2013 Non-Conference Schedules: San Diego Toreros

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All times Pacific.

I like what Bill Grier and his staff have done with this year's schedule. It's very well rounded. First off, over half of the Toreros' games will be played at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Of those seven, two are guaranteed to be blowout victories (two non-D-I teams). The team has a few early season tests on the slate as well. Playing at New Mexico, while almost certainly a loss, will prepare the Toreros for the hostile environments in Provo and Spokane. San Diego State, in Jenny Craig, will provide fans with a great game and (hopefully) a great atmosphere. The atmosphere is up to you, USD fans. Finally, the Gulf Coast Showcase could provide USD with either a few tough games or an easy path to an pretty early-season record, depending on how the bracket shakes out.

My only qualm is the two games against non-D-I teams. Part of the WCC's rationale for adding Pacific was that two additional conference games would make it easier for WCC teams to schedule a non-conference slate of entirely D-I teams. Either San Diego couldn't do that, which I doubt considering the surplus of low quality D-I teams in the state of California. Or, the Toreros's staff wanted to play two games that would be nearly guaranteed victories. All-in-all though, this is a quality schedule for where the Toreros are at this season.

1. November 8th at 7:00 PM in San Diego
South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Summit League
Last Season: 25-10 (13-3), T-1st place Summit. 13 seed NCAA Tournament, lost in Round of 64 to Michigan.

Countdown 10/23/13

16 days remain...

but only one remains before the WCC Tip-Off Event!

Tomorrow's event is more interactive than ever, featuring Google+ Hangouts with the players and commissioner Jamie Zaninovich, question submission for on Twitter and interviews streaming on both TheW.tv and WCC Live.

If you can, you should be planning to catch the whole event on TheW.tv. However, if work gets in the way - good luck taking a break from 10:30 AM until 1:00 in the afternoon - you might want to tune in to see just your team's coach and player take the stage. Here's the schedule for the live video stream on TheW.tv.

Thursday, October 24th, 2013

10:30 - Randy Bennett and Beau Levesque, Saint Mary's

10:45 - Bill Grier and Johnny Dee, San Diego

11:00 - Rex Walters and Chris Adams, San Francisco

11:15 - Kerry Keating and Yannick Atanga, Santa Clara

11:30 - Dave Rose and Matt Carlino, BYU

11:45 - Mark Few and Sam Dower, Gonzaga

12:00 - Max Good and Anthony Ireland, LMU
12:15 - Ron Verlin and Tony Gill, Pacific

12:30 - Marty Wilson and Brendan Lane, Pepperdine

12:45 - Erik Reveno and Ryan Nicholas, Portland

Take a look at the complete release from the WCC for more information. The same format is set up for the women's so check up on them too.

Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Santa Clara

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All times Pacific.

I'm a big fan of the Broncos' non-conference schedule. For a team that wants to improve upon a CIT Championship last season, ideally by making a better tournament this year, this slate offers a number of chances to pick up good wins. It also provides fans in Santa Clara with seven home games, two of which are almost guaranteed to be blowout victories. Those two games are its only flaw; the Broncos failed to schedule enough D-I teams. No

1. November 8th at 7:00 PM at the Leavey Center
Bethesda Flames, National Christian College Athletic Association

The Broncos' first game of the real season is against a team that isn't in D-I, D-II, D-III or the NAIA so, they'll be 1-0.

2. November 12th at 8:00 PM at the Leavey Center
San Jose State Spartans, Mountain West Conference
Last Season: 9-20 (3-14), T-8th Western Athletic Conference.
Last Season vs. WCC: Loss at home to Santa Clara.

2013 Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Loyola Marymount

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All times Pacific.

The Lions' non-conference schedule is very back-heavy. The first four games feature what will likely be the worst four D-I teams they face all season. The Paradise Jam provides the Lions with three chances for quality wins. Then, three straight road games, two of which are east of the Mississippi. Finally two games at home end the non-conference. This schedule is actually pretty solid when you consider the teams in the Paradise Jam. The only real problem is the Lions play just three home games and go a whole month away from Gersten Pavilion.

1. November 8th at 4:30 PM in San Diego
Grand Canyon 'Lopes, Western Athletic Conference
Last Season: 23-8 (14-4), T-2nd place PacWest Conference (Division II).

Countdown 10/8/13

32 days remain...

