Did we learn anything from Stanford’s 100-47 victory over Ryerson in its men’s exhibition basketball game on Saturday?

Not much, except that Johnny Dawkins has a lot of options for lineups, and may be juggling his starting five as the season moves along, much like he did last season.

It would be nice if the Cardinal could establish a rotation and stick with it, because that lends consistency and stability, but it remains to be seen whether that can happen.

It is becoming increasing clear that freshman Chasson Randle will be the team’s starting point guard, though.    He was in the starting lineup against Ryerson, and you don’t start a true freshman in an exhibition game unless you plan for him to be your starter when the games count.   He was just 3-for-7 from the field, but he had three assists and no turnovers.   And he proved his value during the team’s tour of Spain.

Perhaps more significant is that Aaron Bright, not Jarrett Mann, was the other starting guard.   Dawkins has said Bright might be the most improved player on the team, so we may see him in the starting lineup.  He provides the Cardinal with an outside threat that Mann does not.   It also gives Stanford two combo guards on the floor together, and there has been a trend of late to have two players on the floo at the same time who can run the offense.

Besides Randle, Josh Owens seems to be the only other player set as a starter, although it appears sophomore Dwight Powell is a good bet to be a starter.  He had 16 points and seven boards in the exhibition.

Sophomore Anthony Brown came off the bench in the exhibition, which is somewhat of a surprise, while Andrew Zimmermann was in the starting lineup.

Zimmermann is a complementary player, and if the Dawkins thinks he has enough scoring on the floor elsewhere, he may use Zimmermann for his hustle and defense.   However, as the season goes on, you may see Zimmermann phased out.

Brown was not a starter at the beginning of last season, but he was by season’s end, and the same thing could happen this year.  He was 5-for-6 from the field and made his only three-point attempt in the exhibition.   Even if he is not in the starting lineup, he figures to get starter minutes and probably will play more than Zimmermann.

Here is our complete rundown of all nine basketball teams in the West Coast Conference, which now includes BYU.

Predicted order of finish: 1. Gonzaga, 2. St. Mary’s, 3. BYU, 4. San Francisco, 5. Santa Clara, 6. Loyola Marymount, 7. Portland, 8. San Diego, 9. Pepperdine.

GONZAGA
Gonzaga had to hit rock bottom last season before making a late run – aided by St. Mary’s slump — to earn a share of its 11th straight conference title.
And despite the loss of its best player (Steven Gray) and the addition of BYU to the WCC, the Zags are favored to win it again.
It’s getting more and more difficult for Gonzaga to dominate the WCC, what with St. Mary’s having established itself as a perennial contender, and San Francisco and Santa Clara becoming threats, not to mention the added competition from BYU.
But if the Zags could manage to keep their streak of consecutive titles alive last season, despite being 2½ game out of the lead with four games left, there should be no doubters that they can do it again.
Gonzaga returns three starters, and its talented five-man freshman class, featuring guards Gary Bell Jr. and Kevin Pangos, is by far the best recruiting class in the conference.
And that does not include the fact that redshirt sophomore G David Stockton, senior G Marquise Carter and sophomore F Sam Dower all played much better toward the end of their first season of college competition last year.
Despite the losses of Gray, the leading scorer at 13.9 ppg, and Demetri Goodson, who transferred to Baylor to play football, there is every reason to believe the Zags will be better than last season.
C Robert Sacre is the best big man in the conference, and Elias Harris, who looked like an NBA first-rounder as a freshman, figures to have a bounce back junior season after a disappointing sophomore year.
Stockton seems primed to take over the point guard spot, and there is more than enough talent to fill in every conceivable void.
Other than Harris, the Zags don’t have outstanding athletes blowing by everyone, but you can count on them being an outstanding defensive team, as they are every year, and, despite the loss of Gray, they should be a good outside shooting team once again.
As usual, the brutal nonconference schedule will toughened them for whatever they’ll meet in the WCC and give them some national exposure.
Anything less than a 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament will be a major disappointment.

NOTES
–Gonzaga’s streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the fourth longest active streak, behind Kansas (22), Duke (16) and Michigan State (14).
Its streak of 11 straight conference titles is the longest current such streak and the second longest in history, behind only UCLA’s 13 in a row from 1967 to 1979.
– Gonzaga was just 3-3 in the WCC at one point last season, having lost three straight conference games for the first time since 1996 after its home loss to St. Mary’s, which was unbeaten in the WCC at the time.
The Zags’ run of WCC titles and NCAA Tournament berths seemed to be at an end.  But they rallied to tie for the regular-season title, win the conference tournament and upset No. 6 seed St. John’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
—The annual rumors that Mark Few would be headed elsewhere have quieted in recent years.  He enters his 13th season at Gonzaga, and he seems settled there for the long haul.  At this point, it’s difficult to imagine a program he would leave Gonzaga for.
— The Zags were ranked No. 23 in the coaches preseason poll, and their schedule again is brutal, with nonconference games against Xavier, Michigan State, Arizona, Butler, Illinois and Notre Dame
LAST YEAR: 25-10 overall, 11-3 in the WCC
HEAD COACH: Mark Few, 13th year as head coach (315-83 at Gonzaga 315-83 career)
QUOTE: “When it’s all said and done, I think it’ll be the highest-rated schedule we’ve ever had.” – Gonzaga coach Mark Few, to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, despite having some very tough nonconference schedules in the past.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG David Stockton, SG Marquise Carter, SF Elias Harris, PF Sam Dower, C Robert Sacre
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
The starting five might not have quite the star power and scoring potential of some Gonzaga teams of the past, but they are solid, and should get better as Stockton, Carter and Dower all improved late last season.
Dower and Sacre provide an almost unstoppable low-post presence, and Harris has a chance to be the best player in the conference after an so-so sophomore season.
Gonzaga will have more depth than it has had in recent years with 7-foot Kelly Olynyk and a slew of freshmen – most notably Gary Bell Jr. and Kevin Pangos – coming off the bench.   One or two of those freshmen could even break into the starting five.
The key is Stockton.  If he continues the improvement he showed late last season and shows he can hit the outside shot, the Zags will have something special.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS
The Bulldogs have six newcomers, including five true freshmen, and all of them could see playing time, although it seems inevitable that at least one or two of them will redshirt.
G Gary Bell Jr., who can do virtually anything on the court, is a good bet to be WCC freshman of the year, although Kevin Pangos, already a solid point guard who seldom makes a mistake, may challenge him.
Kyle Drainginis is a good shooter who figures to play too, while Chris Sarbaugh and Ryan Spangler may have to wait their turn.
The wild card is junior college transfer Guy Landry Edi.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Freshman Chris Sarbaugh had knee surgery in July that kept him off the court awhile, and although he is practicing, he’s a candidate to redshirt.
—Junior Guy Landry Edi was working through knee problems as preseason practice began.  It did not require surgery but limited his participation in practice.
—Manny Arop, who received significant playing time last season, transferred to Indiana State in the offseason.
— C Robert Sacre shaved his head during the early part of preseason practice, giving him a distinctive bald look.

ST. MARY’S
St. Mary’s most important offseason activity was to sign Randy Bennett to a 10-year contract extension, which should mean continued success for the small school in Moraga, Calif.
That may have helped him get over being passed over for an NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in three years despite having 26 wins in 2009 and 25 wins and a share of the regular-season conference title in 2011.
To successfully defend their 2011 WCC regular-season title – and perhaps finish alone in first rather than sharing the crown with Gonzaga as they did last season – the Gaels must make up for the loss of just one starter.
However, that one starter was the WCC player of the year, Mickey McConnell.  Plus, he occupied the most important position on the floor – point guard – and he directed so much of what the Gaels did on the floor, his loss cannot be minimized.
It means Bennett will have to alter some players’ roles, specifically the role of Matthew Dellavedova.  An off-guard the past two seasons, Dellavedova is expected to take over the point-guard duties as a junior.   That should not be too difficult for Dellavedova, because, late last season, he and McConnell both performed point-guard chores – with one handling the ball out front on one possession and the other running the team on the next.
Like McConnell, Dellavedova (13.4 ppg, 5.3 apg) has the ability to drive the lane and hit three-pointers.  However, he is more inclined to try to score than McConnell, who was equally adepts at finishing himself or passing to a teammate.  Plus, Dellavedova cannot match McConnell accuracy on three-pointers.
Otherwise, things should look much the same for the Gaels, with all-conference forward Rob Jones (13.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg) returning along with Dellavedova and two  other starters from last season.
That does not include F/C Mitchell Young, who did not start any games last season but plays starter minutes and is clearly the team’s third best player.  Bennett would prefer to have Young continue to come off the bench, but it remains to be seen whether he can afford to do that with the loss of his leading scorer, McConnell.
It also does not include sophomore G Stephen Holt, who became a starter for the final few games and could become a star this season on both ends of the court.
A perimeter-oriented team last season, the Gaels may be more balanced with the addition of 7-foot transfer Kyle Rowley and 6-9 redshirt freshman Brad Waldow.
The return of G Jorden Page, who missed last season with a knee injury, should help as well, as the Gaels have every reason to believe they can challenge for the WCC title again, despite the addition of BYU and Gonzaga’s strong returning cast.

NOTES
— Coach Randy Bennett signed a 10-year contract extension, which means he is under contract through the 2020-2021 season.  Although this will not prevent the annual rumors that Bennett could leave and go elsewhere, it seems Bennett is likely to stay.   Bennett is not the kind of person who would make or accept such a commitment unless he planned to honor it.   The rumors that he might leave have subsided in recent years anyway, as Bennett has shown a reluctance to leave.  The only school that seriously pursued Bennett was Oregon State before Craig Robinson took the job, although Bennett was considered a serious candidate for the Cal job before Mike Montgomery came out of nowhere to get the job.
— St. Mary’s had a serious collapse at the end of last season that prevented the Gaels from winning the regular-season title outright and prevented it from getting to the NCAA Tournament.  The Gaels had a 2½-game lead on Gonzaga with three conference games left, and they had already beaten Gonzaga on the road.  But the Gaels lost to last-place San Diego, dropped a nonconference game at home to Utah State, then lost at home to Gonzaga before winning their final regular-season game to salvage a tie for the title.  But St. Mary’s then lost rather decisively to Gonzaga in the WCC tournament finals.   Mickey McConnell’s level of play dropped precipitously during that stretch.
— For the fourth straight year, St. Mary’s will host a game in ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon, and for the fourth straight year that game will start at 11 p.m. West Coast time.   The Gaels have won all three of the previous late-night games, beating St. John’s a year ago.  This season St. Mary’s will host Northern Iowa in its 11 p.m. game on Nov. 15.
LAST YEAR: 25-9 overall, 11-3 in the WCC.
HEAD COACH: Randy Bennett, 11th year as head coach (208-112 at St. Mary’s; 208-112 career)
QUOTE: “The longer you’re there, the more equity you have in the program and the more it means to you.  It’s a good match.” – St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, to the Oakland Tribune, after signing a 10-year contract extension in August 2011.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Matthew Dellavedova, SG Stephen Holt, SF Clint Steindl, PF Rob Jones, C Tim Williams.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
St. Mary’s has always relied on outside shooting and getting scoring from all five positions.  That should be the case again this season whenever Mitchell Young replaces Tim Williams or Kenton Walker III at the center spot.
Matthew Dellavedova’s ability to handle the point with be critical, and Clint Steindl must recover from the shooting slump he had much of last season.  If he is not shooting well, his usefulness declines.  That is why Stephen Holt replaced him in the starting lineup late in the season, and Holt looks like a budding star, both at the offensive and defensive ends.
It will be interesting to see how prominent Holt becomes as a scorer and how Randy Bennett will use Jorden Page after he missed most of last season.
G Paul McCoy, a transfer from SMU, could help in the backcourt as well.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Gaels brought in just one freshman this season, but they have three redshirt freshmen and two transfers that may make impacts.
Kyle Rowley, a 7-footer, started 28 games as a freshman at Northwestern and five more as a sophomore before transferring and sitting out last season.  He should help up front, as should 6-9 redshirt freshman Brad Waldow.
G Paul McCoy may see action after sitting out last season following two seasons at SMU.  He started 16 games at SMU as a sophomore before a knee injury ended his season.
Redshirt freshmen wing player 6-7 Eividas Petrulis of Lithuania may see some time, and redshirt freshman G Zach Sanchez is a walk-on.
The one true freshman is Jordan Giusti, who would have to show a lot in preseason or early in the regular season to get significant playing time.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Junior G Matthew Dellavedova was a member of Australian national team that beat New Zealand in a best-of-three series in September to earn a berth in the 2012 Olympics.  Dellavedova played more than 18 minutes in all three games, but did not shoot well, hitting just 1 of 12 shots for the series and totaling 10 points.
—Former St. Mary’s G Patty Mills signed a contract during the summer to play with the Melbourne Tigers in Australia’s professional basketball league.
— Former Gaels G Mickey McConnell was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major League Baseball draft in June even though he had not played baseball in four years.  However, McConnell signed to play professional basketball in Italy.
— Junior G Jorden Page had knee surgery last winter for an injury that caused him to miss all but seven games last season, but he has returned an seems to be a full strength.

