In West Coast Conference basketball, it’s Gonzaga this, Gonzaga that and Gonzaga the other thing.

St. Mary's Omar Samhan (left) no longer has to worry about Santa Clara's John Bryant, last season's WCC player of the year -- Associated Press photo

The other seven WCC schools are probably sick of hearing the name, except that the school located in Spokane, Wash., provides the conference what little national exposure it gets.

Well, the other seven will be hearing the G word a lot again in 2010, because conference play begins this weekend and even the biggest Gonzaga-haters must agree the Gonzaga men and the Gonzaga women are  the favorites to win the WCC titles again.

Portland and St. Mary’s are the men’s teams with the best chance of unseating Gonzaga, with Loyola Marymount positioned as a possible surprise team, but the competition on the women’s side seems to be for second place, although St. Mary’s Louella Tomlinson should get some individual attention.

Here’s how we see it, starting with the men and the predicted order of finish:

1. Gonzaga (11-3)– Even with the loss of four starters – including 2008 WCC player of the year Jeremy Pargo, all-conference selection Josh Heytvelt and first-round draft pick Austin Daye – the Bulldogs have had the most nonconference success, again playing the toughest nonconference schedule.   Freshman Elias Harris and center Robert Sacre have been surprisingly effective, joining established guard Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray.

2. St. Mary’s (13-2) – The Gaels have the best big man on the West Coast in 6-11 Omar Samhan and have their  typical sampling of Australian players, led by freshman guard Matthew Dellavedova.  Three starters and five of the seven players who get meaningful minutes are Aussies.   With the loss of Wayne Hunter, though, St. Mary’s has depth problems.

3. Portland (9-5) – The Pilots’ conference opener against Gonzaga in Portland on Saturday will tell us a lot about the Pilots, who return all five starters from last year’s third-place team.   One of the best shooting teams in the country, Portland made a brief appearance in the top 25 before slipping amid the attention. 

4. Loyola Marymount (9-7) – We’re not sure whether the Lions are a mirage or not, but they have the WCC’s longest current win streak at six in a row.   The competition has not been great, so kudos should come in small doses.  But Vernon Teel is a quality point guard and transfers Drew Viney and Larry Davis give the Lions scoring as long as Davis’ Achiiles tendon holds out.

5. San Diego (7-9) – Beating Stanford and Oklahoma early in the season made the Toreros look good, but they have leveled off since then.   Brandon Johnson scored 31 points against Mississippi State the other day.

6. San Francisco (5-10) – The Dons have shown signs of life recently, as newcomer 6-10 Moustapha Diarra may be emerging.   Dior Lowhorn’s scoring average is down a bit to 18.9 and so are his minutes, which is probably a good thing, but until the Dons learn to play defense, they remain candidates to finish lower than this.

7. Pepperdine (4-12) – The Waves return virtually the entire team that showed potential last season, but they have been a disappointment.   The home loss to California Baptist had to sting, and despite all the gaudy numbers Keion Bell is putting up, the Waves just can’t shoot very well.  

8. Santa Clara (8-9) – Three of the Broncos top four scorers are freshmen since the loss of their best player, Kevin Foster, probably for the rest of the season.   Freshman Robert Smith seems to be working out at the point, and 6-9 sophomore Marc Trasolini is solid inside, but the rest is a work in progress.

 WCC women, in predicted order of finish:

1. Gonzaga (11-4) – The Bulldogs return  four starters from last season’s 12-2, championship team, including 2009 WCC player of the year Courtney Vandersloot and 2008 conference player of the year Heather Bowman.   Three of the Bulldogs’ four losses were to ranked teams.

2. St. Mary’s (9-6) – Putting the Gaels this high may not make sense, but you have to love Louella Tomlinson, who is averaging 7.0 blocks per game as well as leading the WCC in scoring.

3. Portland (11-4) –The outside shooting of Laiken Dollente may get the Pilots even higher.

4. Pepperdine (9-5) – Waves are tough to beat at home.

5. Loyola Marymount (7-7) – Enough talent to finish second.

6. San Diego (8-6) – Won five of last six heading into conference play.

7. San Francisco (4-12) –Dons have lost nine of their last 10 before Tuesday’s game.

8. Santa Clara (2-13) – But Lena Gipson leads the WCC in rebounding.