Gonzaga-LMU not expected to be rescheduled, Zags probably bound for 14 WCC games

Jim Meehan, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·2 min read

Feb. 10—Barring something unforeseen, the Gonzaga-Loyola Marymount game will not be rescheduled and the Zags will likely end up playing 14 West Coast Conference games.

The Zags typically play 16 WCC games, but four were postponed due to COVID-19 issues in their program or an opponent's program. Two of those games were rescheduled — San Diego and San Francisco — with the Zags winning by 16 and 30 points, respectively.

Gonzaga's road game against Loyola Marymount that was set for Jan. 1 in Los Angeles isn't expected to be rescheduled unless postponements elsewhere create an opening, multiple sources told The Spokesman-Review.

The Pacific-Gonzaga game postponed Jan. 20 in Stockton, California, will not be rescheduled, the Tigers said Wednesday.

The GU-LMU and GU-Pacific games will be considered no contests and won't impact team records.

The WCC has rescheduled the majority of the games postponed by COVID, but time is running short to squeeze in additional make-up games prior to Gonzaga's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's in Moraga, California, on Feb. 26.

As a result, Gonzaga will probably end up playing eight conference home games and six WCC road contests. It's possible that could change due to COVID interruptions, but postponements have slowed considerably in the WCC and across college basketball in recent weeks.

Several WCC teams will complete 16-game schedules if there are no further interruptions, but as many as six or seven could end up playing 14 or 15 contests.

With teams playing unbalanced schedules and numbers of games, the WCC is expected to use a Ken Pomeroy analytics model for men's and women's tournament seeding for the second straight season.

Pomeroy, who operates the popular KenPom.com analytics website, developed a proprietary algorithm for the WCC that reflects conference games completed and yields an adjusted conference winning percentage (ACWP) for each team.

The ACWP takes into consideration strength of opponent and location of the contest. Nonconference games and KenPom's offensive and defensive efficiency metrics on his website are not part of the WCC seeding formula.

Gonzaga, despite COVID pauses last season, finished with a 15-0 WCC record.