BYU
It’s still hard to believe BYU will be playing at venues like St. Mary’s 3,000-seat McKeon Pavilion, the site of the Cougars’ first West Coast Conference game.
It’s equally hard to image the Gaels playing in BYU’s 22,700-seat area with first place possibly being on the line later this season.
In fact, it hard to believe BYU is in the WCC at all as the conference’s ninth member, because it just seems so different from the other eight.
“BYU changes the whole dynamic of our league,” San Francisco coach Rex Walters said.  “They’re a totally different animal.”
The fact that its arena is more than three times the size of any other arena in the WCC is part of the difference, as is the fact that BYU is likely to have as much support at many of its WCC road games as the home team.
And then there’s the fact that BYU spent nearly all of last season ranked in the top 10 and had the national player of the year in Jimmer Fredette.   The Cougars just seem too big for the WCC.
Nonetheless, BYU is not going to be running roughshod over the WCC.   Not only does it seem unlikely BYU will win the WCC in its first (and perhaps only) season in the WCC, it may not finish second.   And given its considerable losses in the backcourt and the way coach Dave Rose is going to have to alter his attack as a result, a fourth or fifth-place finish is not out of the question.
Not only did the Cougars lose Fredette, but they lost their No. 2 scorer and backcourt mate Emery Jackson.
Kyle Collinsworth, a starter last season as a freshman, is off on his Mormon mission, and his brother, Chris, is coming off microfracture knee surgery, which is always an iffy situation even though he seems to be progressing rapidly as preseason practice gets underway.
Rose can only be thankful that Bandon Davies has been reinstated after being dismissed for a school-code violation late last season.   The 6-9 Davies (11.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg) becomes the Cougars best player, and he and 6-8 Noah Hartsock are the reasons BYU will go from a team that lived on the perimeter with Fredette and Jackson to one that will pound it inside every chance it gets.
The biggest issue is point guard, and, although no one can replace the numbers Fredette put up, BYU thinks it has the answer in Matt Carlino, a transfer from UCLA who never got on the court with the Bruins.   However, he has to sit out the first 10 games as a transfer, and won’t start playing until Dec. 17.
Ball-handling and outside shooting are concerns, and BYU’s success may depend on whether Carlino is ready to be a floor general for his new team by the time BYU plays its first WCC game.

NOTES
–When basketball practice began in mid-October, it was unclear whether BYU would be in the WCC for more than one season.  The basketball move to the WCC was necessitated by the football team wanting to become an independent, and it appears the Cougars could be playing in the Big 12 next season.
— BYU has finished in the top two in the Mountain West Conference in each of Dave Rose’s first six years as the Cougars’ coach.  But even though BYU seems to be stepping down in class by joining the WCC, the Cougars may be unable to finish in the top two this season.   Most preseason publications predict Gonzaga and St. Mary’s will finish first and second.
—Although BYU will suffer from the loss of Jimmer Fredette, Rose had survived after the loss of a star in the past.  The year after BYU lost conference player of the year Keena Young, the Cougars won 27 games in 2008.  After Lee Cummard graduated in 2009, the Cougars won 30 games in 2010.
—Dave Rose signed a new five-year contract last April.
LAST YEAR: 32-5 overall, 14-2 in Mountain West
HEAD COACH: Dave Rose, seventh season as head coach (159-45 at BYU; 159-45 career)
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think we will rely on our frontline, especially early in the year.” – BYU coach Dave Rose, to the Salt Lake Tribune, regarding the switch in emphasis with Jimmer Fredette gone.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Matt Carlino, SG Charles Abuou, SF Chris Collinsworth, PF Noah Hartsock, C Brandon Davies.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
Who will be the point guard until Carlino become eligible in mid-December is anyone’s guess, but the team is likely to struggle until then, and ball-handling may be an issue throughout the season.
The frontcourt of Davis, Hartsock and Collinsworth is strong and should be formidable, assuming Collinsworth’s knee is stable, and Davies should emerge as the team’s star and top scorer.
Obouo is tough, 6-5 defender, who might be out of position if forced to play in the backcourt, but he can probably make it work.
Depth is an issue, and the Cougars must hope guard Brock Zylstra and freshman Damascus Harrison can provide help off the bench.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Cougars had nine freshmen on its 17-man roster when preseason practice began, although Dave Rose is likely to travel with just 13 players.
The most important newcomer is PG Matt Carlino, a transfer from UCLA who is a freshman and is likely to be a starter when he becomes eligible Dec. 17.
After Carlino, the most likely newcomer to contribute is shooting guard Damascus Harrison, the most highly touted incoming recruit.
Also, G Josh Sharp could be a factor, even though he has not played since his senior year of high school in 2007-2008.   He is a freshman who transferred from Utah.
ROSTER REPORT:
— Junior Brandon Davies was readmitted to school on Aug. 26 and was reinstated on the basketball team.  Davies had been suspended last March for an honor code violation – reportedly for having sexual relations with his girlfriend.  He withdrew from school at that point, and fulfilled the requirements for re-admission.
–Sophomore Chris Collinsworth played just nine games last season before having microfracture knee surgery last January.  Less than two months before the start of preseason practice, he was still having a lot of pain in that knee and it didn’t look like he would be ready for the start of the season.   But suddenly the knee started improving, and he’s participating in practice.   If he continues to improve at that pace, he could be in the starting lineup early in the season.
— Freshman G Josh Sharp transferred from Utah in the offseason, but will not have to sit out because of a loophole BYU discovered in the paperwork in the letter of intent to Utah he signed back in 2007.   His letter of intent became invalid, and he could sign with any school and not sit out.  He did not play the past two seasons while on his Mormon mission.
— Chris Cusick transferred from Utah to BYU

SAN FRANCISCO
There’s a chance the glory may return for San Francisco basketball this season.
The Dons won’t be the favorite for the WCC title.  They won’t even be picked second.  But they have a chance – albeit a tenuous one – to challenge Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU for the regular season title.
While Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU each lost its best player, the Dons return all five starters from a team that finished just one game out of first place last season.
The steady progression the Dons have made under Rex Walters suggests they may be ready to break through to elite status in Walters’ fourth season.
“We have a chance to be pretty darn good this year, and I’d like to think we’re capable of winning the title,” Walters said.
But the question is whether USF can handle the high expectations.   Loyola Marymount couldn’t do it last season when it was expected to challenge the elite teams, and San Diego finished 6-8 in the conference when it returned all five starters from a team that beat Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU are used to high expectations; USF isn’t, and it’s a different kind of pressure.
But the pieces are there, including all-conference players Mikey Williams and Rashad Green on the wings, improving low-post presence Perris Blackwell, reliable F Angelo Caloiaro, and Cody Doolin, a small, but bold point guard, who proved his ability to perform in clutch situations last season as a true freshman.
The Dons also have G Dominique O’Connor, who missed virtually all of his first two season with knee injuries.   He provides additional quickness in the backcourt.
The margin for error is small for USF, though.  They relied heavily on taking care of the ball on offense and consistently strong, physical play on defense, and they don’t have the talent to overcome any lapses in those categories.

NOTES
–The only players of significance that San Francisco lost from last season’s team were F Moustapha Diarra, who started 11 games and was fifth on the team in scoring at 7.8 ppg, and Marko Petrovic, who averaged about 18 minutes a game but left school to play professionally in Europe.
— The health of Dominique O’Connor and is a key issue for the Dons.   O’Connor was penciled in a starter as a freshman but missed the entire season with a knee injury.  He was a starter for the first two games last season before injuring his knee again and missing the rest of the season.   O’Connor seems to be moving well and has not lost any of his quickness.
– The Dons are trying to reach the NCAA Tournament for only the second time since 1982, which was USF’s final season before the program was shut down for three years because of repeated NCAA violations.   Their one trip to the NCAA Tournament since then was in 1998, when USF finished 7-7 in the WCC regular season but won the conference tournament.   That was when the conference was much weaker, before Gonzaga and St. Mary’s reached national prominence, and obviously before BYU joined the WCC.
– San Francisco won two postseason games last season in the CollegeInsider.com postseason event before losing at home to WCC rival Santa Clara.
LAST YEAR: 19-15 overall, 10-4 in the WCC
HEAD COACH: Rex Walters, 4th year as head coach (42-53 at USF; 73-85 career)
QUOTE: “We felt we were as good as Gonzaga at the end of last year.” – San Francisco coach Rex Walters, whose team split two regular-season games with Gonzaga and played the Zags virtually even in the WCC semifinals before losing by four points.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Cody Doolin, SG Michael Williams, SG Rashard Green, PF Angelo Caloiaro, C Perris Blackwell.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
The Dons don’t have a lot of size, but 6-8 forwards Angelo Caloiaro and 6-8 Perris Blackwell give them a nice pair of rebounders, and Blackwell is an animal in the post.
Michael Williams, the team’s top scorer last season, is one of the fastest players in the WCC, and Rashard Green does a little bit of everything.   PG Cody Doolin provides a hard-nosed scrappy mentality, and Dominique O’Connor provides speed off the bench, although he could conceivably become a starter.
Charles Standifer has a chance to be an outstanding wingman after missing most of last season with a foot injury, and Avery Johnson provides defensive help off the bench.
The Dons are not a great outside shooting team, so they depend heavily on ball movement and penetration.  They lack a standout player who can carry a team in times of trouble, something Gonzaga and St. Mary’s have.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
Dominique O’Connor is a third-year player, but he is a newcomer in many ways because he has played only two games for USF.  If he has sufficiently recovered from his two knee surgeries – and it appears he has – he could be a big factor.
Sophomore Charles Standifer played only seven games last season before being shut down because of ankle and foot problems, but he is an athletic player with potential.
The Dons added three freshmen –- F Mark Tollefsen, G Chris Adams and G Gavin Hoffmann – but they may not see much action unless there are injuries.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Sophomore F Charles Standifer is trying to get a medical redshirt after playing just seven games last season.   USF is saying the injury was originally misdiagnosed and that he would have been shut down earlier if the appropriate diagnosis had been made.
— Marko Petrovic left after his freshman season to play professionally in Europe.
— Freshman G Chris Adams did not sign with San Francisco until May of last spring.

