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The lesson learned this weekend: almost anyone can be had. And that should make for an exciting month of March if results like the ones we saw become the norm. Twelve ranked teams went down on Saturday, but it should be noted that four of the losses came to opponents who were also ranked and eight of the twelve lost on the road. How does one narrow these results down: ask the simple question of which losers may be in some trouble at this point in the season. One such victim has to be Syracuse, who has now dropped four straight and has to play at Connecticut on Wednesday night.

In the latest installment in his "Forgotten Legends" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with University of Portland great Rick Raivio. Raivio was a two-time All-American during his career, leaving the school as the program's all-time leading rebounder. Now working in real estate, Rick has had two of his three sons play in the WCC (Derek at Gonzaga and Nik at Portland).

Jon Teitel: In 1974 you won a state title at Benson under legendary coach Dick Gray. What made Gray such a great coach and what did it mean to you to win the title?

California (4-2)

Gonzaga (5-1)

Portland (5-1)

UNLV (5-0)

Washington (5-0)

Washington St (6-0)

Other (ASU, SMC, Fullerton, SDSU, etc)

Sunday signals the end of the Thanksgiving tournament schedule with title games in both Orlando and Anaheim. West Virginia, who welcomed back Devin Ebanks in their win over Texas A&M, will take on a Portland team that's looked every bit the challenger to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference in wins over UCLA and Minnesota. But they're going to have their hands full with the Mountaineers, who are more versatile offensively than either of the two teams the Pilots have beaten in Anaheim. 

Gonzaga lacks the star power of recent seasons, so perhaps this is the year they get knocked out of 1st place. Portland looks to have the best chance, but Santa Clara, San Diego, and Saint Mary's are no slouches either.

Gonzaga

Loyola Marymount

Pepperdine

Portland

Saint Mary's

San Diego

San Francisco

Santa Clara

 

Overall Rank: #88

 

SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Santa Clara senior center John Bryant turned in one of the most dominating seasons in the last 30 years in WCC history and was rewarded on Monday by being named the Conference Player of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches. Saint Mary's senior forward Diamon Simpson joined Bryant among the yearly conference award recipients, taking home his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honor.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - With the conclusion of the West Coast Conference men's basketball regular season, conference squads now turn their attention to the WCC Tournament, which begins on Friday, March 6 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gonzaga secured the top seed, posting a perfect 14-0 record in conference play to win its ninth consecutive WCC regular season title and the Bulldogs' 11th in the last 12 seasons. It marks an unprecedented third undefeated conference season for the Zags. Saint Mary's owns the No.