March 3, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - As the West Coast Conference Tournament gets started this weekend, you can be sure that many from the East Coast will be watching. Teams that find themselves on the "bubble" will be rooting for the favorites to pull through this weekend. For a teams like Virginia Tech, Miami and, even, Notre Dame, the outcome of this tournament could be the difference between an at-large bid and a must-win scenario in their respective conference tournaments.

The WCC has provided fans with overtime thrillers, game winning shots and improbable upsets throughout the regular season. Look for more of the same this weekend as teams fight to keep their seasons alive. The winner of the conference tournament receives the automatic bid to the big dance, and, perhaps this year more than ever, nobody is sure who will get that invitation.

Gonzaga, the perennial favorite comes into the tournament with the top seed yet again. However, there is a different feeling among the teams this year than in past seasons. San Francisco nearly pulled off a sweep of the Bulldogs in Spokane and Saint Mary's beat Gonzaga earlier this year in Moraga. Conference play has been anything but a walk in the park for Mark Few's team and you can be sure Gonzaga will have their hands full this week.

Saint Mary's enters the tournament with the second seed and, as such, they will receive a bye to the semifinals. Randy Bennett's squad is a team that many believe should have an at-large bid to the NCAA's regardless of what happens in the conference tournament. But, you have to believe that the Gaels would sleep a lot easier if they could advance to the championship game.

These two teams will receive the most love from the earlier mentioned bubble teams. If one or both were to lose early in this tournament, and a team like San Francisco or Santa Clara were to win the conference championship and take that automatic berth, then the committee would have a difficult decision on their hands. The Gaels and Bulldogs have done more than enough to earn a spot and thus the WCC should earn three bids. That means a team like Notre Dame may have their at-large hopes dashed because of the WCC.

The league has never received more than two bids and just the fact that the discussion of multiple bids from the WCC is taking place means that the conference as a whole is receiving some much deserved respect. Ask coaches and players from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma State or Cal, all teams that have already seen just how difficult this conference can be when playing heads-to-head. Now, in postseason, the West Coast Conference has a chance to be the spoiler again.