PEPPERDINE
At least Marty Wilson won’t have the pressure of high expectations in his first permanent job as a head coach.
The Waves lost their top three scorers from last season – one through graduation (Mychel Thompson), one through transfer (Keion Bell) and one through season-ending injury (Lorne Jackson).   The loss of Jackson to an offseason knee injury (torn anterior cruciate ligament) was particularly troubling because he had been penciled in as the team leader and its one and only all-conference-caliber player.
Even though three players who started the final game last season are back, the Waves relied heavily on the three departed players for their offense.  And even those players couldn’t provide much success, as the Waves lost 21 games, the sixth straight season the Waves have lost 20 or more games.
If Pepperdine end that streak this season it will be a surprise, because the Waves will do well to finish out of last place.
Pepperdine brought in Tom Asbury to get the program back to being the West Coast Conference power it had been when Asbury was the coach previously from 1988 to 1994.   He simply couldn’t do it.   Whether it was because the conference is stronger than it was in the 1990s or some other reason, the Waves continued to lag near the bottom.
It had been Asbury’s intention from the start to coach two or three seasons (he lasted three) and turn the team over to Wilson.   But he didn’t leave it the way he had hoped.
Wilson is building from ground level, with Taylor Darby being his top returning scorer, at 7.7 ppg, and the two other returning starters at season’s end – 6-10 Corbin Moore and G Joshua Lowery – starting a little more than half the games last season.
Five newcomers are on the team, including two junior college transfers, and most of them will get immediate playing time.    Freshman G Jordan Baker is the one most likely to see action early, and he could become a starter.
Wilson will be asked to put together a lot of untested parts in a cohesive manner and improve a program that has lingered at the bottom of the WCC for nearly a decade.  The past few years the Waves have been inconsistent on defense, lacked a playmaker, did not play well as a unit, constantly experienced lineup changes and did not shoot well from outside.
Outside shooting, point guard play and defense again figure to be issues for the Waves, who also lack a proven leader.
With Gonzaga and St. Mary’s established at perennial power and BYU added to the conference, the chore is much more difficult than in the past.
And Wilson is being asked to do it in his first season as a fulltime head coach.   If the Waves do anything other than finish last, the season will be considered a success – and a surprise.

NOTES
— Marty Wilson had been a head coach at Pepperdine previously, taking over as interim head coach for the final 13 games of the 1995-96 season after Tony Fuller got fired.  Wilson went 3-10 in that stint.
— Wilson is trying to recover the feeling the program had when it was the WCC’s kingpin through the 1980s and early 1990s by reaching out to a lot of the players from that era and making them part of the program.  Eight former Pepperdine stars were on hand to judge the slam dunk contest on the Waves opening-night event on Oct. 14: Doug Christie, Dana Jones, Geoff Lear, Levy Middlebrooks, Dwayne Polee, Orlando Phillips, Dane Suttle and Camel Stevens.
— Pepperdine has had a losing WCC record for seven seasons in a row.   It’s hard to believe that from 1975 through 2002, it was one of the powers of the conference – in fact, probably the strongest basketball program in the conference over that period.
— Jim Harrick, who coached the Waves to a first-place finish in five of his nine seasons as Pepperdine’s head coach in the 1980s, was inducted into the Pepperdine Hall of Fame in October.
LAST YEAR: 12-21 overall, 5-9 in the WCC.
HEAD COACH: Marty Wilson, first season at head coach (0-0 at Pepperdine, 3-10 as interim head coach at Pepperdine in 1996).
QUOTE: “I want a team that’s going to be smart.  I want a team that’s going to be tough.  I want a team that’s going to be unselfish.  Defensively, we’re going to compete.” – Pepperdine coach Marty Wilson, although the team was none of those things the past few years.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Joshua Lowery, G Jordan Baker, SF Dane Suttle Jr., PF Taylor Darby, C Corbin Moore.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
The lineup may look nothing like this by the time WCC play begins, and Marty Wilson probably will try a number of combinations hoping to find one that works.  Joshua Lowery probably will get the first shot at being the point guard, but it remains to be seen whether he’s the answer because Wilson wants to push the pace.
Freshman Jordan Baker has a chance to be a starter before long, and he is the one player on the team that has a chance to become a star, although it may not be this season.
Taylor Darby is a pretty good rebounder, and Corbin Moore has a pretty good touch for a big man and will be asked to step up his scoring considerably.  Dane Suttle Jr. is one of the team’s few outside threats.
Junior college transfers Moriba De Freitas, a 6-9 forward, and Nikolas Skouen, a 6-4 guard, are expected to play right away and may be starters, and freshman Manny Okenje, a summer signee, has the potential to be something special, perhaps even this season.
F Hector Harold and G Caleb Willis are two other returning players who have started a number of games and could see playing time.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Waves bring in five newcomers, and at least four figure to play significant minutes this season.
The most important newcomer is freshman G Jordan Baker, the most highly touted recruit Pepperdine has had in some time.  He is an athletic combo guard who could become the Waves’ point guard.
The Waves also added freshman Manny Ochenje, a 6-9 player with athleticism and potential.
A Nigerian, Ochenje is also one of three foreign-born players among the newcomers.  Junior college transfer Nikolas Skouen of Norway is expected to provide some needed outside shooting, and the other JC transfer is Moriba De Freitas, who was born in Trinidad and is more effective as a defender than an offensive threat.
The other newcomer is 6-8 freshman Ramon Eaton.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Freshman PG/SG Jordan Baker was named Gatorade player of year in Arizona last season and was also named a third-team Parade All-American.
—Senior G Lorne Jackson, who averaged 16.6 points in WCC games last season, tore his ACL in June and had reconstructive surgery on July 18.  He is expected to redshirt and return next season.
–Freshman F Manny Ochenje was originally listed as a 2012 recruit but completed his academic obligation sooner than expected and became eligible this season.  He signed with Tennessee-Chattanooga last fall, but got a release and signed with Pepperdine this past July.
—F Paulin Mpawe signed with Pepperdine last fall, but he was given a release from his letter-of-intent in the offseason and is expected to play at junior college.  That opened up a scholarship for Ochenje.
SANTA CLARA
When September began, everything seemed to be lining up nicely for Santa Clara to make a run at a conference title.
The Broncos were coming off a season in which they had beaten Gonzaga at home, then won a postseason tournament.    It was only the CollegeInsiders.com Postseason tournament, which is hardly the most prestigious event around, but the Broncos had beaten some good teams, the last three wins coming on the road, including a victory over San Francisco.
Coach Kerry Keating had signed a new contract in April, so he seemed settled.   There had been no offseason drama as there had been in past years when players transferred, and though it lost two starters, Santa Clara returned the three key components of the team – fourth-year junior G Kevin Foster, sophomore PG Evan Roquemore and senior F Marc Trasolini – were back.
In Foster, the Broncos had, quite simply, the best returning player in the conference.  He led the WCC in scoring (20.2 ppg) and might have been WCC player of the year last season if the Broncos had finished higher than fourth.  And he was great in the postseason.
Roquemore improved throughout the season as a freshman point guard and had already shown he had the talent and the nerve to be a quality lead guard.
And Trasolini was the inside complement to the two guards, a player who could collect a lot of rebounds, score inside, yet also venture to the perimeter and score if need be.
Three of the four key reserves – John McArthur, Niyi Harrison and Raymond Cowells III – were back, and large freshman class might help, especially 6-9 Robert Garrett.
With a trip to Canada coming up, the Broncos could get an early start on competition, plus some extra practices.
But in the first game of that Canada tour, Trasolini tore his anterior-cruciate ligament and was lost for the season, robbing the Broncos of their leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer from last season.
The Broncos will still be good, but without Trasolini, they went from being a team likely to finish third or fourth to one that should be picked to finish fifth.
Unless McArthur or Garrett makes rapid strides to provide an inside presence, the Broncos will be even more perimeter-oriented than they were last season.
Foster can carry the team quite a ways, but he may not be able to get the team to the level of St. Mary’s or Gonzaga – or maybe not to the level of BYU or improving San Francisco — without Trasolini.
NOTES
— Part of the reason Santa Clara picked the Vancouver, British Columbia, area as its summer tour destination is because Marc Trasolini is from Vancouver.  But two minutes into the first exhibition game of the tour, Trasolini tore his anterior-cruciate ligament. Two days after the injury the team had dinner at Trasolini’s parents’ house in Vancouver.  Trasolini, a senior, will be able to return to play next season while he takes graduate courses, and with Kevin Foster and Evan Roquemore both having eligibility remaining next season, the Broncos could be a contender in 2012-2013.
— In July, Kerry Keating signed a two-year contract extension that takes him through the 2014-2015 season.
— Santa Clara won its final three games of the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament on the road in three different parts of the country.   In the quarterfinals, it won at San Francisco, a team that had defeated the Broncos twice during the regular season.   In the semifinals, Santa Clara won at SMU, although an injury to the Mustangs’ best player, Papa Dia, hurt SMU.  The Broncos won at Iona in the finals.   Kevin Foster averaged 25.4 points in the five-game tournament, including 36 against Air Force and 35 against SMU.
—Santa Clara led the country in free throws made last season, with 250.
LAST YEAR: 24-14 overall, 8-6 in the WCC
HEAD COACH: Kerry Keating, fifth year as head coach (66-68 at Santa Clara; 66-68 career)
QUOTE: “We’re going to have at least one or two of our underclassmen be pretty consistent in our top rotation.” – Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating, on the team’s dependence on its six scholarship freshmen and redshirt freshmen.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Evan Roquemore, SG Kevin Foster, SF Raymond Cowels III, PF Niyi Harrison, C John McArthur.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
The Broncos know Roquemore and Foster can score, and the addition of Cowels in what would be a three-guard lineup gives the Broncos three players willing and able to hit three-pointers.
The key may be the play of McArthur.  He is the one likely to take Marc Trasolini’s spot in the starting lineup, and he improved late last season, and is capable of being a consistent rebounder.
Harrison is an athletic player with potential that has not yet surfaced.
Freshmen will be in the rotation, and one or two might be starting before the season is over.  C Robert Garrett figures to get playing time, especially with Trasolini out, and Brandon Clark may be the first guard off the bench.
Rebounding could be a concern, which is why Yannick Atanga, a redshirt freshman, may see playing time.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Broncos have eight freshmen on the roster, two of whom are walk-ons.
True freshmen Robert Garrett, a 7-footer, and G Brandon Clark figure to be the most important of the bunch.
Garrett is already an accomplished rebounder, and could be a top-notch defender eventually.  He is expected to play a lot from the start, as is Clark, a point guard who showed on the Canada trip he can score.  He will get more playing time than expected, and may be the first guard off the bench.
Denzel Johnson is a combo guard who might help, and 6-8 G Karim York is intriguing because of his height and versatility.  He could fill several roles, although it may take Kerry Keating some time to figure out how to utilize him.
Redshirt freshman Julian Clarke will earn playing time as an outside shooter, and the other redshirt freshman, Yannick Atanga, provides needed rebounding.
ROSTER REPORT:
— Chris Caird signed with Santa Clara in June after one season at Marshalltown Community College, but he tore his anterior cruciate ligament after signing and is not on the roster.
— Kevin Foster led the nation in three-point field goals made, with 140, which was the ninth highest total in history.
— Freshman walk-on G Nick Lamson is the son of former Santa Clara player Scott Lamson.
— Redshirt freshman Julian Clarke was a member of the Canadian Under-19 national team during the summer.

