How good is the WCC? Gonzaga’s Mark Few thinks it’s ‘a lot tougher’

This past weekend gave the Gonzaga men's basketball team a feel for how life in the West Coast Conference is going to look for the next two months.

As an out-manned Washington State squad went toe-to-toe with the WCC's kingpin for the first half of their matchup at the Kennel on Saturday, the highly competitive affair between in-state rivals was a reminder that the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) won't have it easy the rest of the way in league play. Four of their next five contests will count as either Quad 1 or Quad 2 games, starting with Thursday's matchup against the other former Pac-12 school that's proven to be quite the addition to the WCC — Oregon State, which currently sits in the top 60 of the NET Rankings.

The Beavers (13-5, 3-2 WCC) are one of five WCC programs that rank among the top 75 teams of the NET. Among mid-major conferences, that's tied with the Mountain West for the most representatives in the top 75.

"This league is going to be a lot tougher this year," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said after the WSU game. "It's a lot tougher. The additions [of WSU and Oregon State] are very, very good. They’re big, they're physical. They got some nice players.

Obviously, the San Francisco's and Santa Clara's are primed for good years, and we always know how good Saint Mary's is and Randy [Bennett] is so, it's going to be a lot of nights like this. You're gonna have to really fight to get out of there with a win."

After venturing down to Corvallis, Oregon, the Zags return home to face one of the hottest teams in the conference, Santa Clara, on Saturday. The Broncos (12-6, 4-1 WCC) have won four in a row and nine of their last 10 overall following a dominant 77-54 victory over San Francisco at the Leavey Center this past weekend. Carlos Stewart led the way with 25 points, as Santa Clara improved to No. 66 in the NET after debuting at No. 124 in the first rankings of the season on Dec. 1, when Herb Sendek and company were just 3-5 in nonleague play.

Since then, the Broncos have gone on the road and beat McNeese State, which advanced to play Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament last season, and took down a talented Bradley squad on a neutral site court in Henderson, Nevada. Outside shooting has been the key as of late, as Santa Clara has knocked down 38.2% of its 3-point attempts over its past 10 games.

From there, the Bulldogs hit the road again to face Portland (Jan. 25) before hosting the Beavers in another pivotal matchup on Jan. 28. Then it's down to Moraga, California, for a showdown against Saint Mary's (15-3, 5-0 WCC) on Feb. 1.

The Gaels, ranked No. 33 in the NET, have put together a respectable at-large resume if they don't claim the WCC's autobid for a second year in a row. Saint Mary's picked up three wins in the first two quadrants during nonleague play, while two of its three losses came on the road against Quad 2 opponents. Without a "bad" loss on the resume, the Gaels can remain in the conversation as long as they take care of business the rest of the way.

But as the first two weeks of WCC play have proven already, there's no such thing as an "off night" for the team's top contenders. Pepperdine, picked to finish last in the WCC standings according to the coaches poll, gave Gonzaga quite a scare during the second half of their league opener, pulling within four points after trailing by double-digits early on. In an actual upset, Pacific hadn't won a conference game since February 2023 before it went into Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington, and stunned WSU on its home floor in overtime. Oregon State experienced how hard it is to win on the road after getting thumped, 82-61, by Loyola Marymount in the Beavers' second-ever WCC game.

Gonzaga hasn't fallen victim to any pitfalls so far, posting a 9-0 record in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games. Even so, beating teams ranked outside the top 175 of the NET don't typically age well. In fact, the Bulldogs have dropped from No. 7 to No. 10 in the NET since the start of league play.

The end of the regular season for Gonzaga looks like this: at WSU, vs. Saint Mary's, at Santa Clara and at San Francisco. That's two Quad 1 games and two Quad 2 games. Expect quite the finale for Few and company heading into conference tournament play.

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