West Coast Tourney Preview

At Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 6
Game 1: No. 5 San Diego vs. No. 8 Loyola Marymount (9 p.m.)
Game 2: No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 San Francisco (11:30 p.m.)

QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, March 7
Game 3: No. 4 Santa Clara vs. Game 1 winner (9 p.m.)
Game 4: No. 3 Portland vs. Game 2 winner (11:30 p.m.)

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, March 8
Game 5: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. Game 3 winner (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.)
Game 6: No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. Game 4 winner (ESPN2, 11:30 p.m.)

CHAMPIONSHIP
Monday, March 9
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (ESPN, 9 p.m.)


Team to watch: Gonzaga. The Zags went through the conference with an undefeated record and have the best chance to make things happen in the NCAA tournament. The original cinderella is ready for another run with this team.

Player to watch: When you are on a national team and you are still in college, that classifies as being a pretty good player. When you go up against the USA and drop 20 points against them, that makes you a great player. Patrick (Patty) Mills is just that. If it wasn't for his injury, the West Coast Conference might be rearranged a little bit.

Upset watch: Santa Clara. The Broncos might have the best chance to knock off somebody in the tournament. They took Arizona, Stanford and UAB to the wire during the regular season and will be a team that can suprise you.

Tourney watch: No matter what happens in the tournament, Gonzaga is in. St. Mary's is on the bubble, but the return of Mills helps their cause greatly. They lost 4 of their 5 games with him not in the line-up and I think he wants to get some revenge in the championship game. With both teams having a free-spot to the semifinals, both will be rested and ready to play. I don't think St. Mary's will lose to Gonzaga for the third time this year and people across the nation will get a chance to see Mills and the Gaels in the NCAA tournament.