LOYOLA MARMOUNT
Loyola Marymount’s attempt to rebound from a deflating 2010-2011 season hit a temporary roadblock when its top player, F Drew Viney, had to undergo surgery for  foot stress fracture that will sideline for at least the first regular-season game or two.
It’s unclear when Viney (17.2 ppg) will be back but he should return well before conference play begins.
The Lions must hope nothing else happens to Viney, because he has had trouble with his feet for years, missing most of his first season at Oregon because a stress fracture in his other foot.  He also missed games last season because of calf problems and migraine headaches.
However, the Lions do have Jarred DuBois back after his medical redshirt season, and he performed well in the first days of preseason practice.
When Viney returns, coach Max Good has enough talent to make a significant impact on the WCC race and wash away the bad taste left by last season’s results.
Loyola Marymount was picked to finish second in the WCC last season and was given a shot at dethroning Gonzaga.   But it unraveled quickly as the Lions started the season poorly, experienced a number of injuries, and slipped to the bottom of the pack. The Lions finished 2-12 in conference play, tied for last place.
Partly because of injuries and partly because he could never find a winning combination, Good tried just about every lineup combination possible.   It leaves him with a lot of experience, but also a lot of questions.
DeBois and Viney (when he gets healthy) figure to be part of that lineup, as does Anthony Ireland.   But beyond that there are a lot of question.   Freshman C.J. Blackwell figures to work his way into the mix somehow, but just how remains to be seen.
The Lions need to find more players who can make outside shots, and DuBois’ return will help that, but a bigger issue is playing consistently strong defense.   They did it on occasion last season, but not on any kind of regular basis.
The first order of business may be settling on a lineup and rotation, and if Good can do that early in the season, it may lead to some success.
Loyola Marymount returns most of its team from last season, with the notable exception of G Vernon Teel, so at least Good knows what he has.
NOTES
–The loss of Vernon Teel may help the team chemistry.   Despite being a versatile player with all-conference talent, Teel did not have a good season last year, and was a disruption to the team, frequently clashing with the coaches.  Ultimately, coach Max Good dismissed him from the team late in the season.
— Eleven players started at least three games for Loyola Marymount last season, as Good completely made over his lineup a number of times, looking for something that worked.   Toward the end of the season, he had given up on most of the veteran group that had played so well in 2009-2010 and was expected to lead the Lions to greatness last season.   Good used a lot of younger players toward the end, frequently starting three freshmen – Anthony Ireland, Godwin Okonji and Ayodegi Egbeyemi.  Obviously, with all the experienced talent returning from 2009-2010, that was not the plan.
— Loyola Marymount has been wildly inconsistent in recent years, going from three wins in 2009 to 18 victories and a postseason berth in 2010 and back to 11 wins and a 2-12 conference finish in 2011.
LAST YEAR: 11-21 28-9 overall, 14-4 in the Big Ten
HEAD COACH: Max Good, fourth year as head coach (33-61 at LMU; 274-285 career).
QUOTE:: “Any time you have the opportunity to play a program with a history of success, you take it.” – Loyola Marymount coach Max Good, on opening the season at UCLA, a far cry from last year’s opener at home against Morgan State, a game LMU lost.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Anthony Ireland, SG Jarred DuBois, SF Drew Viney, PF Ashley Hamilton, C Edgar Garibay.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
Loyola Marymount has one of the best players in the conference in F Drew Viney, who could lead the conference in scoring, assuming he returns to full health early in the season.
Anthony Ireland gives the Lions experience at point guard after starting for most of his freshman year, although he is not a true playmaker.
Jarred DuBois provides leadership, another ballhandler and a good outside shooter as the other guard, but the two other spots are up for grabs.  Ayodebi Egbeyemi figures to be the first guard off the bench, but depth in the backcourt is an issue.
The frontcourt remains uncertain besides Viney.  Good would like to start 6-10 Edgar Garibay to give the Lions some inside muscle, assuming his knee problems are in the past.
Ashley Hamilton, an athletic 6-7 player who showed enormous potential two years ago but failed to fulfill it last year, is a good bet to start at a power forward spot, with 6-8 Godwin  Okonji expected to play a lot in the frontcourt.  Freshman C.J. Blackwell should get some time as well.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Lions brought in two freshman – Bruce English, a hard-working, athletic 6-1 guard, and C.J. Perry, an undersized 6-5 post player.
It is Perry who figures to make an immediate impact.   Despite his size, Perry prefers to play on the block and has good post moves.   Whether he can make them work against taller defenders remains to be seen.   He is also a strong rebounder, especially for his size.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Senior F Drew Viney had surgery on Oct. 3 to repair a stress fracture in his left foot that he sustained in a workout.  It’s unclear when he will return, but he is expected to miss at least the first game or two.
–Redshirt sophomore Edgar Garibay has yet to demonstrate what he can do because of a knee injury.  He played seven games, starting four, as a freshman before tearing an anterior-cruciate ligament.  He played 18 games last season, but was bothered throughout the season by soreness in his knee.   He expects to be fully healthy this year.
–Ashley Hamilton, a native of England, played for the British national team in 2010 and again this past summer.

PORTLAND
It’s a sign of the progress Eric Reveno has made as Portland’s coach that winning 20 games and finishing 7-7 in the conference last season represented a disappointing year.
When Reveno arrived prior to the 2006-2007 season, such a record would have called for a ticker-tape parade.  The program was so clearly the worst in the WCC that there were suggestions that it was impossible for the Pilots to become a contender.
Somehow Reveno changed that, taking talent that was not highly rated and turning them into winners with a style that relies on execution, perimeter shooting and no-mistakes defense.
The Pilots won 20 games, and they had an impressive win over St. Mary’s, but finishing fifth in the eight-team WCC was not what the team was hoping for or expecting after finishing third and just a game out of second each of the previous two years.
This season, with the loss of two of its best players – Luke Sikma, the leading rebounder in the conference last season, and Jared Stohl, the team top scorer – the Pilots will do well to match that fifth-place finish as the gap between Portland and the top five teams seems to be widening.  Add BYU to the mix and Portland looks like the seventh best team.
The Pilots may be slowly sinking back into WCC insignificance, and this season may be pivotal in that regard.
They have looked undermanned in the past, and have managed to do better than what their talent suggested.
They still have one of the nation’s best shooters in G Nemanja Mitrovic, and they established their point guard late last season when Tim Douglas became a starter late in his freshman season.
The rest of the lineup is uncertain, though, and it remains to be seen whether Mitrovic will find room to shoot now that Stohl, the team’s other outside threat, is gone.
A bigger problem is the frontcourt, which had been a strength in recent years.  The Pilots have very little experience up front, and they may get overpowered in a conference that has a decent number of quality big men.
Portland will need immediate contributions from newcomers Kevin Bailey, a 6-5 guard, and Thomas van der Mars, a 6-11 center.
It doesn’t look good for the Pilots.  Of course, it didn’t look good for them in 2008-2009 when they were picked to finish last and wound up third at 9-5.
NOTES
— Portland received a $2 million pledge from Earle Chiles, for whom the Chiles Center is named, to renovate and expand the Chiles Center.  The renovation is scheduled to begin right after the basketball season.
— Portland is coming off consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.
— Portland played in the postseason for the third year in a row last season, but for the third year in a row the Pilots lost in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament.   The Pilots’ only other postseason appearance was in 1996, when they lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Portland has never won a postseason game.
— With Washington, Washington State and Kentucky on its nonconference schedule – all early in the season – the Pilots may have overscheduled a bit for a team that will have 11 sophomores and freshmen.
LAST YEAR: 20-12 overall, 7-7 in the WCC.
HEAD COACH: Eric Reveno, sixth season as head coach (78-81 at Portland; 78-81 career).
QUOTE TO NOTE: “At first glance, our nonconference schedule appears daunting.  We hope it will provide the right mix of challenges for our young team to develop for the tough West Coast Conference.” – Portland coach Eric Reveno, on a schedule that includes games against Kentucky, Washington and Washington State.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Tim Douglas, SG Nemanja Mitrovic, SG Tanner Riley, SF Ryan Nicholas, C Riley Barker.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
Besides guards Tim Douglas and Nemanja Mitrovic, the lineup is unsettled.  Freshman Tim Bailey may earn a starting spot in the three-guard alignment and will certainly play a lot.  However, Tanner Riley, a good shooter with athleticism, is likely to get the first crack at that third guard spot.
Eric Waterford, a starter most of last season, and Derrick Rodgers, who was expected to be the starting point guard last season but never panned out, figure to get playing time in the backcourt as well.
The Pilots will be very thin up front, which means 6-11 freshman Thomas van der Mars may get playing time, hoping he can develop quickly.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Pilots have four freshmen – SG Kevin Bailey, C Thomas van der Mars, F Dorian Cason and G David Carr – but the one most likely to play a lot this season is Bailey, an athletic wing who is physically ready for Division I action.
Because of its frontcourt problems, the 6-11 van der Mars figures to get a chance for playing time, too.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Senior G Nemanja Mitrovic was sixth nationally in three-point field goal percentage last season at 46.3 percent.  He participated with the Canadian national team over the summer.
–Sophomore point guard Tim Douglas missed the final three games of last season with a foot injury.  The Pilots lost all three.  He is healthy now.

SAN DIEGO
The downward spiral of San Diego’s program under Bill Grier may take years to reverse, and it may be up to someone else to try to dig out of it if Grier does not show some progress this season.
Not only has the team reached rock bottom in a competitive sense, but the image of the program has been stained for the foreseeable future by the point-shaving scandal involving the school’s alltime leading scorer, Brandon Johnson.
Grier was not implicated, but the alleged point-shaving took place on Grier’s watch in February 2010, and the FBI investigation that came to light last April was the only subject of discussion regarding San Diego basketball in the offseason.
Perhaps the only helpful aspect of the scandal, which also involved assistant coach TJ Brown, is that it took some of the attention away from the Toreros’ precipitous decline on the court.
After winning 22 games in his first season, including consecutive wins over St. Mary’s and Gonzaga in the WCC tournament and Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament, the Toreros dropped to 16 wins in 2009, 11 wins in 2010 and 6 wins last season while finishing tied for last in the WCC.
The 2011-2012 battle cry is something like, “Well, it can’t get any worse.”
And, in fact, the Toreros should be better, perhaps good enough to climb out of the basement, assuming they can handle the derisive treatment they are sure to get at opposing arenas regarding the scandal.
San Diego played much better toward the end of the season, and it has many of the key players back, including three starters.
Post players Chris Manresa, who is 6-11, and 6-9 Chris Gabriel showed significant improvement in the final month of last season and may be able to hang with the top frontcourts in the WCC.  The addition of 6-9 Simi Fajemisim, who is coming off a redshirt season, should augment the Toreros’ size advantage inside.
Darian Norris returns as a point guard who looked pretty good at season’s end, and he should get some help from freshman guard Chris Anderson.
Kenny Rancifer is a wing with the potential to be special, but the key may be redshirt freshman G Ben Vozzola, who could make a major impact.
And with a soft nonconference schedule, San Diego is almost certain to exceed last season’s win total.
Nonetheless, the scandal will frame everything the Toreros do this season.  If they do well, it will be said that the bad publicity made them stronger.  If they collapse, the scandal will be viewed as the debilitating distraction.
NOTES
— The FBI report noted that Brandon Johnson tried to influence one current player to aid in the point-shaving scheme, and the San Diego Union identified that player as Kenny Rancifer, who refused to go along with the scheme.    Which game Johnson tried to fix is unclear, only that it was a game in February 2010.
Johnson was the star of the 2008 team that beat UConn in the NCAA Tournament, but he and Grier clashed a lot in his final season, which is the one in which Johnson allegedly tried to fix an outcome.
— The high point of last season for the Toreros came on Feb. 16, when San Diego, 5-21 overall and 1-10 in the conference, beat No. 23-ranked St. Mary’s, then 22-4 and 10-1.
–San Diego lost its first 10 games against Division I opponents last season, beating two Division III teams in that span.  The Toreros loaded up their 2011-2012 schedule with beatable teams.  They open with home games against Stephen F. Austin and San Diego Christian and also have games against Alcorn State and Maine.
LAST YEAR: 6-24, overall, 2-12 in the WCC
HEAD COACH: Bill Grier, fifth year as head coach (55-75 at San Diego; 55-75 career)
QUOTE: “This group has done a really good job hanging together.  They’ve obviously been through a lot of adversity, but it’s made them stronger and tougher, made them closer.  They’ve got a chip on their shoulder, and they’re out to prove some things.” – San Diego coach Bill Grier, to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Darian Norris, SG Ben Vozzola, SF Kenny Rancifer, PF Chris Manresa, C Chris Gabriel.
LINEUP BREAKDOWN:
The Toreros have good size inside with Gabriel and Manresa, and Bill Grier thinks he has enough athleticism to push the pace this season.
Rancifer is an athletic guy who always seems to be on the verge of breaking out, and Norris was the team’s top scorer (10.4) and assist man last season, but he also had a lot of turnovers for a point guard.
Vozzola was held out last season as a freshman, even though he would have played, and he should add some much-needed offense.
With four true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen on the 15-man roster, the Toreros have a lot to work out regarding their rotation off the bench.
SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS:
The Toreros have eight freshmen on the roster, four of whom are redshirt freshmen.
The one most likely to make an impact is redshirt freshman Ben Vozzola, who could become a starter and add a lot of offense, but two other redshirt freshmen – John Sinis, who could play guard despite being 6-9, and 6-9 post player Simi Fajemisim – should help too.
Blair Banker is the other redshirt freshmen.
Chris Anderson, a 5-7 point guard, is the true freshman most likely to get significant time this season, although Nick Kerr (Steve’s son) may see action as well.
ROSTER REPORT:
–Trevor Fuller, who started two games and averaged 12 minutes of playing time as a freshman last season, transferred to Angelina College in the offseason.
–Rodney Tention, an assistant at Stanford the past three seasons and a former head coach at Loyola Marymount, was added to Bill Grier’s coaching staff in the offseason.
–Chris Gabriel averaged just 7.5 points last season, but had a career-high 18 in the Toreros’ final game.

