Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga, the top two men’s seeds in the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship, already are virtual locks to earn berths in the NCAA Tournament.

It’s up to the other nine teams competing at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to find their own way to March Madness through a victory in Tuesday night’s championship game. And it won’t be easy because the Gaels and Zags are still as formidable as ever.

The six-day event begins on Thursday and nothing is promised to any team in a conference that is stronger than ever before because of the emergence in recent seasons of San Francisco and Santa Clara and the arrival of two-year affiliate members Oregon State and Washington State.

Even with these staunch improvements, the 2025 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship has been dominated for two decades by Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga. No other school has won the event since San Diego in 2008.

The top-seeded Gaels, who lost just once in 18 WCC games, may have surprised outsiders, but not coach Randy Bennett. He referred to “SOS calls” he got from friends, worried this team wouldn’t be good enough to successfully chase an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA bid.

“I always thought we were good but it’s still hard to go 17-1. Really hard,” said Bennett, voted by his peers the WCC Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season and seventh time overall. “To win the league by three games . . . people don’t understand how tough what they did was.”

Here’s the scary part, Bennett stated: “I think we can even be better.”

Gonzaga was swept in the regular season by the Gaels and has won just one of five meetings the past two seasons. But coach Mark Few, who has never missed the NCAA Tournament in 26 seasons, sees this team hitting its stride. The Zags visited Bay Area last week and posted 20-point victories over San Francisco and Santa Clara, the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds this week, boosting their NET computer ranking to No. 8 nationally.  

“I don’t think anybody’s done that to them,” he said. “To come here on the road and do that to both Santa Clara and San Francisco, I think we’re playing our best ball of the year. That’s what I told our guys.”

Here’s our preview of the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship:

1. SAINT MARY’S (27-4, 17-1)

Tournament debut: Monday semifinals vs. TBD, 6 p.m.

The skinny: The 21st-ranked Gaels have lost just once (at USF) since before Christmas and their 27 regular-season wins match the program high they also posted in in 2018. Senior point guard Augustas Marciulionis (14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds) repeated as the WCC Player of the Year and senior center Mitchell Saxen (10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 79 combined steals and blocked shots) did the same as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. That defense is ranked fifth nationally in fewest points allowed (60.8 per game) and first in rebound margin (plus-10.1). WCC Sixth Man of the Year, freshman Mikey Lewis (8.6 points), averaged 17 points in two games vs. Gonzaga and scored a season-high 23 vs. Nebraska. 

Who’s hot: Sophomore forward Paulius Murauskas (12.8 points, WCC-leading 8.1 rebounds), who was voted WCC Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Arizona, has three double-doubles in the past five games, including a 30-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Washington State. 

2. GONZAGA (23-8, 14-4)

Tournament debut: Monday semifinals vs. TBD, 8:30 p.m.

The skinny: The Zags, winners of this event 10 of the past 12 years, will try to avoid coming up short in Vegas two years in a row for the first time in the 21st century. Senior forward Graham Ike (17.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, WCC-leading .599 FG percent) landed All-WCC honors for the second straight season. He was joined on the all-conference first team by senior guard Nolan Hickman (11.4 points), one of five Zags who averages double figures for the nation’s second-highest scoring team (87.6 points).

Who’s hot: Senior point guard Ryan Nembhard, a two-time All-WCC selection, averages 10.9 points and an NCAA-leading 10.0 assists. He had 15 assists in wins over Santa Clara and USF last weekend and his 311 assists established a WCC single-season record. Nembhard currently leads the nation in assists.

3. SAN FRANCISCO (23-8, 13-5)

Tournament debut: Sunday quarterfinals vs. TBD, 8 p.m.

The skinny: The Dons, winners of at least 20 games in each of the past eight non-COVID seasons, matched their highest conference victory total since 1977. Even so, they likely need to win the title here in order to secure their second NCAA bid since 1998. USF is led by the All-WCC backcourt duo of Malik Thomas (WCC-leading 19.1 points) and Marcus Williams (15.1 points, 4.3 assists). The Dons get a nice lift from All-WCC Freshman guard Tyrone Riley IV (9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds). 

Who’s hot: Williams is scoring at a 21.5 clip and shooting 58 percent from the 3-point arc the past four games. The 28 points he scored against Gonzaga on Saturday matched his high game in three seasons with the Dons.

4. SANTA CLARA (20-11, 12-6)

Tournament debut: Sunday quarterfinals vs. TBD, 5:30 p.m.

The skinny: The Broncos’ 12 conference victories are their most since winning 12 back in the Steve Nash era of the mid-1990s. That was also the last time Santa Clara advanced to the NCAA tournament. To end that drought, the Broncos will have to snap an eight-game losing streak against top-seeded Saint Mary’s in the semifinals. SCU does own wins over Gonzaga each of the past two seasons. Seven Broncos average at least 7.3 points for a team that scores at an 81.5 clip, led by two-time All-WCC guard Adama-Alpha Bal (13.1 points).

