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Perennial powerhouse Gonzaga is the favorite to win the West Coast Conference regular season championship in a preseason poll of the league's ten coaches, released on Wednesday at the WCC Tipoff event in Los Angeles.
The Zags captured eight of 10 first-place votes, with second-place BYU and third-place Saint Mary's each getting a single first-place tally. The third-through-sixth place teams were separated by a total of seven poll points.
BYU's Tyler Haws was the lone Cougar selected to the ten-player All-WCC team; Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and San Francisco each had two players selected.
Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams or own players in the poll.
2013-14 West Coast Conference Preseason Poll - Order of Finish
| Place | Team | First-Place Votes | Poll Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gonzaga | 8 | 80 |
| <b>2.</b> | <b>BYU</b> | <b>1</b> | <b>72</b> |
| 3. | Saint Mary's | 1 | 66 |
| 4. | San Francisco | 51 | |
| 5. | San Diego | 50 | |
| 6. | Loyola Marymount | 44 | |
| 7. | Pacific | 28 | |
| 8. | Santa Clara | 25 | |
| 9. | Portland | 24 | |
| 10. | Pepperdine | 10 |
2013-14 All-West Coast Conference Preseason Team
| Player | School | Year | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Bell, Jr. | Gonzaga | Junior | G |
| Stacy Davis | Pepperdine | Sophomore | F |
| Johhny Dee | San Diego | Junior | G |
| Cole Dickerson | San Francisco | Senior | F |
| Cody Doolin | San Francisco | Senior | G |
| <b>Tyler Haws</b> | <b>BYU</b> | <b>Junior</b> | <b>G</b> |
| Stephen Holt | Saint Mary's | Senior | G |
| Anthony Ireland | Loyola Marymount | Senior | G |
| Kevin Pangos | Gonzaga | Junior | G |
| Brad Waldow | Saint Mary's | Junior | F |
In his interview with the league's broadcast hosts today, Rose looked ahead to the 2013-14 WCC season, saying "you can't lose too many games and expect to win the regular season championship, because Gonzaga's not going to lose too many, and they've been good at it for a long time."
"I think that's why the league has really improved," Rose said. "Everybody's trying to get to Gonzaga's level, so everybody is getting better."
The WCC adds a tenth team for the coming season with Pacific joining the conference; the addition of the Tigers will create a travel-partner scheduling model, with BYU and San Diego paired up. The Cougars and Toreros will visit corresponding pairs of schools during given weeks/weekends.
"The addition of Pacific will really help the balance of the league," Rose said on Wednesday, referencing the previously unbalanced travel schedules. "I think that will bring some consistency."
Cougar guard Matt Carlino says "our team goal is to win the conference and win the conference tournament. We want to win every game that we play, and I think that we're capable of doing that--we just want to get there."
Rose pointed to his starting guard line as an expected strength of his 2013-14 team, noting that "we've got a couple guys who can make a lot of baskets (Haws and Carlino), and that's a good things as a coach--knowing you have returning guys who are there. I think Tyler and Matt will really benefit from Kyle (Collinsworth's) ability to create."
"I feel really good about our guard line," said Rose. "Hopefully our young big guys can come along."
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BYU opens its two-game exhibition slate Saturday night at the Marriott Center, with Division III foe Colorado College visiting for a 7:00 p.m. tip. You can hear the game on KSL Newsradio, starting with pregame coverage at 6:00.
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