Let’s take a moment following Stanford’s first official day of basketball practice to commemorate a historic moment: Andy Brown made it through an entire practice without getting hurt.

The Cardinal men held their first official practice Friday, and Brown, a junior acaedmically, participated to a limited extent.  He still is not participating in full-contact drills, but the fact that he came out of the session no worse off is an accomplishment, because it was the first official practice Brown has completed since he has been at Stanford.

You may recall that late in January 2009, soon after committing to Stanford  during his senior season at Mater Dei, Brown tore his anterior-cruciate ligament.   He was able to recover to be ready to participate in Stanford’s first official practice his freshman season.  However, he did not complete that first pracctice because he tore the anterior-cruciate ligament in the same knee midway through that practice session.

He sat out the season, and again rehabilitated to the point where, by mid-summer, he was on track to be ready to participate in the opening practice last season.   But several weeks before that practice, Brown tore the same ACL on the same knee.   Again he was out for the season, and there was some thought that he might not consider undergoing the long arduous rehabilitation and might just give up basketball.

But he is giving it another try.  He’s back with the team pacticing, which is a testament to his will in itself.  However, it remains to be seen whether Brown, a 6-7 small forward, can contribute with his lingering knee issues and the fact that he hasn’t played in an official game or participated in an official practice since January of 2009.

Sanders, a 6-3 guard known for his outside shooting, had offers from several other schools he was considering, including Colorado, Maryland, Oklahoma State and Texas, and he had just visted Maryland last week, so there was some speculation he would pick Maryland.

But instead he picked the Cardinal, where perhaps he can team with current Cardinal freshman Chasson Randle, who was outstanding in the Cardinal’s recent trip to Spain and seems to have the starting point guard spot locked down for this year.

Sanders attends St. Thomas High School, and besides being an excellent outside shooter, he is a solid ballhandler and passer and knows the game well.

He is not listed among the nation’s top 100 prospects among high school seniors by scout.com, or ESPN, and is ranked No. 26 among shooting guards by Scout.com.

He is not particuarly athletic and may have some trouble defending Pac-12 guards, but his ability to hit from long range should make him an important commodity for Stanford, which was a poor outside shooting team even when it had Jeremy Green, an excellent shooter who has since left Stanford.

Stanford has three more scholarships available for 2012, and you may see the Cardinal focusing on a post player with Josh Owens, Andrew Zimmermann and Jack Trotter all being seniors.   Although it will have several big men in John Gage, Dwight Powell and Stefan Nastic, only the 6-11 Nastic has shown that his preference is with his back to the basket on the block.  Gage is a 6-9 perimeter player, and the 6-9 Powell has not quite figured out what his niche is, although he looks more like a small forward who could play inside on occasion.  No one knows quite what 6-7 Andy Brown is after he missed his first two years with knee injuries, but he is believed to be more of a small forward too.

Even Nastic is an unknown, because he injured his foot and redshirted the season before he was able to show what he could do.  He had his moments early in the season, but he is a stiff player and has a long way to go to be a reliable inside force.

The chances of Cal beating Colorado on a neutral court are about one in three, considering the Buffaloes had beaten Kansas State three times and Texas once and should have been invited to the NCAA Tournament.

The chances are reduced to about one in six if the game is played at Colorado, the site of Friday’s game against Cal and where the Buffaloes were 16-2, the only two losses being a four-point loss to Kansas and an overtime loss to Texas A&M.

The odds were not in Cal's favor on Friday

The odds are dropped to about one in 10 with the Bears being without Markhuri Sanders-Frison (dislocated shoulder) and make that one in 12 because the Bears had to make a quick turnaround from a Wednesday win over Mississippi, travel to Boulder Thursday night and play Friday at altitude.

If Cal has to play the final 14 minutes without spiritual leader and top scorer Jorge Gutierrez – who had to sit out the final 14:24 Friday after taking a shot to the head – and the chances decrease to one in 20.

If Cal does not get a single second-half point from Gutierrez or freshman Allen Crabbe in that game against Colorado — which is what happened — Cal’s chances drop to about one in 30.

Those were the circumstances of Cal’s second-round National Invitation Tournament on Friday, so it’s not surprising the Golden Bears lost the game 89-72, ending their season at 18-15.

Colorado senior Cory Higgins, who is from Danville and is the son of former Warriors player and executive Rod Higgins, had 25 points, and Alex Burks, a likely first-round NBA draft pick, added 22 for the Buffs (23-13).

The Bears stayed close for a while, and trailed by just four with 16 minutes left and by seven with 8:37 to go.   But without Gutierrez on the court and without Crabbe’s offense, the Bears faded down the stretch.

Gutierrez finished with 16 points, all in the first half, and when he fell and was struck in the head by another player’s knee, he had to leave the game.   Gutierrez had last played at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo., when he led Denver’s Abraham Lincoln High School to the 4A state championship, and he had a cheering section af about 50 people in the stands Friday.

But on this trip to that arean, he was kept out of the game after the injury as a precaution, although he seemed to be OK.

Crabbe had one of his rare poor games.    It appeared he might have a big night after hitting consecutive three-pointers to give him nine points with 3:18 left in the first half.

But he did not score another point the rest of the game, missing all six of his shots after that.

His nine points broke a streak of five consecutive games in which he had scored at least 19 points.  In addition, his one rebound on Friday was the first time since mid-January he had fewer than three rebounds when being available for an entire game, and his four turnovers were just one shy of his season high in that category.

The one high point for Cal was the play of Bak Bak.   With no Sanders-Frison around, Bak was forced to play significant minutes, and he collected nine points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench, mosly sharing time with freshman Richard Solomon, who replaced senior Sanders-Frison in the starting lineup.

What the Bears put on the floor to start Friday’s game may be their starting lineup for next season, although Minnesota transfer Justin Cobbs could replace Brandon Smith at the point guard spot.   The Bears also are expected to get Alex Rossi back after he redshirted the season with a sports hernia, and he should get some playing time, though not as a starter.

Next season could be a good one for the Bears.

Only 2,350 people showed up at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday for what was probably Cal’s final home game of the season, but they got to see a crippled Golden Bears team tough out a 77-74 win over Mississippi in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Now Cal gets a sneak peak at Colorado, which will join the Pac-12 next season.  The Bears will face the Buffaloes on Friday in a 6:30 p.m. Pacific time game in Boulder, Colo., that will be televised on ESPNU, if you happen to get that channel.

Colorado standout Cory Higgins is from Danville and is the son of former Warriors player and executive Rod Higgins

The Golden Bears would be clear underdogs in that one, even without some additional concerns.  Cal does not have much time to get there, and probably will fly Thursday evening, plus the Golden Bears will still have health issues against Colorado.

Again Cal will be without Markhuri Sanders-Frison, who dislocated his right shoulder during practice on Tuesday and missed Wednesday’s game.

The Bears assume Harper Kamp will be in better health than he was Wednesday, because he was obviously at less than full strength against the Rebels after spending much of Tuesday in the hospital with an aggressive form of flu.

Cal coach Mike Montgomery said Kamp looked “deathly pale” during the team’s Wednesday afternoon walk-though, but he started Wednesday night’s game and played 30 minutes.   He was not a big offensive force but he scored a key basket with a 16-foot baseline jumper with 24.2 seconds left to put the Bears ahead by three to help Cal will its way past Mississippi, who finished 20-14 overall after going 7-9 in the Southeastern Conference.

“It was a pretty gutsy performance given the situation,” Montgomery said.

The chief contributors for Cal were Jorge Gutierrez, who had 25 points, six assists and five turnovers on Wednesday after collecting four points, two assists and seven turnovers in the Pac-10 tournament loss to USC last Thursday.

His two free throws with 14.8 seconds left gave the Bears a three-point lead again, and the Rebels got only a hurried three-point attempt by Terrance Henry with three seconds left that missed.

The Bears’ other offensive weapon Wednesday was freshman Allen Crabbe, who scored 20 points to continue his consistent offensive production of late.   It was the fifth straight game in which Crabbe scored 19 points or more, which is a rather significant achievement considering he did not score more than 17 points in any one of Cal’s first 15 games this season.

It is to the point now where a 20-point performance by Crabbe is rather routine, and Montgomery thought he had opportunities to score more than he did.

The Bears got some decent play from players forced to play more than usual. Freshman Richard Solomon, who started in place of Sanders-Frison, had 10 rebounds in 28 minutes, but he was bothered by leg cramps that limited his playing time and effectiveness down the stretch.

Freshman Emerson Murray also played a productive 11 minutes.

But it will be up to Gutierrez, Kamp and Crabbe to have big games on Friday if the Bears are to have any chance against Colorado.

The Buffaloes got a lot of attention on Sunday when they were left out of the NCAA Tournament when it was assumed by most so-called experts that they would get into the tournament.

“I’m sure they feel snubbed,” Montgomery said.

The Buffaloes (22-13) beat Kansas State three times this season, and they also have a win over Texas.  They are 16-2 at home, site of Friday’s game, and their only home losses came against Kansas (by four points) and against Texas A&M (in overtime).  Colorado did lose to San Francisco early in the season, but that was on the Dons’ homecourt.

Colorado’s two key players are Alec Burks, a possible first-round NBA draft pick this year, and Cory Higgins, who is from Danville and is the son of former Warriors player and executive Rod Higgins, now the general manager of the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Buffaloes blew by Texas Southern 88-74 in their first-round NIT game in Boulder on Wednesday to set up the game against Cal.

Stanford is the only one of the Bay Area’s six men’s Division I basketball programs not playing in a postseason tournament.   On the other hand, the Stanford women are the only Bay Area Division I basketball program that is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

So you can decide for yourself the progress of each school’s program.

