WCC Tourney: Zags, Gaels, Broncos or . . . Beavers?

1. Can Santa Clara make it into the Big Dance?

Santa Clara has had a phenomenal year under Herb Sendek. As of Monday morning, the Broncos are projected as one of the “last four teams in” the NCAA Tournament.

SCU features a dangerous offense that can beat any team on a given night. They rank 30th in the nation, averaging 83.8 points per game.

Their resume should prove strong enough to get them an at-large bid, unless they stumble in the WCC Tournament.

The Broncos are around the Top 40 mark for predictive metrics and resume, which indicates that they should be in the field.

Santa Clara’s top three scorers are Christian Hammond, Elijah Mahi, and Allen Graves. Hammond is their leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game.

Bukky Oboye is their best defensive player with 20 blocks and 16 steals this year.

SCU will likely open the WCC Tourney against Pacific or Seattle U, but Loyola Marymount and San Diego are still in the mix.

If the Broncos lose their first game of the tournament, they’ll probably be eliminated from the dance.

They should be alright, due to their varied scoring options, but this is that month.

If Santa Clara wants to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament, it would likely need to win at least two games.

With a win in the third round, they would face SMC in the semis on Monday, which would prove a huge opportunity for a QUAD 1 win.

With Gonzaga departing for the Pac-12, the Broncos have an opportunity to make a statement to the conference going forward.

2. Do Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s Still Run the WCC?

As cool as it would be to see Santa Clara make a run to the title, this has been a two-dawg league, and will probably remain so until the end.

With Saint Mary’s victory over Gonzaga last week, they earned a share of the WCC Regular Season title for the fourth year in a row.

And even though this minimally affected the Zags’ seeding or tournament line, they’ll remember the loss.

They were also without Jalen Warley, who is one of the more underrated players nationally.

Warley doesn’t have flashy numbers. He’s only averaging 7.1 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game. But he’s a defensive terror leading the team with 1.6 steals per contest.

He and Tyon Grant-Foster can shut down most perimeter players in the country.

Warley does all the little things that get overlooked, but they were felt in Moraga. Without him, the Gaels ate the Zags in the second half.

And this is with Paulius Murauskas playing poorly.

Murauskas is one of the best players in the WCC, but if he performs the way he did against the Bulldogs, they will get annihilated by Gonzaga in a rematch.

He looked so bad against the Zags that I thought I could play basketball again.

But he has a chance to get it right.

3. Can Oregon State Play the Spoiler? (No One Else Can)

Oregon State’s the only team that could make a run, based on my logic. The Beavers aren’t really that good, but they’re in a unique spot.

Pacific would’ve been my choice two weeks ago, but they’ve lost their last four games, so that’s that.

At the No. 5 seed, San Francisco has gotten blown out in four of their last six contests.

And the Dons almost stole one from Gonzaga earlier in the year, so they’re not surprising anyone.

Seattle U’s coming in a bit hot, so they could prove another team to watch. But their three-game winning streak has come against the worst teams in the conference.

And the Cougs? They don’t know how to play basketball anymore.

The reason the Beavers can make a run is that Wayne Tinkle, who OSU will not retain for next season, can have some fun.

He can run any scheme, he can play anyone, and they’re the No. 4 seed, so they’d only have to pull two upsets.

Tinkle could’ve walked away, but he chose to stick by his team like a man.

And what if they win the tournament? Would Oregon State suddenly rehire him?

The Beavs will probably be outclassed by Gonzaga, but, hey—it’s March.

It’s time to get it.