Gonzaga and Saint Mary's remain WCC teams to beat as conference play draws near

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are in the midst of what will be their final season as members of the West Coast Conference, a league they have dominated for the past 25 years.

However, the profile of the league has grown significantly since Mark Few took over at Gonzaga in 1999, thanks in large part to the success of the Zags.

Gonzaga has not won the WCC regular season in either of the past two years, an honor that has instead gone to Randy Bennett and the Saint Mary's Gaels.

It's looking once again like a two-team race between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's in the WCC, with other contenders slipping over the past two weeks. Santa Clara remains in the mix as a potential at-large candidate, with three more quality non-con opportunities still to come for coach Herb Sendek's team.

Below is a look at how each WCC team has fared this season, and what they have left in non-con play:

Saint Mary's Gaels (8-1)

Latest: 96-71 loss to Vanderbilt

Next: 12/7 at Davidson

The Gaels, like Gonzaga, carried a ton of momentum and an undefeated record into the championship of an MTE before getting dismantled. Saint Mary's defeated Wichita State and Virginia Tech in the Battle 4 Atlantis before Vanderbilt hung 96 on them in the championship - the most points Randy Bennett has ever given up in a game.

Still, the Gaels are a solid 8-1 on the year with four solid non-con games remaining: at Davidson, against Boise State in Idaho, and at home against Florida Atlantic and Northern Iowa.

Santa Clara Broncos (7-1)

Latest: 86-75 win over Minnesota

Next: 12/3 vs Utah Tech

The Broncos are one bucket away from a perfect 8-0 record, having fallen to Saint Louis, 71-70, on Thanksgiving. Herb Sendek's team responded with a nice win over Minnesota on Friday, and they remain in the at-large conversation with quality non-con matchups still to come against New Mexico, Arizona State, and North Texas.

LMU Lions (7-3)

Latest: 91-70 loss to Saint Louis

Next: 12/16 vs UC San Diego

After a 6-0 start to the year, the Lions are now 1-3 in their last four with losses to Florida Atlantic, Stony Brook, and Saint Louis. The team is in the midst of a two-week break, having frontloaded their schedule with nine November matchups. Next up is a home battle with future WCC foe UC San Diego - the last real test for the Lions before conference play begins.

Pacific Tigers (6-2)

Latest: 68-54 win over Sacramento State

Next: 12/3 at Air Force

Pacific does not have a win over anyone inside the top 200 at KenPom, but a one point loss at Nevada and quite a few blowout wins have them faring well in the computer metrics - even debuting at No. 81 in the NET.

Still, the Tigers need to pick up marquee wins to really make any noise this season, and matchups against Cal (12/6) and BYU (12/16) could go a long way in showing how legit this team is in coach Dave Smart's second season.

Seattle Redhawks (5-2)

Latest: 74-71 loss to UC Santa Barbara

Next: 12/3 vs Puget Sound

Seattle U had a nice showing over Thanksgiving, going to Palo Alto and defeating Stanford for the first time in program history, while also beating Texas State and nearly upsetting Santa Barbara in the championship of the inaugural Resort's World Classic.

The Redhawks have just one marquee non-con matchup left, a chance to take down their Seattle brethren when they face Washington on Dec. 19.

San Francisco Dons (5-3)

Latest: 81-65 loss to Nevada

Next: 12/3 vs North Alabama

Things have started to unravel for coach Chris Gerlufsen and the Dons, who began the year with a 5-1 record, only losing on the road at Memphis and even picking up nice wins over Bradley and Minnesota. However, the last two games were double-digit losses to Colorado and Nevada, already putting USF's resume outside of NCAA Tournament consideration.

Matchups against Mississippi State and Saint Louis could help garner some momentum heading into conference play, where the Dons will need to be nearly perfect to have a shot at at-large consideration.

Portland Pilots (5-4)

Latest: 94-72 loss to Stanford

Next: 12/5 vs Lewis and Clark

Portland has one win over a KenPom top 200 team, having defeated No. 170 UC Davis back in early November. But they were beaten badly by Wyoming and Stanford, and couldn't pull out victories over Northern Colorado or Saint Thomas.

Kent State (126), Oregon (87), and UC Santa Barbara (145) will give coach Shantay Legans more chances to pick up nice wins before WCC play begins.

San Diego Toreros (3-4)

Latest: 76-72 loss to Long Beach State

Next: 12/5 at San Jose State

A promising 3-1 start for Steve Lavin and the Toreros was immediately wiped away by a three-game losing streak, with losses to UC Riverside, Cal Baptist, and a close road game to Long Beach State.

A strong transfer portal class has yet to fully gel for coach Lavin's group, and the path does not get any easier with San Jose State, USC, UC San Diego, and Washington all on the schedule in December.

Oregon State Beavers (3-5)

Latest: 75-69 loss to Cal Baptist

Next: 12/3 vs Vermont

It's now a five game losing streak for Wayne Tinkle and Oregon State, which includes two losses to teams outside the top 200 at KenPom in Evansville and UMass. Perhaps a date with a decent Vermont team at home on Wednesday will get the Beavers going - if not the next opponent, the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, might do the trick.

Washington State Cougars (3-6)

Latest: 64-60 loss at Bradley

Next: 12/7 vs Nevada

WSU showed some fight in the Maui Invitational, nearly blowing a game to D2 Chaminade before taking Arizona State to the closing minutes in an eventual 100-94 loss. However, the Cougars followed that up with a road loss to Bradley, and now sit at 3-6 with a handful of tricky non-con games still to come: including Nevada and No. 24 USC.

Pepperdine Waves (3-6)

Latest: 71-63 loss to Abilene Christian

Next: 12/6 vs Vermont

Pepperdine has exactly one win over a Division I opponent, having defeated New Orleans back on Nov. 18. Otherwise it's been agonizing loss after agonizing loss, including a close one to Abilene Christian on Tuesday.

All four of the Waves remaining non-con games - Vermont, at Bakersfield, at Long Beach, and Rice - are winnable, although KenPom projects Pepperdine to lose all four which would put them clearly at the bottom of the WCC heading into conference play.