Top-seeded Gonzaga could face one of five teams in WCC Tournament semifinal

Mar. 1—The West Coast Conference Tournament has a bracket but it'll still be another week until Gonzaga knows its opponent for a semifinal game at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The Zags (28-3, 16-2) enter their final WCC Tournament with the No. 1 seed, guaranteeing them a quadruple bye to the March 9 semifinal that will tip off at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Since the tournament adopted its current format, Gonzaga's never finished lower than the No. 2 seed. The Zags managed to do so again this year, edging longtime rival Saint Mary's for the second seed.

The Gaels beat the Zags 70-59 in Saturday's regular-season finale, guaranteeing both teams enter the WCC Tournament with identical league records, but Mark Few's team claimed the top seed through a head-to-head tiebreaker, winning both of its games against third-seeded Santa Clara while Saint Mary's split its two meetings with the Broncos.

Gonzaga could play one of five teams in the semifinal round and won't officially know its opponent until Sunday's 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2) quarterfinal game concludes in Las Vegas.

Potential opponents include No. 4 Oregon State, No. 6 San Francisco, No. 8 Washington State, No. 9 Portland and No. 12 Pepperdine.

The winner of Thursday's first-round game between the Pilots and Waves (6 p.m., ESPN+) will advance to play the Cougars on Friday (6 p.m., ESPN+). One of those three will face the Dons in a third-round game on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN+), with the winner advancing to play the Beavers in the semifinal round.

Gonzaga is 8-1 against the group of teams it could play in the semifinals, with the only loss coming Feb. 4 at Portland.

On the other side of the bracket, the Gaels will wait until roughly 10 p.m. on Sunday to know who they'll play in the second semifinal game (8:30 p.m., ESPN2).

No. 10 LMU will face No. 11 San Diego in a first-round game on Thursday (8:30 p.m., ESPN+), with the winner facing No. 7 Seattle U the following day (8:30 p.m., ESPN+). The Lions, Toreros or Redhawks will play No. 6 Pacific in a third-round game on Saturday (8:30 p.m., ESPN+). Third-seeded Santa Clara will await the winner of that game for Sunday's quarterfinal (8:30 p.m., ESPN2) in Vegas.

The Zags and Gaels are widely thought to be locks for the NCAA Tournament and the Broncos could still earn an at-large berth. Those three have seven combined WCC losses, but six have come in games against one another. In games against the other nine teams in the WCC, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara are 41-1.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary's have accounted for every WCC Tournament championship since 2008 and all but two title since 1998. The Zags have captured 22 championships while the Gaels have won five.