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College basketball rankings: Saint Mary's replaces Gonzaga in Top 25 And 1 after winning WCC Tournament – CBS Sports
Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga first met in a West Coast Conference Tournament championship game in 2004. Since then, they’ve played on this stage 13 additional times, most recently Tuesday night when both entered already assured of making the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
So were the stakes super high?
No, the stakes were not super high. Seeding was the lone thing at stake as it pertains to the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, adding a trophy to the trophy case at the expense of a rival is always worth doing, and Saint Mary’s did exactly that following a 69-60 victory over the Zags that provided Randy Bennett with his fourth WCC Tournament championship.
“We beat a good team — a program we’ve got a ton of respect for,” Bennett said. “They’ve helped us become the program that we are because we were punching up there for a long time and trying to do what they were doing and be as good as they were.”
In this season, mission accomplished. Saint Mary’s won the WCC regular-season title by a game, won the WCC Tournament convincingly and will enter the NCAA Tournament ranked ahead of Gonzaga in the NET. The Gaels are No. 25 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the 22nd consecutive day. Gonzaga is No. 26.
Among the drags on Saint Mary’s body of work are two Quadrant 3 losses suffered before Christmas — the first to Weber State on Nov. 12, the second to Missouri State on Dec. 23. That’ll likely prevent the Gaels from being a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament. But, for what it’s worth, since losing to Missouri State, Saint Mary’s is 18-1 and performing like the eighth most-efficient team in the country, according to BartTorvik.com. So if you’re looking for a team to advance in your NCAA Tournament bracket that will probably be under-seeded on Selection Sunday, the Gaels might be a good candidate.
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