Wins

Gonzaga 32-3

Saint Mary's 28-7
Santa Clara 25-12

For the second time in as many years, and the second time ever, the WCC is home to three teams with 25 or more wins.

Over the recent history of the conference, let's say the past six years, it was Gonzaga and Saint Mary's job to break the 25 win mark. Those two schools managed to do that in each of the past six seasons (only Kansas and Duke can say the same).

Last season, when this record was first set, realignment deserved the credit. BYU joined Gonzaga and Saint Mary's with 25+ wins. This was to be expected, as you see BYU had managed to hit 25 wins in the previous four seasons (along with Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, Kansas and Duke). It was a record, that is true. But, it felt almost like a first year coach who succeeds with the players recruited by the previous coach.

This season it is different. It is not BYU that joins Gonzaga and Saint Mary's in the 25+ club. It's Santa Clara. A team that, two years ago, fell one win short of setting this record. Interestingly, this season, it is BYU that falls one win short of setting a new record.

The reason this article is being published a few days after Santa Clara hit 25 wins is because I was hopeful. Basically, I wrote this article in advance of the BYU vs. Baylor game on Tuesday, assuming the Cougars would win. Since they did not, and finish the season at 24-12, I had to rethink what I wanted to write.

Now, of course, a fourth team with 25 wins would be better than just three but, this is pretty darn cool too. As I alluded to earlier, this can't be credited to the WCC landing a program like BYU and breaking records just because of the new program. It is entirely possible, maybe even likely (considering Santa Clara lost to BYU both times they met this season), that this record would have been set this year had BYU not joined last year. While that is just speculation it is true that the conference has been on this trajectory for some time now. Both thanks to internal improvement and realignment aided improvement.

This season, which is not yet over, has set some records in terms of wins.

As of now WCC teams have combined for 174 wins, the most ever in the history of the conference. Well ahead of the previous best, set last season, of 158. Wouldn't that be attributed to the addition of a ninth program? Well, yeah, it would. However, before BYU joined the record for most wins was 142, set in 2010-11. BYU's addition bumped the record by just 16 wins, the same margin that separates this season from last, and there was no addition of a team this season.

174 wins also sets the record for average wins/team at 19.3 wins per team. When there were eight teams in the conference the average never exceeded 17.75 (2010-11).

With 32 wins Gonzaga becomes the winningest team in WCC history, and also the first (and likely only) team to go 16-0 in WCC play.

Tomorrow, when Santa Clara faces George Mason in game three of the CBI Championship Series, another win can be tacked on to the WCC's total. Even if that does not happen this has been another record setting season for a conference that has been having a lot of those lately.