All of Thursday’s college bubbleball games of consequence didn’t tip-off until 10:30 p.m. ET or later. Fortunately we provide these services, and watched all of these games for no reason but to give appropriate context to you, our valued reader.
Also we might have had a few scheckels on Washington State last night because UCLA’s corpse was on the road again, and no one flat-track bullies mediocre teams like the Gonzaga.
But this is about the brackets, and for reference we’ll use the latest projections from Joe Lunardi of ESPN as of early Friday morning on the east coast.
Home team in italics
Gonzaga 86, San Francisco 68
The Zags appear to have dodged the last bullet on their schedule that could make their NCAA Tournament resume worse. Now they’ll just need the bid thieves to stay at bay if they lose twice more to Saint Mary’s. This win at Chase Center will count as a full road game, which means as of now it’s a Quad 1 over the NET 54 Dons. But Gonzaga is just 2-5 vs. Quad 1 and 2-1 vs. Quad 2, though both Quad 1’s have come in a row.
Right now Joe Lunardi has them as the last team in the tournament, so anything is possible and just one thief from a multi-bid league could theoretically send them to the NIT. But they’ll get at least one more chance at a Quad 1 vs. Saint Mary’s on Saturday, and likely again at The Orleans in Vegas in the WCC Final March 12. Off topic: Our flight lands at Harry Reid Airport three hours before tip-off, and we cannot wait to be in the stands for this one.
If the league wants to be completely safe about getting two bids, they should be rooting for Gonzaga to steal one of the two SMC games. The Zags are probably ok, but in no way would you call them a lock. And this isn’t the overwhelming Gonzaga of the past, as they’ve got real defensive problems on the perimeter.
But for the first time since 2012, the Zags will not win at least a share of the WCC regular season championship. That’s because…
Saint Mary’s 83, Pepperdine 57
SMC was 3-5 on December 4, including a home loss to Weber State. They’ve dropped exactly one game since for a 24-6 record, and will look to finish a perfect WCC regular season on Saturday against their ancient rival from Spokane. It’s been a remarkable turnaround, but no surprise to anyone that’s followed the career one of the most underrated coaches in the game in Randy Bennett.
No two teams across Division I the last 15 years have faced each other more than the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Saint Mary’s Gaels, and it should be another classic between Mark Few and Bennett in Moraga. Plus barring an upset in the semifinals (because the top two seeds don’t enter the WCC tournament until the semis), they’ll do it again on Tropicana Avenue for the conference tournament title.
Having Aidan Mahaney and Mitchell Saxen on the floor gives the Gaels two players that can compete anywhere. And while relentless drop coverage, a semi-sedated offensive pace, and going under or switching every ball screen for two decades might be boring to watch, no one can gum it up on one end and execute on the other like SMC. There is true beauty in their ugly.
Pepperdine finishes Lorenzo Romar’s sixth season at 12-19, 5-11 in the WCC, and they’re as bad as their campus is beautiful. Whether he makes it to or deserves a seventh campaign with the Waves in Malibu is TBA.
Washington State 75, USC 72
The Coogs might have gotten away with one here, as they were down nine with 10 minutes left. But Isaiah Watts (18 points, 6-8 from three) got white hot at the right time, as USC was just 1-7 from downtown in the second half.
Washington State’s 6-3 record vs. Quad 1 is going to get them some looks at potentially a protected seed, and Lunardi has them on the five line as of now. But they just might need to beat Arizona in Las Vegas to get there simply because the Pac-12 is so weak this season. And barring an upset in the conference tournament, Wazzu and ‘Zona might be the only two teams from the league to represent the conference in its last season.
In football the Pac-12 went out with a bang, but in men’s basketball it’s simply a whimper. A sad way to leave a conference that shouldn’t be splitting up in the first place. But we’ll always have #Pac12AfterDark.
Washington 94, UCLA 77
Neither of these is a bubble team, and both would need to win the Pac-12 Tournament to play in the Big Dance. But since we did watch it, can we just point and laugh at UCLA for a minute?
A team loaded with five-star talent is 14-14, 9-8 in the Pac-12. They’re 334th nationally in eFG% out of 362 teams. They’re 293rd nationally from three-point range. So shoot more two’s, right? Well they’re 340th from two-point range.
The Bruins play every game like they’re living in an emotionless hell, and the UW game was another clinic in looking miserable while playing basketball. Maybe the lauded acting school they have is truly method?
Also Mick Cronin got a technical foul 20 seconds in, which might be a record even for his temper. $4.1 million per year for a head coach to do this seems expensive! At least they only owe him that salary through 2028.