For the first time in 20 years, none of the Bay Area programs is in the men’s NCAA Tournament.   Back in 1991, which was two years before the arrival of  Jason Kidd at Cal and 11 years before Randy Bennett became head coach at St. Mary’s, none of the six teams had winning conference records, and Stanford was the only team to get any postseason berth.   The Cardinal went to the NIT and won the thing.

But also for the first time in history, five of the teams are playing in some postseason tournament.   It’s a meaningless note, though, because there are 40 more postseason berths now than there were just a few years ago.  In 1991, there were 96 postseason berth available, now there are 140.

St. Mary’s and Cal are the only schools that made it to the National Invitation tournament.  St. Mary’s host Kent State on Tuesday, and Cal hosts Mississippi on Wednesday.

San Jose State is making its first postseason appearance since 1996, and face Creighton on the road Tuesday in the College Basketball Invitational, a 16-team event that features a best-of-three championship round.

USF is in the postseason for the first time since 2005 and will host Idaho on Wednesday in the CollegeInsider.com tournament.   The Dons had to pay about $30,000 for the right to host that game, the same sum Santa Clara had to shell out to host Northern Arizona on Tuesday in that same tournament.   It is the Broncos’ first postseason appearance since 1996, when Steve Nash led the Broncos into the NCAA Tournament.

It’s the second straight year, Stanford is left without a postseason berth, the first time that has happened since 1986 and 1987, when there were 44 fewer slots available.

Among the women, Stanford is playing UC Davis at home in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, and the Cardinal is bidding for its fourth straight trip to the Final Four and first national title since 1992.

Stanford is in the NCAA Tournament for the 24^th consecutive season, so this is no big deal.

There is only one other postseason event for women – the Women’s NIT – and Cal and St. Mary’s are both playing in that.    Cal is playing a road game against Cal Poly on Thursday, and St. Mary’s hosts Nevada on Thursday.

Cal will face Mississippi in a first-round of the 32-team National Invitation Tournament game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cal’s Haas Pavilion.

Mississippi is 20-13 overall and finished 7-9 in the Southeastern Conference’s West Division.   No team from that division got into the NCAA Tournament.

The only common opponent was Southern Mississippi, which lost on the Rebels home court 86-81, but beat Cal in Berkeley 80-78 on Dec. 12.   Cal (17-14, 10-8 in the Pac-10) would like to think it has improved since then.  Mississippi’s best win was a 71-69 victory over Kentucky on Feb. 1, and its worst loss was against Auburn, which finished 11-20.

The Rebels are led by 5-10 guard Chris Warren, who averages 19.0 a game.

If the Bears beat Mississippi, they are likely to play on the road against Colorado, a team many people thought was a lock to get into the NCAA Tournament and has a win over Texas and three wins over Kansas State.  Cal’s chance for an NCAA Tournament berth ended when it lost to USC in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals.

There was some speculation that Cal would face St. Mary’s in a first-round NIT game, but the format of the NIT has changed in the past two years.

Now the NIT is run much like the NCAA Tournament.   The top four teams in the NIT are given No. 1 seeds in the four NIT regionals, and the field is the then seeded and bracketed according to the seeds.

What made for logical regional pairings in the past are seldom facilitated anymore as a result.

St. Mary’s received a No. 1 seed in its region, and because each regional carries the name of the No. 1 seed, it is called the St. Mary’s regional.  Cal is not in the same regional at St. Mary’s, so they could not meet until the semifinals in New York.

The Gaels will host Kent State on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in its first-round NIT game, and the Gaels could host as many as three NIT games if it qualifes for the semifinals at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Here are the teams, listed in alphabetical order, with each team’s record,  and mention of its conference if it won a low-profile conference tournament, and how far the team is likely to go in the NCAA Tournament:

AKRON (23-12, MAC tournament champ)

The Headliner: Forward Nikola Cvetinovic – 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds.

The Story: The Zips (named after the zipper, invented by an Akron rubber company in the 1920s) won 11 of their last 13 games after finishing just 9-7 in the Mid-American Conference.  They are 0-2 alltime in the NCAA Tournament.

Best win: Kent State.  Worst loss: Eastern Michigan.

How far: Nickname tells you how many wins to expect.

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ALABAMA STATE (17-17, SWAC tournament champ)

The headliner: Forward Tramayne Moorer – 12.4 points.

The Story: The Southwestern Athletic Conference champs astarted 2-10, but they are 13-2 with sixth-year senior Tramayne Moorer, who had to sit out the first half the season waiting for clearance for a sixth season, the was bothered by injuries.

Best win: Oakland.  Worst loss: Southern.

How Far: Hornets are 0-3 in NCAA – make it 0-4.

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ARIZONA (27-7)

Headliner: Forward Derrick Williams – Pac-10 player of the year

Story: Wildcats seem vulnerable every game, but won weak Pac-10  primarily because Williams does so many things well and never wastes a movement.  But the surrounding talent is not great, and if they are not shooting well, they’re doomed.

Best win: Washington.  Worst loss: Oregon State.

How far: Second round, unless Momo Jones gets hot.

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ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK (19-16, Sun Belt champion)

Headliner: Solomon Bozeman – Sun Belt player of the year

The story: The Trojans are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 years, and they got there on three-pointer by the high-scoring Bozeman with 1.5 seconds left in the Sun Belt title game after finishing 7-9 in conference play.

Best win: Oral Roberts. Worst loss: South Alabama.

How far: Trojans are done.

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BELMONT (30-4, Atlantic Sun tournament champion)

Headliner: — Coach Rick Byrd – No. 11 in wins among active Division I coaches

The Story: These guys from Nashville are good and are capable of upsetting just about anyone.  The Bruins have won 12 straight and have outstanding three-point shooters.   They lost by one at Tennessee this season, and they lost to Duke by one in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Best win: East Tennessee State.  Worst Loss: Lipscomb.

How far: A win or two possible.

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BOSTON UNIVERSITY (21-13, America East tournament champ)

The Headliner: Forward John Holland – America East player of the Yeart

The Story: The Terriers have won 11 in a row, and they have a good player in John Holland, who averaged better than 18 points each of the past three seasons.    They were 5-10 at one point this season, and lost to Maryland-Baltimore County, which finished 5-25.

Best win: George Washington.  Worst loss: Maryland-Baltimore County

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BUCKNELL (25-8, Patriot League champ)

The Headliner: Center Mike Muscala –  Patriot League player of the year.

The Story: The Bison won 19 of their last 20 games, and although they are not as good as their 2005 and 2006 teams, which beat Kansas and Arkansas in first-round NCAA games, they’re pretty good.

Best win: Richmond.  Worst loss: Army.

How far: Bison could surprise in opener, but that’s it.

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BUTLER (23-9, Horizon League champ)

Headliner: Forward Matt Howard – 2009 Horizon League player of the year.

The Story: Last year’s NCAA runnerup had a bumpy start and was in danger of not making the NCAAs, but the Bulldogs came on strong, having won nine in a row.   Howard and guard Shelvin Mack provide an experienced duo that make the sound Bulldogs a force again.

Best win: Florida State.  Worst loss: Youngstown State.

How far: Round of 16 within reach.

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BYU (30-4)

Headliner: Jimmer Fredette – Nation’s leading scorer.

Story: Cougars revolve around do-everything Fredette, who has range out to 30 feet, but the loss of top rebounder Brandon Davies obvious hurt.  When ULCA held down Fredette, Cougars were ordinary.

Best win: San Diego State. Worst loss: New Mexico

How far: Final Four possibility died when Davies was dismissed

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CLEMSON (21-11)

Headliner: Guard Demontez Stitt – Third-team all-ACC

The story: A decent team in the ACC, but only because it was a down year in the conference.   This is not a great shooting team, but it’s an excellent defensive team.   Unfortunately, good shooting is more important than good defense in the postseason.

Best win: Virginia Tech.  Worst loss: South Carolina.

How far: Unlikely to survive first weekend.

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CINCINNATI (25-8)

The headliner – Coach Mick Cronin – by default

The story: The Bearcats are a good defensive team that controls tempo to keep the score down.   Cincinnati started the season 15-0, but does not have many scoring weapons, and that could hurt in the postseason.  No bad losses, though.

Best win: Louisville. Worst loss: Villanova.

How far: Not enough offense to get to second weekend.

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CONNECTICUT (26-9)

Headliner: Guard Kemba Walker – 23.2 points a game.

The Story: Walker can score 30 any game, and he can carry the Huskies in a given game, but you wonder whether the Huskies have enough offense elsewhere to keep winning.  Plus, they have not improved over the season.

Best win: Texas.  Worst loss: Marquette.

How far: Round of 16.

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DUKE (30-4)

Star: Guard Nolan Smith – ACC player of the year

Story: Three starters back from last year’s national championship team, and Blue Devils added Steph Curry’s brother, Seth, who may be the postseason key.  Reliance on perimeter game makes Blue Devils vulnerable.

Best Win: North Carolina.  Worst loss: Virginia Tech

How far: Anything less than a national title will be a disappointment.

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FLORIDA (26-7)

Headliner: Chandler Parsons – SEC player of the year

The Story: This is the Gators’ best team since they won consecutive national title in 2006 and 2007, and they are the best team from the Southeastern Conference.  Good talent, not great, and the SEC was not that good this year. Parson does a little of everything.

Best win: Kentucky.  Worst loss: Jacksonville

How far: National quarterfinals, if things fall their way.

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FLORIDA STATE (21-10)

Headliner: Forward Chris Singleton – Broke his foot Feb. 12

The story: Seminoles lead the nation in field-goal percentage defense, but if Singleton cannot return for the tournament, the Seminoles lack their chief defensive weapon and become little more than an average team.

Best win: Duke.  Worst loss: Auburn.

How Far: Second round.

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GEORGE MASON (26-6)

The headliner: Guard Cam Long – 15.3 ppg, 42.6% 3-point

The story: The Patriots won the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title by two games.  That means they’re good – maybe not as good as their 2006 Final Four team, but close.  Jim Larranaga can coach.

Best win: Old Dominion.  Worst loss: North Carolina State

How far: Third round well within range.

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GEORGETOWN (21-10)

The Headliner: Guard Austin Freeman – First-team all-Big East

The Story: The Hoyas don’t have any bad losses, and playing in the Big East toughens a team, but coming into the postseason having lost four in row does not bode well, especially when you top scorer – Austin Freeman – shot poorly in the final two games.

Best win: Syracuse.  Worst loss: West Virginia.

How Far: Won’t get to third round.

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GEORGIA (21-11)

Headliner: Forward Trey Tompkins – Second-team all-SEC

The Story:  Undistinguished team from a mediocre conference with a lousy postseason history.  Bulldogs’ only NCAA win since 1996 was in 2002, and that one was vacated because of NCAA sanctions.  But they have no bad losses, and they have two stars – Trey Tompkins and guard Travis Leslie.

Best win: Kentucky.  Worst loss: Tennessee.

How Far: Bad seed may doom Georgia to one and done.

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GONZAGA (24-9, WCC champion)

Headliner: Guard Steven Gray – two-time all-conference

The Story: Bulldogs struggled most of the season, but have won nine straight since revamping their lineup to incorporate guard Marquise Carter as a starter, and two redshirt freshmen — David Stockton (John’s son) and Sam Dower – as key players off the bench.  They are back to their sleeper role.

Best win: St. Mary’s. Worst loss: Santa Clara.

How far: Second round may be the limit.

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HAMPTON (24-8, MEAC Champion)

The Headliner: Guard Darrion Pellum – 17.9 points.

The Story: This Pirate team is not as good as the one that as a No. 15 seed in 2001 stunned No. 2 seed Iowa State, but it’s not bad.   Darrion Pellum and Kwame Morgan II give the Pirates a formidable and experienced guard pair.

