Ambitious WCC keeps the heat on the Pac-10

West Coast Conference coaches will bridle if it’s automatically assumed that the Pac-10 is a far superior league – but privately, they know that the Stanford-led conference has a much higher profile and a deeper pool of talent.

That said, the WCC was 12th in conference RPI, and with two very solid teams at the top of the preseason standings, the small private-school league could crack the top ten this year. And San Diego and Gonzaga aren’t the only two teams with some heft; Pepperdine has four senior starters back and Loyola Marymount is coming off a 19-win season.

Watch out, Pac-10: The West Conference is on your trail.

1. San Diego (21-9, 10-4): But for a 1-4 finish, Cindy Fischer’s second year in San Diego might have been an even bigger success than it was – and since the Toreros hadn’t had a winning season since 2000 and won a school-record 21 games, it was pretty good already. And with three starters back, including Amber Sprague (14.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 61 blocks) and WCC Co-Player of the Year Amanda Rego (tops in the nation with 7.7 apg, 6.2 rpg, 9.1 ppg), there’s no reason to expect much dropoff. Fischer and San Diego are primed to do well, but a weak preseason schedule may come back to haunt them later in the year.

2. Gonzaga (24-10, 13-1): Gonzaga, on the other hand, has set up a brutal preseason that includes games against Washington, Marquette, Arizona State, Purdue and some team from Knoxville that’s supposed to be pretty good. But even with that schedule, and the loss of Stephanie Hawk to graduation, Kelly Graves has reason for confidence. Heather Bowman was a sensation as a freshman, and Tiffanie Shives, a McDonald’s All-American, is eligible after transferring from Michigan State. Freshman Janelle Bekkering is another impressive addition, and if the Zags can clean up their ballhandling, they could easily claim a piece of the conference title for the fourth straight year.

3. Pepperdine (14-17, 6-8): It’s Julie Rousseau’s fourth year, and with four senior starters, it’s not unreasonable to expect the Waves’ first .500+ season since 2003-04. Teoisha George averaged 10.9 ppg to lead a balanced attack but she and the rest of her teammates need to handle the ball better (20.6 turnovers a game) and defend with more tenacity to challenge San Diego and Gonzaga. And if Pepperdine can’t get over the hump this year, it may be time to start wondering when Rousseau will finally make it happen.

4. St. Mary’s (14-14, 8-6): At one point, the Gaels’ first-year coach Paul Thomas was staring at a 1-7 record, including a 17-point loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. But St. Mary’s was 13-7 thereafter, and with three-and-a-half starters back – plus a trio of freshmen 6-3 or taller – the Gaels can be expected to improve. That improvement, though, may not show up in preseason because Thomas has scheduled ambitiously (to say the least). St. Mary’s plays Baylor, Cal, Vanderbilt, Utah, Alabama and Fresno State, and a 2-4 record against that group would be a major achievement. But even if an 0-6 showing spoils the Gaels’ overall record, St. Mary’s seems to be back on track after the ineffective, contentious, scandal-plagued reign of Michelle Jacoby.

5. Loyola Marymount (19-12, 9-5): Julie Wilhoit has guided the Lions to a better than .500 record six of the past seven years, but making it seven of eight will be a challenge. LMU lost three of its top four scorers and 47.3% of its rebounds, so senior Amanda DeCoud is going to have to do even more this season – and last year, she was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, shot 44% from the field and led the team in assists. Six freshmen will infuse new blood, but it may be asking too much for the youngsters to fill the many holes. It would help if returners Valerie Ogoke, Cassady Moore and Kavita Goss all shot better, and everyone took rebounding very seriously.

6. San Francisco (10-21, 3-11): When the Dons stunned Florida State (which later beat Stanford in the NCAAs) on Dec. 20, 2006, it looked like maybe Tanya Haave would make her first season on the West Coast a success. Sadly, a 3-10 stretch to finish the year put a damper on expectations, even with four starters returning and high-scoring JC transfer Necolia Simmons. Still, if USF shoots just a little better, and defends just a little better, Haave’s second year could be a lot more successful than people think. She too learned a lot last year, and a jump up in the standings is not out of the question.

7. Santa Clara (13-17, 5-9): Yes, the Broncos make a lot of three-pointers (best in the nation). But no, the Broncos didn’t have a winning record. And with three starters gone, that horrid rebounding margin (-10.0) is going to be hard to overcome, even with an influx of decent-sized freshmen. But while Santa Clara struggles to get back to .500, it will be fun to watch Chandice Cronk let fly: She took 220 three-pointers last year, and made 42.7% of them. Janice Gottschalk, the only other returning double-figure scorer, is more a rebounder, though, and Cronk may find it hard to get open looks this year – and the Broncos may find it hard to compete in the WCC.

8. Portland (10-20, 2-12): The last time the Pilots had a winning record was 1998-99, but clearly the administration doesn’t care enough to do anything. Long-time coach Jim Sollars (22 years) is a class act, but his teams haven’t come close to significance in years – though with four starters, and 11 of 12 rotation players, returning, maybe this will be the year. Of course, having everyone back from a bad team isn’t necessarily good news, but two more Australians bring the total to four, and maybe one of them will surprise as Laiken Dollente did last season (15.2 ppg). Then again, Dollente had 133 turnovers to just 77 assists and shot only 38.5% from the field, so she, like the rest of Pilots, has plenty of room for improvement.