Countdown 10/10

29 days remain...

Since there are two tens in today's date I will provide for your reading pleasure two links in today's countdown.

The first, is ESPN.com's assessment of the non-conference schedules for each WCC team. On their 1-10 toughness scale Portland comes in on top with a 10 and Pepperdine brings up the rear with a 3.

The second, pertains mostly to BYU. I'm a couple days late on this one, since I'm not a Mormon I don't really keep up with the Church's policy dealings, but it's by no means out of date. ESPN.com examines how the lowering of the age at which an LDS mission can begin will affect recruiting of Mormon student athletes.

This guy will be rejoining the Cougars after missing the last two seasons due to his mission.

Also, please let me know if any of my terminology pertaining to missions and the LDS church is incorrect. One of my longtime friends/former roommate is a Mormon so I gained a solid understanding of the LDS community through him but probably missed some of the details.

Countdown 10/9

30 days remain...

Santa Clara's captains field questions from some student reporters. Marc Trasolini, who was out all last season with a torn ACL, is the first to be interviewed.

Countdown 10/8

31 days remain..

Today CBS Sports released some preseason picks for conference champions, the final four and the national championship. Click the link to see them all but first look at the image below for a taste of what is to come.

NBC Sports, veering away from the sports they normally broadcast (other than Sunday Night Football it's skateboarding and track and field from what I have seen), published a semi-response to CBS Sports' post. This article isn't very good, starts off with a spelling error in the first paragraph and rides the strange line between abridged history and preseason prediction. It is WCC reading material however, so have

Countdown 10/7

32 days remain.

Here's a video from before the start of last season featuring interviews with the USF backcourt. Cody Doolin, the WCC's most underrated point guard, looks to keep the seriously depleted Dons trending upward. Doolin is the only player in this video returning for this season. His performances late in the season and during the WCC Tournament were among the best by any floor general in the WCC last season. If the Dons are to stay afloat in this league Doolin will be the reason.

Countdown 10/6

33 days remain.

Kevin Pangos hits nine 3-pointers on his way to 33 points in the 2011 ESPN Tip-Off Marathon against Washington State.

Countdown 10/5

34 days remain.

Since it's a Friday you probably have some free time to digest a lot of information. So I am going to throw a couple of links at you each containing a whole lot of stats and facts. Initially my thought process was "10/5 is a nice, round number so I'll do this today", but then I came up with a reason that actually made sense.

Stats from the 2011-12 WCC season.

This next link will ask you to download something, it's the 2011-12 record book made by the West Coast Conference and is also available for download on their website.

Download 2011-12 WCC Record Book PDF.

I have personally wasted a ton of time just staring at these so be careful.

Countdown 10/4

35 days remain.

Here's Saint Mary's more emotional way of saying that traditional CB radio code "10-4" on Selection Sunday 2010.

Countdown 10/3

36 days remain...

With 1,702 career points Dane Suttle is Pepperdine's all time scoring leader. He's held that position since his final season with the Waves in 1983. What's impressive about that, is the 6'3'' guard's career with the Waves ended a full three seasons before the introduction of the 3-point line. In the half century since the three was introduced no Wave has been able to use it to pass Suttle. Once someone does pass him they'll have to wonder, if the three had existed in Suttle's time, if they would have passed him in the first place.

This is timely right now because Suttle is being inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame with the ceremony taking place on October 21st.

Countdown 10/2

37 days remain.

Here's the winning shot in overtime from the #13 Toreros' upset over #4 Connecticut Huskies in the first round (back when they still called the first round the first round) of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Note: The host team for this game is the impostor USF (South Florida).

Countdown 10/1

38 days remain.

Here's a highlight reel of "The Legends of Pepperdine Basketball".

It's the month of Midnight Madness. One step closer...