BricksIt Weekly
Welcome to the WCC
With Gonzaga gone, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara are the ones to catch
Saint Mary's rates 28th nationally in our model and Santa Clara 57th. Nobody else in the league is inside the top 100.
By the Hardwood Bricks desk
Hardwood Bricks now covers the West Coast Conference, ten schools from Seattle to San Diego plus Stockton and Denver, which is new to the league this season. Every game gets a preview, a recap, a line history and a spot in our ratings.
Saint Mary's is the early leader in our ratings at 28th nationally. The Gaels are 3-1, and the loss was 96-95 in overtime to Nevada on a neutral floor.
Santa Clara is 4-0 and rates 57th. The Broncos won their first road game, 76-71 at North Texas, as 1.5-point favorites.
San Francisco is also unbeaten at 3-0, though it rates 140th. Pacific (106th) has the league's best road result, a 63-52 win at Bradley as a short underdog.
The bottom half is tight and has lost some close ones. Loyola Marymount lost 96-95 to Queens, Seattle U lost 74-73 at Hawai'i, and Portland lost 94-88 in double overtime to East Texas A&M on Saturday.
Denver's start
The Pioneers are 0-2 in their first WCC season, with road losses at Wisconsin and UC Riverside.
Portland's scoring
The Pilots scored 133 and 130 against non-D-I opponents and won 73-66 at Hawai'i as 7.5-point underdogs.
San Diego's overtime
The Toreros beat Tarleton State 96-90 in overtime and lost by eight at Colorado as 12.5-point underdogs.
Next year
UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara join the WCC in 2027-28. Until then they stay in our Big West edition.
By the numbers
The pecking order
Our model's rating for every WCC team: points better or worse than an average Division I team over 100 possessions. Record alongside.