Good Start for WCC

In addition to the Pilot's opening win, five other WCC teams notched opening victories. Only losers were Pepperdine at Portland State by 2 points, and LMU at home by 2 points to Morgan State. Morgan St won 27 games last year, so that is probably not too bad a loss.

To bad about LMU LOSS -sympathies to IRONLION & our comrades in the Wcc who suffered early season loses...but bounce back quick you LIONS...good luck until you play our PILOTS (it's tough carrying a target on the back like the PILOTS had after the Anaheim classic and top 25 ranking last year)...go get um you mighty LION's

up7587 wrote:In addition to the Pilot's opening win, five other WCC teams notched opening victories. Only losers were Pepperdine at Portland State by 2 points, and LMU at home by 2 points to Morgan State. Morgan St won 27 games last year, so that is probably not too bad a loss.

LMU is now 0-2 against D-I competition... They lost again last night @ Bradley, 59-57. This isnt the start I expected from the veteran LMU team that is supposed to challenge for the WCC title...

GU loses to SDSU at home.....whoops

As for schools that want to join the WCC, the Seattle U-OSU rematch was last night in Key Arena. It was tied at the half, then OSU got out to a 12-point lead, only to blow it all. SU wins by 3.

SU could be a team to keep an eye on this year, even without Charles Garcia.

Meh... Seattle U also rolled by Maryland, USF, and Cal Poly.

My guess is that the Beavs went into that one so amped up to avenge last year's 40 point blowout that they ended up choking it away.

Also, an interesting stat: OSU was up by 10 with 10 minutes remaining in the second half. From that point forward, OSU got called for 13 fouls, Seattle U only three.

Now, this isn't to say that Seattle U didn't deserve the win, but I would definitely take this one with a grain of salt.

Oye... LMU loses at Rider, 73-63... they fall to 0-3 vs. D-I teams.

Last night:
USF beat Colorado at home in OT... thanks in part to a technical foul on CU for calling a timeout with 2 seconds left in OT, when they didnt have one... oops!

Pepp lost to CS-Bakersfield 66-64 at home.

GU as usual challenges themselves with a tough schedule. They are now 2 - 2 after getting throttled by K-State, ranked #4 in the early polls.

Pepp lost by 20 to Missouri State. Now 1 - 4. Hmmm.

The WCC continues to slip. In recent games, while we were beating UC Santa Barbara, SMC lost their first game of the year. It was by one point, against BYU, on a Jimmer Fredette 3, so I can't be too harsh about that. But USF lost at home, and SCU lost a road game at Miami OH. LMU did beat Long Beach St.

Last Sunday, USD got blasted at New Mexico (tough gym), and and Pepperdine lost at home to N. Arizona. GU did beat EWU tonight.

There are 5 games Wednesday night, highlighted by SMC visiting undefeated San Diego St, ranked #19. No games are against major conference schools. Our brother schools need to step up and win those games.

There are 5 games Wednesday night, highlighted by SMC visiting undefeated San Diego St, ranked #19. No games are against major conference schools. Our brother schools need to step up and win those games.

And the results are in, and it's not so good:
SMC lost at San Diego St, 69-55(!)
San Diego lost to UC Irvine, 90-82
LMU lost to our recent friends UC Santa Barbara, 77-67
Pepperdine did beat Pacific away, 70-60, which is a good win
And USF beat Holy Names, which I thought was an order of nuns, 89-86

So our conference is not looking so strong so far this year.

Six more games Saturday, and another troubling performance for the WCC. Gonzaga lost at home to a similarly ranked Illinois team.
Santa Clara lost at home to UC Santa Barbara, the Gauchos first road win.
San Diego lost at CS Fullerton, San Francisco lost at CS Bakersfield.
Pepperdine lost at home to TX-San Antonio.
LMU did beat Cal Poly handily.

Right now I have to conclude that the league is weaker than we thought it would be, and the teams we thought would step up this year, SCU and LMU, are not doing so yet. Both are currently playing .500 or worse ball with losses to several teams that are not 'majors'. Gonzaga is 4-3, losing all of their games versus ranked teams so far.

So it looks like the league is going to have a 'top three', a middle four, and San Diego at the bottom. Opportunities are there for the Pilots!

Rush The Court summarizes the WCC:

http://rushthecourt.net/2010/12/10/checking-in-on-the-wcc-18/

They have noticed the Pilots are off to a stronger start than many conference rivals.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:Rush The Court summarizes the WCC:

http://rushthecourt.net/2010/12/10/checking-in-on-the-wcc-18/

They have noticed the Pilots are off to a stronger start than many conference rivals.

Thanks for that link. it's a terrific summary of the conference at this point. There is still a long way to go, but we may be smiling at progress by the end of the year.

"Good Start" is now swirling down the bowl. In addition to GU's televised loss to ND discussed elsewhere, USD got trounced by ranked San Diego St, Pepperdine lost at Fresno St. (3 & 5 Fresno St ), and LMU held off by 5 a South Dakota team with zero road wins and a 3 & 7 record. This is getting brutal, folks.

As I write, USF at home is in OT with Montana. There are a few games this week, and every one is a must win for conference pride. Then next Saturday we hit a very tough round of games: GU at #9 Baylor, USF at UW, LMU hosting Florida St, plus games with Long Beach and UC Irvine. And of course the Pilots visiting our River City rivals who have owned us recently and threw last year's great start of track.

Update: USF beat Montana by 2.

USF outlasted Montana 50-48

San Diego has an RPI of 330. Nevada is down there as well at 320. Surely won't help our SOS.

Makes you wonder if USD have Brad Holland's number on speed dial.
...and if they have any blank checks lying around.

The AD is "fully behind" Bill Grier. The kiss of death?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/10/grier-toreros-mired-forgettable-season/

[quote="Purple te geezer

The AD is "fully behind" Bill Grier. The kiss of death?

Yes, somewhat like the boss letting one know your job is always safe, right before they lay him off, Mesa true story, lol...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/10/grier-toreros-mired-forgettable-season/[/quote]

The WCC now has 3 teams in the top 64 on realtime rpi.

FYI - The Pilots are ranked first. http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_wcc_Men.html

Yeah, I'm curious to see if we can sustain it throughout the WCC season. I like how our 2-3 zone defense is just as effective on the road as at home this season. That's going to help us out.

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It's also interesting to watch the surprise teams of the Pac-10: USC and WSU...

Rush the Court reviews the WCC again:

http://rushthecourt.net/2010/12/25/checking-in-on-the-wcc-20/