2018-19 #WCChoops Schedule | Week One #WCChoops Player of the Week
By John Crumpacker
#WCChoops Columnist
While its non-conference schedule is not quite nonpareil, the slate of basketball games that West Coast Conference men’s teams will play in November and December is as beefy as a Philly cheesesteak sandwich; Pat’s or Geno’s, take your pick.
That’s no accident.
In a concerted effort to try to help teams other than the WCC Tournament champion secure at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, the WCC is reducing its conference games from 18 to 16 so schools can schedule more weighty opponents in November and December. Conference play begins Jan. 3.
This paradigm shift in its approach to scheduling was the result of a June 2017 meeting WCC head coaches had with ESPN’s much-respected “bracketologist’’ Joe Lunardi, whose trade involves predicting and projecting which teams might make the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament. The goal is for each conference team to improve its RPI number, the metric used by the NCAA to determine a school’s tournament worthiness.
Except it’s not the RPI anymore. The new acronym is NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool. Since basketball comes down to putting ball through net, the new term is certainly appropriate. Rest in peace, Ratings Power Index.
“The reasoning behind it is to become a multiple-bid league,’’ Portland coach Terry Porter said. “I like that. It helps them separate themselves (on Selection Sunday).’’
WCC officials realized something had to be done when five conference teams won 20 or more games in 2017-18 and only tournament champion Gonzaga (32-5) advanced to the NCAA tourney. Saint Mary’s (30-6) and BYU (24-11) had to settle for the NIT while San Francisco (22-17) made it to the best-of-three finals of the CBI and San Diego (20-14) advanced to the CIT quarterfinals.
While the revised scheduling approach is designed to raise the NET of the entire conference, Saint Mary’s and BYU could be the biggest beneficiaries. The schools will gather for a double-header on Dec. 15 in Las Vegas, with the Cougars facing UNLV at 5:30 p.m. and the Gaels taking on LSU at 7:30.
Elsewhere on the non-conference docket, BYU will play Nevada, Utah, San Diego State and Mississippi State. Saint Mary’s has New Mexico, New Mexico State, Harvard, UC Irvine, Cal and either Arizona State or Mississippi State in the MGM Resorts Classic in Las Vegas.
“I think it will be good for our team, so we can schedule tougher opponents,’’ Gaels guard Jordan Ford said. “That was the knock on us last year. We tried to enhance our schedule to give us the best chance to make the NCAA Tournament. It’ll be a good opportunity. At the end of the day, that’s what we play for, a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament and play for the championship.’’
Asked if he liked the reduction in conference games and the enhanced non-conference approach, Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said, “I do, and I don’t. It’s the best thing for our conference to get at-large teams in the (NCAA) Tournament. It was a strategic move. But it’s not parity. We don’t play everyone twice.’’
Bennett added that playing some conference opponents only on the road is an inherent disadvantage but conceded, “We have some good non-conference games with some good mid-major schools. Those are hard games to get. We didn’t have any of those last year.’’
Elsewhere around the WCC, schools are going big in November and December, none bigger than Gonzaga with its anyone-anywhere-anytime philosophy. The Zags have on their schedule Texas A&M, Illinois, Creighton, Washington, Tennessee, North Carolina and either Arizona or Iowa State in the Maui Invitational.
“I think we’ve got a better team,’’ Gonzaga point guard Josh Perkins said. “We’ve got shot-blockers, we have dunkers, we have shooters, we have ankle-breakers, we have great coaches.’’
After Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and BYU, other WCC schools are embracing the beefier scheduling as well, particularly those that won 20 or more games and didn’t receive so much as a whiff from the NCAA. Here’s a look at their non-conference opponents:
Loyola Marymount – UNLV, Georgetown, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Boise State.
Pacific – Nevada, UNLV, Fresno State, Boise State, UC Irvine.
Pepperdine – Oregon State, Long Beach State.
Portland – Hawaii, Colorado, Cal State Fullerton.
San Diego – Washington, Colorado, Ole Miss, San Diego State, Oregon, Washington State and either Drake or New Mexico State. With so many games vs. Pac-12 teams, the Toreros qualify as auxiliary members of that conference.
San Francisco – Arizona State, Harvard, Cal and Stanford as well as a tournament in Northern Ireland, of all places.
“We’ve elevated. We’ve consistently made the effort,’’ Dons coach Kyle Smith said. “We’re trying to elevate our program. It gets you ready for league.’’
Santa Clara – Washington, Cal, USC, Washington State and either Texas A&M or Minnesota.
WCC teams got off to a good start in the season’s first week. Pacific scored a nice road win at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 74-65, San Diego turned back Weber State 83-66, USF dispatched UC Davis 76-42, Saint Mary’s got 40 points off the bench in an 87-65 win over McNeese State and Gonzaga, Portland and Pepperdine all hit 100 points or more in their first games.
BYU dropped an 86-70 decision to Nevada, ranked seventh nationally, in what might be considered a “good’’ loss for the Cougars come tournament time.
As to where the beef is, look no farther than the non-conference schedules around the WCC.