Best win: George Washington.  Worst loss: Florida A&M.

How far: No upset win this time.

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ILLINOIS (19-13)

The headliner – Guard Demetri McCamey – 6.1 assists, 46.3 3-pt %

The story: Other than an early season win over North Carolina, the Ilini have done nothing remarkable.   They had a bunch of close losses so they’re close to being pretty good.  This a good three-point shooting team that needs to be hitting to advance.

Best win: North Carolina.  Worst loss: Northwestern.

How far: Maybe one win.

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INDIANA STATE (20-13, Missouri Valley tourney champ)

The headliner: Coach Greg Lansing – First year as a college head coach

The story: The school that made Larry Bird famous was picked to finish seventh in the MVC, but Lansing got a team with no stars into the NCAAs for the first time in 10 years.  Last season’s 17-15 mark was the Sycamores’ first winning season since 2001.

Best win: Missouri State. Worst loss: Wyoming (by 30).

How far: Unlikely to win any.

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KANSAS (32-2)

Headliner: Forwards Marcus Morris – Big 12 player of the year

Story: The Jayhawks lead the nation in field-goal percentage, they do everything well.  Marcus and Markeif Morris are formidable inside pair, and freshman Josh Selby is capable of carrying the team in a pinch.  But teams that rely on post players are vulnerable in the postseason.

Best win: Kansas State.  Worst loss: Kansas State

How far: Final Four possible; so is early upset

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KANSAS STATE (22-10)

Headliner: Guard Jacob Pullen – Two-time first-team all-Big 12

Story: Pullen and ultra-intense coach Frank Martin turned a team that was in a shambles at midseason into one of the nation’s best teams at season’s end.   This is team is tough, and now it’s dangerous, too.

Best win: Kansas. Worst loss: Oklahoma State

How far: National quarterfinals very possible.

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KENTUCKY (25-8)

Headliner: Guard Brandon Knight – 17.7 points

The story: The top three scorers are freshmen on this talented team that can beat anyone on a given night, but that 4-7 record in road games raises red flags. Freshmen Terrence Jones and guard Brandon Knight can make a lot of plays on their own.

Best win: Florida. Worst loss: Mississippi

How far: Unpredictable team, but third round the limit.

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LONG ISLAND (27-5, Northeast Conference champion)

The Headliner: Forward Jamal Olasewere – 12.9 points, 6.8 rebounds

The Story: The Blackbirds have won 13 games in a row, the longest active Division I streak as of Friday.   Jamal Olasewere had double doubles in his past three games and scored 31 in the Northeast tournament finals. LIU was a national powerhouse in the 1930s; not now.

Best win: Quinnipiac.  Worst loss: St. Francis-Pa.

How Long: Blackbirds won’t make to Saturday.

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LOUISVILLE (25-9)

Headliner: Coach Rick Pitino – Final Four with three schools

The Story: As usual Rick Pitino’s Cardinals like to press and make things difficult for their opponents, while hoisting up a lot of three-pointers.  Guard Preston Knowles is the stabilizing factor, but this teams seems vulnerable for some reason.

Best win: Pittsburgh.  Worst Loss: Providence.

How far:  Could lose opener or get to the Final Four.

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MARQUETTE (20-14)

The headliner – Guard Darius Johnson-Odom – second-team all-Big East

The story: The last of the 11 Big East teams to make it into the NCAAs, Marquette is a scrappy team that does not have much flash.   They don’t have any bad losses and beat West Virginia recently, but their talent level just doesn’t match up.

Best win: Notre Dame.  Worst loss: Seton Hall.

How far: Maybe one win.

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MEMPHIS (25-9)

The Headliner: Guard Will Barton – 12.4 points.

The Story: Four of the Tigers’ top five scorers are freshmen – Will Barton, Joe Jackson, Tarik Black and Antonio Barton (Will’s brother) –  and the coach – Josh Pastner – is just 33, so this team is built for the future.  But they are dangerous now.

Best win: Gonzaga. Worst loss: Rice.

How far: Hard to tell with freshmen, but no more than two wins.

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MICHIGAN (20-13)

The headliner: Darius Morris – No. 5 nationally in assists (6.8)

The story – Wolverines weathered a six-game losing streak at midseason and played well down the stretch.  Two freshmen – Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jordan Morgan – are key contributors, but Morris is the star.

Best win: Clemson.  Worst loss: Indiana.

How far: Any win would be an upset.

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MICHIGAN STATE (19-14)

Headliner – Guard Kalin Lucas – 2009 Big Ten player of the year.

The story – Virtually the same team that got to the Final Four last year, but Spartans struggled mightily through most of the this season and barely made it into the tournament.  Tom Izzo’s squad always is great in the postseason, though.

Best win: Illinois.  Worst loss: Iowa.

How far: Capable of a lot, but may not make it to second weekend.

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MISSOURI (23-10)

Headliner: Marcus Denmon – 16.8 points, 45.7% 3-pt shooting

The Story: The Tigers were great at home (18-0, 17-1) but terrible on the road (2-7), and the road record usually is more indicative of postseason potential.  Missouri’s uptempo style not suited to postseason, where games often settle into halfcourt affairs.

Best win: Kansas State. Worst loss: Nebraska.

How far: Second round — maybe.

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MOREHEAD STATE (24-9, Ohio Valley tournament champ)

Headliner: Center Kenneth Faried – nation’s leading rebounder (14.5)

The story: Faried may be a first-round NBA draft choice and is a two-time player of the year in the Ohio Valley Conference, which includes no schools in Ohio but features high-caliber basketball.   Morehead State is near the Daniel Boone National Forest in northeast Kentucky.

Best win: Murray State.  Worst Loss: Eastern Illinois

How Far: One win is very possible.

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NORTH CAROLINA (26-7)

Headliner: Guard Kendall Marshall – 5.6 assists

The story: The Tar Heels won the ACC regular-season title, and have loads of natural talent, but they struggled until freshman Kendall Marshall took over at point guard.  Now they are a handful, with Harrison Barnes and John Henson capable of wondrous athletic exploits.

Best win: Duke. Worst loss: Georgia Tech

How far: Final Four not out reach.

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NORTHERN COLORADO (21-10, Big Sky champs)

Headliner: Guard Devon Beitzel, 21.4 points.

The story: Beitzel is an outstanding offensive player and has scored 22 points or more in the last nine games in a row.  The Bears have some good outside shooters, and if they’re all hitting, they could cause  problems for someone.  But that’s not likely.

Best win: Montana.  Worst loss: Louisiana-Monroe.

How far: Unless it plays a preliminary-round game, any win is an upset.

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NOTRE DAME (26-6)

Headliner:  Guard Ben Hansbrough – Big East player of the year

Story: The Irish are better than people realize, and they can really shoot three-pointers.  Finishing second in the Big East is an accomplishment.   It’s about matchups for Notre Dame, which can get overwhelmed by an athletic team.

Best win: Pittsburgh. Worst loss: Marquette

How far: National quarterfinals, if matchups are favorable.

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OAKLAND (25-9, Summit League champion)

Headliner – Keith Benson – 3.6 blocks, third in the nation.

The Story: The 6-11 Benson will play in the NBA, and the Golden Grizzlies won 18 of their last 19 games. They also won at Tennessee when the Vols were ranked No. 7.   These guys have played a bunch of good teams, but the Summit League is not very good.

Best win: Tennessee.  Worst loss: IUPUI.

How far: Poor seeding will doom Grizzlies in first round.

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OHIO STATE (31-2)

Headliner: Forward Jared Sullinger – Best freshman in the country.

The story: Two freshmen are starters, but the talent level across the board is impressive.  There isn’t much this team can’t do with scoring inside and outside and solid defense. No team is more talented.  The only concern is depth.

Best win: Purdue.  Worst loss: Wisconsin

How far: National title possibility

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OLD DOMINION (27-6, Colonial tournament champ)

Headliner: Forward Frank Hassell – 15.0 points, 9.6 rebounds

The Story: Finishing second in the Colonial Athletic Association standings is a lot more impressive than you might think.  Monarchs beat Notre Dame in the first round last year with virtually the same team.  This is the best rebounding team in the country

Best win: Xavier.  Worst loss: Delaware.

How far: Third round not impossible.

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PENN STATE (19-13)

The headliner: Guard Talor Battle – 19.8 points

The Story: Talor Battle plays virtually every minute of every game, and the Nittany Lions have two wins over Wisconsin, including that unsightly 36-33 win in the Big Ten tournament.  It’s hard to score on the Lions.

Best win: Wisconsin.  Worst loss: Maine.

How far: Likely first-round loser.

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PITTSBURGH (27-5)

Headliner: Guard Ashton Gibbs – First-team all-Big East.

Story: Toughness is the strong suit for the Panthers, who do it without high school All-Americans.  Always a great regular-season team, Pitt has  not fared well in the postseason over the years for some reason.

Best win: Texas. Worst loss: St. John’s.

How far: Final Four possible — but unlikely.

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PRINCETON (25-6, Ivy League champ)

Headliner: Forward Kareem Maddox – First-team all-Ivy.

The Story: The Tigers score more points than they used to, but they are still a defense-oriented team.  Beating Harvard twice is not as easy as it would seem, but losses to Brown and Presbyterian and a 37-point loss to Duke indicates the Tigers’ margin for error is slim.

Best win: Harvard.  World loss: Brown.

How far: One win possible, but that’s it.

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PURDUE (25-7)

Headliner – Forward JuJuan Johnson – Big Ten player of the year

The Story: Purdue was dismissed as an also-ran when Robbie Hummel tore up his knee in preseason, but with the dynamtic tandem of JuJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, it may be the most underrated team in the country – or it least it was until people caught on recently.

Best win: Ohio State. Worst loss: Minnesota.

How far:  National championship within reach.

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RICHMOND (27-7)

Headliner: Forward Justin Harper – 6-10 player his 47.9% on 3-pointers.

The Story: The Spiders are dangerous because they are great three-point shooters.   Their top four scorers – Justin Harper, Kevin Anderson, Darien Brother, Dan Geriot – are all hitting over 40 percent of their threes.   It means this Atlantic-10 team can beat anyone or lose to anyone, depending on whether it’s hot.

Best win: Purdue.  Worst loss: Iona.

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SAN DIEGO STATE (32-2)

Headliner: Forward Kawhi Leonard – 15.2 points, 10.8 rebounds.

The Story: Good defensive team with good athletes that crash the boards with abandon.  Leonard is the star, but guard D.J. Gay is the leader.   Not a lot of great shooters, though, and that could hurt in the postseason.

Best win: BYU. Worst loss: BYU.

How far: National quarterfinals.

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ST. JOHN’S (21-11)

Headliner: Guard Dwight Hardy – First-team All-Big East.

The Story: Steve Lavin as the Johnnies in the NCAAs for the first time in nine years, and they have beaten three teams currently in the top five.   Lavin’s UCLA teams always did well in the postseason, and Hardy can score in a lot of ways.

Best win: Pittsburgh. Worst loss: Fordham.

How far: National quarterfinals.

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ST. PETER’S (20-13, MAAC tournament champ)

The headliner: Guard Wesley Jenkins – 41.2% 3-pt shooting

The Story: The Peacocks lost their first three games of the season, including a 25-point loss to Robert Morris, and lost their last two games heading into the conference tournament to finish fourth in the MAAC.  But the Jersey City school is in the NCAAs for the first time in 16 years

Best win: Alabama.  Worst loss: Lehigh.

How far: Unless they play a preliminary-round game, Peacocks out in one.

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SYRACUSE (26-7)

Headliner: Forward Rick Jackson – Big East defensive player of the year.

