WCC Tournament Preview: Zags shoot to take home both titles

Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball teams are set to make their annual March pilgrimage to Las Vegas in the coming days.

The West Coast Conference Tournament tips off on Thursday, though Zag fans have to wait until Monday to see their Bulldogs take the court at Orleans Arena. The reward for earning a top-two seed in the tournament for both squads is a bye into the semifinal round, putting them just one win away from Tuesday’s championship games.

MEN’S TOURNAMENT

Thanks to their victory last weekend over Saint Mary’s, the Zags and Gaels shared the WCC regular season title. With identical 14-2 records, tournament seeding came down to tiebreakers. Both teams lost once to each other and once to LMU, which meant the deciding tiebreaker would be based on NET ranking. 

On Sunday morning, the day after the league’s regular season finale, the Gaels and Zags ranked seventh and ninth respectively in the NET. As a result, Saint Mary’s earned the 1 seed and Gonzaga was seeded No. 2.

The Zags and Gaels are again on a collision course for Tuesday’s title game. They’ve met in the title game 12 times, all since 2004. Each tournament since 2009 has been won by one of those two schools. Gonzaga’s been an even more steady presence in the final, having played in every title game since 1998. Since the tournament moved to Las Vegas in 2009, the Zags have lost just three games, each time to Saint Mary’s in the final.

While the bracket is set up for a rivalry showdown for the trophy, it’s not guaranteed. Eight other teams are looking to play spoiler.

Gonzaga’s side of the bracket consists of 10-seed Pepperdine, 7-seed Pacific, 6-seed San Francisco and 3-seed Santa Clara. Pepperdine will take on Pacific on Thursday, with the winner advancing to face San Francisco on Friday, with that winner advancing to face Santa Clara on Saturday.

Over the six seasons the WCC Tournament has used a five-round format just three semifinals have featured teams that began in the first round. While not unprecedented, it is unlikely that the Zags will face either Pepperdine or Pacific, as the winner of that game would have to knock off San Francisco and Santa Clara en route to the semis.

The Zags are a combined 4-0 against San Francisco and Santa Clara, though both teams have put a real scare into Gonzaga this season. It took late game heroics from Rasir Bolton to give the Zags a two point win over San Francisco in early January. Two days later, a career night from Nolan Hickman helped Gonzaga slip past Santa Clara by five. On the other hand, both games in Spokane were comfortable 18 point wins.

Saint Mary’s has the higher seed, but arguably the harder side of the bracket. The Gaels’ potential semifinal opponents are 9-seed San Diego, 8-seed Portland, 5-seed BYU and 4-seed LMU.

BYU finished fifth-best in the WCC, but according to analytics website KenPom.com, the Cougars rate as the third best team in the league. After over a decade in the WCC, BYU’s on its way to the Big 12 after this season. The Cougars should be hungry to win their first league title in their final opportunity. As for LMU, the Lions own wins over Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga this season. They’re the only WCC team that has proven capable of beating the league’s two best teams this year.

Gonzaga versus Saint Mary’s would be a marquee title game matchup, though the stakes won’t be as high as they have been in previous meetings. Both teams have already done enough to assure their presence in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. For the rest of the teams, however, their path to the Big Dance requires winning out in Vegas.

WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

As outright regular season champions, the Zags earned the top seed in Vegas. Like the men, the women will wait until Monday’s semifinal round before entering the fray.

The Zags’ side of the bracket includes 9-seed Pepperdine, 8-seed Santa Clara, 5-seed BYU and 4-seed San Francisco. While the other side of the bracket features the only two teams besides Gonzaga that posted winning records in league play, the Zags’ side will provide challenges all the same.

With a 17-1 record in league, the Zags’ only blemish came in the form of a 77-72 loss to Santa Clara at the beginning of February. The Broncos would need to win three games in as many days to get to Gonzaga, though, and they’d have to do so by taking down teams that they’re a combined 1-5 against this season.

One of those teams is BYU, which has been the Zags’ most consistent challenger since the Cougars joined the league 12 seasons ago. The Zags and Cougars have met in the past two and three of the past four tournament finals. It’s been a down year for BYU, but the Cougars are a proud program that has won three WCC Tournaments — Gonzaga has won six in that span.

Standing between a Gonzaga versus BYU matchup in the semis is a San Francisco team led by high-scoring junior guard Ioanna Krimili. The 17.3 point per game scorer was named WCC Player of the Week three times this season. The Zags won both games against San Francisco by double digits.

On the other side of the bracket is 2-seed Portland, a program which has found success in four seasons under head coach Michael Meek. The Pilots won the WCC Tournament back in 2020. With a 21-8 record, the Pilots have reached the 20-win mark for the third time in four seasons. Gonzaga won both games against Portland this season, though the Zags trailed in the home game at halftime.

The Zags have played for the championship in 15 of the past 19 tournaments and won 10, including the past two.

UP NEXT

Men

WCC Tournament Semifinal • Mon, March 6 at 8:30 pm • ESPN2

WCC Tournament Final • Tue, March 7 at 6 pm • ESPN

Women

WCC Tournament Semifinal • Mon, March 6 at 12 pm • ROOT Sports 

WCC Tournament Final • Tue, March 7 at 1 pm • ESPNU