Today was BYU Basketball Media Day. Every player on the roster as was interviewed and coach Rose held a press conference. BYUtv Sports presented a live stream of the whole event. Unfortunately, the whole thing took place during regular business hours. If you missed it, you can watch everything here. Coach Rose's press conference took place about two and a half hours into the event. Scroll around to find interviews with specific players.

Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Pepperdine

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(All times Pacific and subject to change)

The Waves' non-conference doesn't provide many chances to pick up a quality win. San Jose State provides a chance for a WCC team to beat a Mountain West team, but San Jose State isn't up to MWC standards yet. Utah Valley can challenge in the depleted WAC but likely won't win due to New Mexico State's dominance. The Waves' second game in the Great Alaska Shootout will likely be their best shot a quality win, especially if they can win their first game. Both Harvard and Denver will contend for NCAA Tournament berths this season. UC Irvine could make the big dance as well, though Pacific's exit from the Big West certainly helps the Anteaters in that regard. Finally, Washington State is the Waves' only game against a BCS team that is sure to happen (they could face TCU in Alaska depending on how the bracket shakes out). Unfortunately, Washington State is about as bad as a BCS team can get (TCU too, for that matter). 

While there aren't many, if any, strong teams on the schedule, there are ample opportunities for confidence boosting wins. This Waves program has been improving steadily under Marty Wilson. Making it through this slate without a bad loss could be just what they need to make the jump from young and inexperienced to upwardly mobile in the West Coast Conference.

1. November 9th at 5:00 PM in Malibu
San Diego Christian Hawks, Golden State Athletic Conference (NAIA)
Last Season: 7-17 (0-9 vs. D-I, not included in official 7-17 record)

WCC and ESPN Announce Television Schedule

Earlier today the West Coast Conference and ESPN released their television schedule for the upcoming season. This is the official release though it may not yet be complete as additional non-conference road games can be picked up by the ESPN family of networks. We will find out about those games "at a later date" (appropriate considering how long it has taken for schedules to be released this year).

Here are a few observations on this schedule.

Countdown 9/1/13

 69 days remain...

Today we'll get into some rebounding numbers for the first five teams, alphabetically, in the WCC.

BYU: Last season the Cougars were 1st in the WCC with 35.5 RPG but were just 3rd in rebound rate, due in part to their fast pace (72.5 possessions/40 minutes, 1st WCC). The Cougars are losing the players responsible for 52.04% of last season's rebounds.

WCC Releases 2013-14 Schedule

Today the West Coast Conference announced its 2013-14 men's basketball schedule. Most schools have yet to formally announce their schedule for the non-conference portion of the season, but that doesn't mean we can't look forward to the games they'll play later in the season.

The season will begin on Saturday, December 28th with four games. Monday, December 30th features ten teams -- for the first time ever -- on the same day with Pacific, in its first conference game as a WCC member since 1971, hosting the other team not scheduled to play on opening day, Saint Mary's. As it has been in recent seasons, games will be mostly confined to Thursday and Saturday, though because of that slate of games on Monday it will seem like the season begins at a full sprint. From Saturday the 28th through Saturday the 4th there will be 18 WCC games. The only other deviation from the Thursday and Saturday schedule comes on Wednesday, February 5th, when Gonzaga hosts Portland.

Saturday, March 1st, will be the final day of the regular season. All ten teams will be in action on that final day, so seeding at the WCC Tournament should come down to the wire. Also, because having a  tournament seed on the line isn't enough pressure, bragging rights will be on the line with Gonzaga playing at Saint Mary's.

The conference tournament begins on Thursday, March 6th. There will no longer be an extended break for the top two seeds between their final conference game and first tournament game, thanks to the elimination of the double-bye. Every team will have played at least one tournament game by the end of Saturday, March 8th. The Semifinals are set for March 10th and the finals for March 11th, with 7th and 9th both being off days for all teams.

Here's the full conference schedule for your viewing pleasure.

Tip-Off Marathon Opponents

3 months remain! Wait, this isn't the countdown.

Starting last night at 8:00 PM Pacific Time, ESPN began announcing the schedule for the annual Tip-Off Marathon. I say "began" because it is still being announced, one game at a time, every two hours, exactly three months in advance of each game's scheduled tip-off.