The Story: Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph are formidable frontcourt players, but the Orange’s trademark zone defense is its strength.   Unless an opponent is hitting for the outside, Syracuse will win.  The Orange started 18-0, hit a slump, but is playing well again.

Best win: Notre Dame.  Worst loss: Seton Hall.

How far: Round of 16.

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TEMPLE (25-7)

The headliner: Forward Lavoy Allen – School’s career rebounding leader.

The story: Allen is the chief rebounder and guard Ramone Moore is the top scorer, but defense is the Owls’ chief asset.  They are unlikely to win a high-scoring game.   Temple has lost in the NCAA first round three years in a row, last year to Cornell

Best win: Georgetown.  Worst loss: Cal.

How far: Owels break through with one win this season.

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TENNESSEE (19-14)
Headliner: Guard Scotty Hopson – First-team all-SEC

The Story: Vols looked great early in the season when they beat Villanova and Pittsburgh, but they have been erratic recently, and erratic is a dangerous trait at this stage.

Best win: Pittsburgh.  Worst loss: Charlotte.

How far: One game may be it.

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TEXAS (27-7)

Headliner: Swingman Jordan Hamilton – 18.5 points, 7.6 rebounds.

Story: Longhorns aren’t playing as well as they were earlier in the season.  Their outstanding defense will keep them in all games, but defense usually is not the final word in the postseason.  Hamilton is capable of saving the Longhorn in a given game.

Best win: Kansas. Worst loss: Nebraska

How far: Quarterfinals, maybe less.

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TEXAS A&M (24-8)

Headliner: Forward Khris Middleton – Second-team all-Big 12.

The Story: The Aggies are not spectacular but they keep the score down and stay in almost every game.    They were 16-1 at one points, but they are not a top-10-caliber team.  Outside shooting is a shortcoming.

Best win: Kansas State. Worst loss: Nebraska.

How far: Second round is about the limit

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TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO (19-13, Southland tournament champ)

The Headliner: Guard Devin Gibson – 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.7 steals.

The Story: The Roadrunners, coached by former NBA player Brooks Thompson, were just 9-7 in the Southland Conference but have won seven of their last nine games.  Devin Gibson had two triple-doubles this season. They are 0-3 alltime in the NCAA Tournament.

Best win: McNeese State. Worst loss: Samford.

How far: Unlikely to win any.

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UAB (22-8)

The Headliner: Guard Aaron Johnson – Conference USA player of the year

The Story: Under Mike Anderson, the Blazers were high-scoring demons, but under former Indiana coach Mike Davis, they keep the score down with defense.  Playmaking point guard Aaron Johnson and  high-scoring guard Jamarr Sanders lead the way.

Best win: UTEP.  Worst loss: Arizona State.

How Far: Won’t make it out of first weekend.

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UC SANTA BARBARA (18-13, Big West tournament champ)

The headliner: Guard Orlando Johnson – 2010 Big West player of the year.

The Story: Favored to win the Big West for a second straight year, the Gauchos were a major disappointment, finishing 8-8 in the conference.  But they got it together to win the conference tournament. Orlando Johnson (21.0 points) can do a lot of things.

Best win: UNLV. Worst loss: UC Irvine.

How far: Capable of one upset – maybe.

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UCLA (22-10)

Headliner: Forward Reeves Nelson – 13.9 points, 9.0 rebounds.

The Story: The Bruins improved over the season, and seemed to win most of the games it had a chance to win.   This squad is not nearly as good as their Final Four squads of 2006, 2007 and 2008 and losses in two of their last three games suggests problems.

Best win: BYU.  Worst loss: Montana.

How Far: Bruins won’t get past first weekend.

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UNC ASHEVILLE (19-13, Big South tournament champion)

Headliner: Guard Matt Dickey – All-conference

The Story: The Bulldogs lost to Ohio State by 50 points and finished third in the Big South standings, but this school with an enrollment of 3,700 located in the Blue Ridge Mountain is in the NCAA Tournament for the second time ever.

Best win: Coastal Carolina.  Worst loss: South Carolina-Upstate.

How far: One and done.

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UNLV (24-8)

The headliner: Coach Lon Kruger – Former NBA head coach

The story – Two transfers – TreVon Willis (Memphis) and Chace Stanback (UCLA) – have powered the Rebels, who are pretty good but got lost behind BYU and San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference.

Best win: Wisconsin.  Worst loss: UC Santa Barbara.

How far: Second weekend.

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USC (19-14)

The headliner: Forward Nikola Vucevic – 17.3 points, 10.2 rebounds

The Story: The Trojans squeezed into the field despite the suspension of coach Kevin O’Neill.   USC has played well lately and are 6-2 with Donte Smith in the starting lineup.  Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson provide a bruising frontcourt, and USC guards are quick.

Best win: Arizona.  Worst loss: TCU

How Far: Trojans capable of an upset – or two.

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UTAH STATE (30-3, WAC champion)

Headliner: Forward Tai Wesley – WAC player of the year.

The Story: The Aggies are outstanding defenders who shoot well from the outside.   And they’re tough.    Their record is inflated by playing in the WAC, but they did play BYU and Georgetown (both losses).  They are 0-5 in the NCAAs since 2001, but they are capable.

Best win: St. Mary’s.  Worst loss: Idaho.

How far: Round of 16 not out of reach.

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VANDERBILT (23-10)

Headliner: Guard John Jenkins – SEC player of the year

The Story: Commodores love to shoot three-pointers, but they can make them, which makes them dangerous.  And John Jenkins is capable of carrying Vandy in a given game.  Being 1-6 in games decided by three points or less or in overtime is not a good sign, though.

Best win: North Carolina.  Worst loss: South Carolina.

How far: Second round – unless they’re hot.

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VILLANOVA (21-11)

Headliner: Guard Corey Fisher – Second-team all-Big East.

Story: Wildcats rely heavily on their guards, and backcourt play is usually the key in the postseason.  But this team, which started 16-1, played poorly down the stretch, losing its last five games.  It could lose its opener.

Best win: Syracuse. Worst loss: South Florida

How far: Second round, third at best.

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VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH (23-11)

The Headliner: Forward Jamie Skeen – 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds

The story: The Rams only finished fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association, yet still got an at-large berth, which says something about that conference.  They lost five of their last eight, but one of those wins was against George Mason.  VCU beat Duke in the first round in 2007.

Best win: UCLA. Worst loss: Georgia State.

How far:  Rams could win a couple games.

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WASHINGTON (23-10)

Headliner: Guard Isaiah Thomas – All-Pac-10

The Story: The Huskies’ quickness, uptempo style and good outside shooting  are a formula for postseason success, but their poor road record and losses to Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State  make you wonder.

Best win: Arizona.  Worst loss: Oregon State.

How far: Capable of the third round.

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WEST VIRGINIA (20-11)

Headliner: Forward Kevin Jones – 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 44% 3-point.

The Story: This is not a good shooting team, but the Mountaineers are tough, a trait personified by point guard Joe Mazzulla.  Toughness may not be enough without a true star, but Mountaineers are playing pretty well at the moment.

Best win: Louisville.  Worst loss: Minnesota

How far: Opening weekend the limit.

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WISCONSIN (23-8)

Headliner – Forward Jon Leuer – 6-10 guy shoots 40% on threes.

The story: Nobody scores much against the Badgers, partly because of their style, partly because of their defense. Leuer and point guard Jordan Taylor are a nice combination, but it Taylor has an off game, the Badgers are sunk.

Best win: Ohio State.  Worst loss: Penn State.

How far: Not enough offense to get past third round.

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WOFFORD (21-12, Southern Conference tournament champ)

The Headliner: Forward Noah Dahlman – Southern Conference player of the year.

The story: The Terriers (from Spartanburg, S.C.) nearly upset Wisconsin in their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season, and many of those players are back.   Dahlman averages 20 points, and his teammates are outstanding three-point shooters.

Best win: College of Charleston.  Worst loss: Cornell.

How far: Capable of a win if shooters are hot.

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XAVIER (24-7)

Headliner: Guard Tu Holloway – Atlantic 10 player of the year

Story: Musketeers have been a good postseason team, winning at least two NCAA games each of the past three years.  They have played well recently too.  Strong in the backcourt with a 7-footer (Kenny Frease) in the middle.

Best win: Temple. Worst loss: Miami-Ohio

How Far: Logic says second round, history says third.

The Golden Bears’ NCAA Tournament hopes died with their 70-56 loss to USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center on Thursday, leaving Cal with the unsavory consolation prize of a berth in the National Invitation Tournament.

Not only is Cal (17-14)  likely to play in the NIT, but there’s a good chance it would host a first-round NIT game, perhaps next Wednesday against a team such as San Francisco or Colorado State or Long Beach State (if the 49ers fail to win the Big West tournament).

“If the NIT comes along, we want to jump on that and use that as a springboard for next year,” Montgomery said.

The NIT was once more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament -- about 60 years ago.

The Bears have the makings of a pretty good team for next season, but they did not look like an NCAA Tournament team on Thursday, as the Trojans were far too big and strong inside and far too quick on the perimeter.

Although the Trojans failed to score in the first five minutes of the game and had only three points over the first 8:46,  USC dominated the final 30 minutes to pull away.   And if the Trojans (19-13) win their their semifinal game Friday – probably against Arizona – they will be in contention for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.   They are 6-1 over the last seven games since Donte Smith was put in the starting lineup.

After their strong finish,which included a rout of Stanford on Saturday, the Golden Bears figured to have a shot to win the Pac-10 tournament, and getting to the title game might at least have put the Bears in the discussion for an NCAA at-large berth.

But they did not get the kind of games they needed from their veteran players.   Juniors Jorge Gutierrez and Harper Kamp and senior Markhuri Sanders-Frison have averaged better than 40 points a game as a trio this season, but on Thursday they totaled just 12 points on 6-for-23 shooting.

The three had combined for 35 points in the Bears’ win at USC early in the Pac-10 season and had 52 in the three-point loss to the Trojans on Feb. 17.  But they did little on Thursday.

It was a particularly frustrating game for Gutierrez, the team’s only all-conference selection. Gutierrez was 2-for-10 from the field for four points, and he had just two assists with seven turnovers.  His point total matched a season low, and his turnover total matched a season high, and he was not the factor defensively or spiritually he usually is.

“Sometimes Jorge is his own worst enemy,” Montgomery said.  “When he’s not playing well, he gets frustrated.  And he’s a guy we need in there for a whole lot of reasons.”

Cal can’t win with those kinds of numbers from its veteran scorers, even though the Bears’ two primary freshmen – Allen Crabbe (21 points) and Richard Solomon (11 points, six rebounds, three blocks) – had good games.

Cal put the clamps on USC’s best player, 6-10 Nikola Vucevic, who was limited to seven points and five rebounds, but the Bears had no answer for the perimeter shooting of Smith (4-for-6 on three-pointers), the penetration of Jio Fontan and Maurice Jackson and the inside power of Alex Stephesen, the powerful 6-10 physical specimen who had 14 points and 16 rebounds.

“Stepheson is a monster,” Montgomery said.

After getting behind 11-3 eight minutes into the game, USC started scoring regularly against Cal, which started in a man-to-man defense after relying on a zone most of the season.

But the Bears’ problems were not on defense; they were on offense.

The Bears’ 56 points were 12 points fewer than their previous Pac-10 season low of 68, which was enough to win the first game against USC.

Cal could not take enough advantage of the Trojans’ slow start.

“We could have been up 10 12, 14 points, because we got the ball exactly where we wanted it,” Montgomery.

But Kamp and Sanders-Frison could not convert inside, and the Trojans started to figure out how to score.

A three-pointer by Marcus Simmons at the first-half buzzer gave USC an eight-point lead, and the Bears could not muster enough offense to threaten in the second half.

So it’s on to the NIT.