Predicting the 2022 West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament
Quarterfinals – March 5, 2022
Game 5: 7:30 PM PST – Winner Game 3 (#5 BYU) vs. #4 San Francisco (23–8, 10–6) – ESPN2.
This game is the biggest toss-up game of the tournament. BYU is in a must-win mode. Meanwhile, USF, with a 27 NET ranking, might survive a loss. But they don’t want to take that chance. Beating BYU not only seals their spot in the tournament but also lands them a ninth seed or better.
At the least, the game will be an epic battle between two of the league’s top scorers, BYU’s Alex Barcello and San Francisco’s Jamaree Bouyea, each average 17 points per game. It will be fun to see them go at each other. In the end, San Francisco pulls out a narrow win. USF advances.
Game 6: 9:30 PM PST – Winner Game 4 (#7 San Diego) vs. #3 Santa Clara (20–10, 10–5) – ESPN2.
San Diego’s two-game Vegas win streak comes to an end, and it won’t be pretty. The Santa Clara Broncos are vastly superior. Jalen Williams and Keshawn Justice will rain threes down on the Toreros. Santa Clara advances.
Semifinals – March 7, 2022
Game 7: 6:00 PM PST – Winner Game 5 (#4 San Francisco) vs. #1 Gonzaga (24–3, 13–1) – ESPN.
Bad news for USF. They face a fired-up bunch of Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Zags lost their regular season finale to St. Mary’s last week. Another “L” not only drops them from being the top overall seed, it likely costs them a number one regional seed.
Gonzaga’s had San Francisco’s number for a long time. Monday night should be no different; there will be no upset this day. Expect to see Mark Few’s team focused and firing on all cylinders. The music stops for USF, and the Bulldogs advance.