Erick Doxey
Gonzaga meets its main rival Saint Mary's on Saturday in the Kennel.
This stretch is about as good as it gets for Gonzaga fans inside of West Coast Conference play. In the past decade, Gonzaga has been utterly dominant. In that span only BYU and Saint Mary’s have challenged the Zags in any meaningful way.
BYU’s time as a challenger is over. Saint Mary’s, on the other hand, lives on just like a true rival should.
On Saturday the Zags are set to host the Gaels in what will, once again, be the biggest WCC game of the year. Zags versus Gaels, as always, is the top draw when it comes to this league.
Pepperdine was Gonzaga’s original rival in the years after the Zags’ Cinderella run to the 1999 Elite Eight. After that, Saint Mary’s stepped up. But soon after, BYU joined the league. The thing is, the only team to ever actually win the league over Gonzaga is Saint Mary’s, and they’ve done it a bunch of times. Pepperdine was good once upon a time, and BYU thinks incredibly highly of itself, but neither of those teams have knocked the Zags off. Saint Mary’s has, and more than once. When they were clearly better and, frankly, when they were much worse as well.
Which is why Saturday’s game against the Gaels is so big.
Of all Gonzaga’s rivals, none can match what they’ve done when it comes to derailing the Zags. None can match them when it comes to pulling off upsets. They’ve won the WCC regular season outright. They’ve won the WCC Tournament multiple times. Literally nobody else has done that, not even BYU has done it, since San Diego won the tournament on their home floor in 2008.
Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s is the preeminent rivalry out west. No matter how you define it, these two teams and their rivalry with each other form the best series of all West Coast on West Coast teams.
Gonzaga has played seven conference games all-time in which they and their opponent have been ranked in the AP Top 25. Saint Mary’s, ranked No. 22, has been involved in six of those seven. If the currently No. 2 Zags are playing a top team from their league, history says they’re playing Saint Mary’s. This Saturday, guess who they’re playing.
Yep, it’s the Gaels. As it was, as it is, and as it always will be. It’s Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s.
On one hand, this is the best the WCC has ever been. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, BYU and San Francisco all look poised, at this moment, to make the NCAA Tournament. This league has never had four teams make the dance. It’s looking like that’s more likely than not, but if it doesn’t happen, it’s BYU who will fall short. And BYU is the team that recently has given Gonzaga more trouble than SMC.
But here we are, in the Spring of 2022, and Saint Mary’s is again the team nipping at Gonzaga’s ankles. It’s the Gaels who are fighting to take down Gonzaga. That’s a rivalry. No matter what, they’re there. And they’re there this season.
If you want to talk about rivalries; if you want to talk about who is atop the WCC, you start with these two teams. Nobody else is even close.
UP NEXT
Gonzaga hosts lowly Pacific (7-15; 2-6) on Thursday at 6 p.m. in a game that will air on CBS Sports Network. After that it’s the big rivalry game hosting No. 22 Saint Mary’s (19-4; 7-1) in The Kennel at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
