What to watch this weekend, hoops edition

It's March, so the inevitable Madness is just around the corner. That means we're about to go neck-deep in conference tournaments as the brackets take shape in the next 10 days.

It's hard to sort out all the smaller conferences -- even I can't keep straight your Atlantic-10s from your Atlantic Suns, your MEACs from your MACs and your Big Wests from your Big Sky Conferences. (Nor can Billy Packer, apparently, since last year during UNLV's electrifying Sweet 16 run he told CBS viewers that the Runnin' Rebels were the champions of the "Big Mountain" Conference.)

However, thanks to my work with the good people at Blue Ribbon, I've been able to keep my finger on the pulse of the mid-major world for the past few years. I used to write the preseason previews for the Horizon League and the Midcontinent Conference, but last year (given my geographical shift) I was handed the keys to the West Coast Conference previews.

You might know them as Gonzaga and the Seven Dwarfs, but there's a lot more here than what meets the eye. Eight small, private schools -- six in California, one each in Oregon and Washington -- that play a pretty good brand of basketball. And there's a good chunk of hoops history on display here, as this conference used to play host to guys like John Stockton (Gonzaga), Steve Nash (Santa Clara), Dennis Johnson (Pepperdine), Bill Russell (San Francisco) and the Hank Gathers-Bo Kimble teams at Loyola-Marymount.

Plus, if you like NBA legacies, scan the rosters of the WCC squads and you'll see why there will be quite a few famous faces in the crowd at the conference tourney this weekend: Luke Sikma of Portland (son of Jack), Austin Daye of Gonzaga (son of Darren) and Mychel Thompson of Pepperdine (son of Mychal) all have seen significant playing time this season as true freshmen.

This is also a great coaches conference. Mid-majors are often proving grounds for coaches looking to make the leap to the bigtime (check out the resumes of guys like Bruce Pearl, Ben Howland, Bill Self, Bo Ryan, Thad Matta and Matt Painter, to name a few), and the WCC has a number of the next wave of hotshots. Mark Few, of course, has turned Gonzaga into a perennial powerhouse and could have his pick of jobs if he ever wanted to leave Spokane. Few's longtime assistant, Bill Grier, has taken San Diego from the cellar to third place in one year. Eric Reveno is in his second year at Portland after handling the recruiting for Stanford, and at Santa Clara, former UCLA assistant Kerry Keating is getting his first shot at running a program after earning a national reputation as a killer recruiter for Howland's Bruins.

Oh, and you want competition? It appears certain that the WCC will be a two-bid conference (a rarity among mid-majors) with regular-season champion Gonzaga and second-place St. Mary's both earning RPI ratings in the low 30s. Last Saturday, the Zags beat St. Mary's to clinch the title in the first game in WCC history (50+ years) that featured two ranked teams.

And don't count out San Diego. Grier's Toreros have already beaten St. Mary's, and he should know how to play Gonzaga if they get that chance. And they're playing the conference tournament on their home court, an advantage they reportedly won't have next year based on reports Wednesday that the WCC postseason tourney is coming to Vegas next year.

So, if the seeds play out accordingly, the semifinals on Sunday night (ESPN 2) will feature Santa Clara vs. Gonzaga and San Diego vs. St. Mary's. The Gaels (that's St. Mary's, from the East Bay hamlet of Moraga, Calif.) would dearly love another shot at Gonzaga in the title game (Monday night, ESPN) after splitting their two regular-season tilts, but getting past San Diego on its home floor will be no small feat.

So if you're looking for some great mid-major hoops action to prepare you for the big boys' conference tourneys and the release of the brackets on March 16, check out the West Coast Conference this weekend. Maybe even Billy Packer will be watching.