The 2020-21 college basketball season has been unusual, to say the least. The pandemic has created lengthy program pauses, abrupt schedule changes, and a single location for the NCAA Tournament. Adding to the madness, the West Coast Conference has decided to reformat their tournament with the help of technology (yikes). The University Credit Union WCC Tournament has adopted an innovative way to seed both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs this year.<\/p>\n
At first, it appeared that a doctoral student was doing research and testing for their dissertation. There are some quality institutes in the WCC, so that claim isn\u2019t far-fetched. Partnering with statistical analyst Ken Pomeroy, the WCC Tournament will be seeded by a proprietary algorithm. The use of this model isn\u2019t to promote the conference\u2019s academic standards, but rather to combat this season\u2019s disruptions.<\/p>\n
The WCC already has an imbalance in their men\u2019s and women\u2019s schedules. The men play 16 games while the women play an 18-game double-round-robin. Each team is seeded based on winning percentage, but the conference schedules this year cannot be completed. The regular season is set to end on Feb. 27, leaving little hope for postponements to be rescheduled.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the WCC Tournament will be seeded using metrics. No one needs to be reminded of the BCS, so let\u2019s just get that out of our minds. Maybe I shouldn\u2019t have said that then. The algorithm will consider an adjusted conference winning percentage based on the games played and the strength of those opponents.<\/p>\n
For example, a team like St. Mary\u2019s, who currently sits at ninth in the WCC at 2-4, could benefit. The Gaels have had a disastrous season to their standards, but of their six conference games, they\u2019ve only played one team in the bottom half of the league. They beat San Francisco who is currently seventh in the conference. Of their remaining four games, no opponent sits below them in the standings.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the court, a team like Loyola Marymount could drop in seeding. They\u2019re fourth in the WCC standings at 5-3, but haven\u2019t played Gonzaga, Pepperdine, or BYU\u2014the three teams above them.<\/p>\n
WCC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said, \u201cThe Ken Pomeroy adjusted conference winning percentage model that has been developed for the WCC provides the most accurate reflection for the conference games that have been completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the next two weeks, five updated reports will be delivered before the WCC Tournament begins. The final report will seed both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s tournaments on Feb. 28. The WCC Tournament is scheduled to take place March 4-9 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
First reported by John Canzano or The Oregonian<\/em>, Gonzaga and BYU are both considering opting out of the WCC Tournament.<\/p>\n Gonzaga and BYU are weighing whether they should opt out of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament.<\/p>\n Nothing in it for either program, except risk of injury, bad loss and infection. They\u2019re both NCAA Tournament bound regardless. WCC ADs are talking about this.<\/p>\n — John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) February 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n