Who’s hot: Senior guard Carlos Stewart Jr. (12.4 points, 40 percent 3-point), a second-team All-WCC pick, is averaging 16.0 points and shooting 48 percent from the 3-point arc over the past four games.

5. OREGON STATE (20-11, 10-8)

Tournament debut: Saturday third round vs. TBD, 6 p.m.

The skinny: The Beavers have assembled their first 20-win season since 2021, including an overtime win vs. Gonzaga. Their defense, a strength much of the season, has sagged a bit in recent weeks, allowing 75.9 points over the past nine games. Junior forward Michael Rataj (17.4 points, 7.5 rebounds) earned first-team All-WCC honors and the Beavers were 5-0 (including a win over Gonzaga) when he scored at least 25 points.

Who’s hot: Parsa Fallah, a 6-foot-9 junior center from Iran and transfer from Southern Utah, has produced an average of 16.8 points on nearly 58-percent shooting the past six games, including 24 points against both Pepperdine and USF. Fallah (12.7 points, .596 FG percentage) landed second-team All-WCC honors.

6. WASHINGTON STATE (18-13, 8-10)

Tournament debut: Saturday third round vs. TBD, 8:30 p.m.

The skinny: David Riley has directed the Cougars to their most wins under a first-year coach since Tony Bennett in 2007. WSU averaged 91.5 points in two wins last weekend, reversing a three-game losing skid in which it averaged just 66 points. Five Cougars score at least 11.5 points per game, topped by junior guard Nate Calmese (15.0 points) and sophomore forward LeJuan Watts (13.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists). 

Who’s hot: Over the past three games, junior forward Dane Erikstrup has given the Cougars 17.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field and 11 for 12 at the foul line. 

7. LMU (16-14, 8-10)

Tournament debut: Friday second round vs. Pacific-San Diego winner, 8:30 p.m.

The skinny: The Lions enter the WCC Basketball Championship with the experience of already winning a multi-team event after capturing the Cancun Challenge title in November. They are 2-0 vs. San Diego and split two games against Pacific. Top scorer Caleb Stone-Carrawell (13.6 points), a transfer from Utah Valley, has 15 games of at least 15 points. Earlier this season, the Lions won five Conference games in a row for the first time since 1991.

Who’s hot: Junior guard Will Johnston is producing 16.5 points per game on 42-percent shooting from 3-point distance the past four games.

8. PORTLAND (12-19, 7-11)

Tournament debut: Friday second round vs. Pepperdine, 6 p.m.
The skinny: The Pilots had won four of six games prior to suffering an 82-80 defeat to San Diego on Saturday night. They won both matchups vs. Pepperdine by double-digit margins. Junior guard and second-team All-WCC selection Max Mackinnon (14.4 points) has seven games of at least 20 points, topped by a 43-point eruption vs. San Diego. Austin Rapp (13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds), a 6-9 forward from Australia, was voted WCC Freshman of the Year.

Tournament debut: Friday second round vs. Portland, 6 p.m.

The skinny: Senior forward Stefan Todorovic, who is the WCC’s second-leading scorer (18.0 points), has three games of at least 30 points this season. In two games against Portland, he averaged 9.0 points on 28-percent shooting. Point guard Moe Odum (12.0 points, 7.3 assists) has at least seven assists in his past eight games.

Who’s hot: Sophomore forward Dovydas Butka (10.0 points, 6.6 rebounds), a native of Lithuania, has scored in double digits seven times in his past nine games and is producing 19.0 points and 8.3 rebounds the past three games. 

10. PACIFIC (9-23, 4-14)

Tournament debut: Thursday first round vs. San Diego, 2:30 p.m.

The skinny: First-year coach Dave Smart’s team has three more overall victories than the Tigers managed a year ago, when they were winless in WCC play. The Tigers are led by junior forward Elijah Fisher (15.9 points, 4.9 rebounds) and senior forward Elias Ralph (14.6 points, 7.2 rebounds).

Who’s hot: Junior guard Lamar Washington (13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists) is averaging 17.1 points and shooting 50 percent the past seven games. He has season bests of 40 points and 15 assists.

11. SAN DIEGO (5-26, 2-16)

Tournament debut: Thursday first round vs. Pacific, 2:30 p.m.

The skinny: The Toreros snapped a 16-game losing streak with an 82-80 victory over Portland on Saturday. Forward Santiago Trouet (9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, a sophomore from Argentina, grabbed 20 rebounds in a game vs. crosstown rival UC San Diego and senior center Steven Jamerson (9.7 points, 7.8 rebounds) has eight double-digit rebounding games.

Who’s hot: Guard Tony Duckett (9.8 points), who landed on the WCC All-Freshman team, scored 31 points against LMU in January and is averaging 12.2 points over the past five games.