference. The bottom feeders (meaning anytime not named Utah State) are beating each other senseless. And it does nothing to raise the profile of the conference. The Aggies are going to find themselves in a very similar situation to Gonzaga here. Honestly though, what happened to Mark Fox's squad? This is a young team, for sure, but it shouldn't be dropping home games at the Law.