The WCC will be represented by three teams. Once again Gonzaga will help kick off the event. The Zags face Colorado State in game two of an ESPNU doubleheader. BYU will get in on the action as the follow up to the Zags' game, but the Cougars will be on the more prestigious ESPN2. Following those two games will be a two hour WCC void. As if to make the hours between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am even more excruciating for WCC fans, ESPN has decided to place the Wichita State Shockers in that time slot. Once the Shockers are done playing, Saint Mary's will host Akron at midnight. The Gaels have played an early morning game in four of the previous five Tip-Off Marathons.

Here's a quick look Colorado State, Stanford and Akron.

Countdown 8/4/13

97 Days Remain.

Let's get caught up with Matthew Dellavedova!

Let the Countdown Begin!

There are now only 100 days until WCC teams can take the floor and play basketball games that will be meaningful in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. In other words, we're 100 days away from the start of the season, not counting exhibitions, midnight madness, practices, media days or any other less-than-real-basketball action.

Every day from now until November 9th I will post something WCC hoops related. I will try not to post duplicates from last year's countdown, but with 100 days to fill, I'll probably recycle some of the better photos and videos from last time. Articles that would be written regardless of the countdown will not be included in the countdown, so on some great days you'll get a double-dose of posts.

Also, this 100 day milestone is a big day for me. Today is my last day living in Chicago. A few days from now, after a family reunion in Ohio, I will be back in Spokane. Before this countdown concludes I will be living in Los Angles, just in time to catch some WCC hoops in person.

2013 Recruiting Continues: Jamal Aytes

BYU went full staff for Jamal Aytes. July statement
— Dave Telep (@DaveTelep) July 27, 2013

Jamal Aytes said he's likely to visit Gonzaga and West Virginia next week. Officials.
— Dave Telep (@DaveTelep) July 27, 2013

Jamal Aytes has blown up on the summer hoops circuit. The 6'7" forward out of J Serra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California is rated as a three star recruit by ESPN and comes in at 28th in California and 66th in the nation at the power forward position. Largely unheralded before this summer, only three schools were showing interest in Aytes.

Offseason Personnel Movement Around the WCC

The landscape of college basketball is ever-changing. Some of that change, conference realignment or selfish reasons for transferring, can be negative. Some though, like natural roster turnover due to graduation, is a necessary part of the college game. Regardless of whether the change is good or bad, we have to deal with it. Unfortunately, that can be really difficult. How are you supposed to keep track of players when so many are graduating, transferring in/out, coming off redshirts/redshirting or arriving for their first year at college?

Well, this is how. I've amassed all the information on the personnel movement happening at WCC basketball programs this offseason. It's all here, listed school-by-school. Take a look at who won't be back on your least favorite team next season (because you should already know who won't be back on your favorite team). You'll also find all the new recruits, the players who will be returning from a redshirt season or two year mission, the transfers, the dismissals as well as any coaching/staff changes. Plus, there are some charts to help you understand just how much each team is losing in terms of production.

Players listed under the "going" section are shown with the year they were listed as during the 2012-'13 season. Players listed under the "coming" section are shown with the year they will be for the 2013-'14 season.

Saint Mary's Point Guard Problem

Craig Neal was hired as the head coach at New Mexico on April 3rd, shortly after former head coach Steve Alford took the top job at UCLA. Since April 3rd there has been speculation surrounding his son, Cullen Neal. The 6'4'' point guard was ranked 150th in the class of 2013 and had committed to Saint Mary's. Today came the, somewhat expected, news that Cullen would play for Craig; Saint Mary's is allowing the prized recruit to decommit and go to New Mexico.

Neal is coming off a stellar, 26.5 points per game, senior season at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was in the mix to replace the outgoing, 15.8ppg, Matthew Dellavedova  in Moraga. So, not only are the Gaels losing a top recruit but they've further opened a gaping hole in their 2013-14 roster.

See You Next Year

Not 24 hours have passed since the final buzzer sounded and confetti streamed down from the rafters in the Orleans Arena. I'm already looking forward to next year.

The Orleans Arena between the 2013 Women's and Men's Championship Games.

This year's WCC Tournament was the last in a few categories. It was the last nine team tournament. The last to feature the top seed protecting double-bye into the semifinals. It won't, however, be the last to take place at the Orleans Arena.

“I am very pleased that the West Coast Conference and The Orleans Arena have agreed to extend our partnership for the next three years,” WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said of the contract extension. The Orleans Arena will play host to the WCC Tournament through the 2016 season.