According to BartTorvik.com, I spent a few minutes on the Friday morning episode of the Eye On College Basketball podcast explaining how St. Mary’s University has been the best team in college basketball over the past month.
This. most. team.
I think most fans don’t know that.
During that stretch, the Gaels have gone 8-0 by a margin of 21.4 points per game. KenPom.com currently predicts they will prevent Gonzaga from winning at least a share of the West Coast conference title for the first time since 2012. It’s one of the more interesting developments in the sport, especially considering St Mary’s had zero votes in the top 25 vote in the preseason.
However, the body of work is missing.
Despite an incredible number of computers (St. Mary’s is ranked #3 on BartTorvik.com, #6 on NET, #7 on KenPom.com, and #9 on EvanMiya.com), the Gaels are only 1-2 lead in Quadrant 1 and has a résumé that includes two Quadrant 3 losses. I realize one has little to do with the other. Still, it’s interesting that the school only won against a top-55 KenPom team, lost twice to a sub-100 KenPom team, and now KenPom is projected to win the West Coast Conference for the first time in over a decade.
Saint Mary’s ranked No. 21 in the Saturday morning update of the CBS Sports College Basketball Top 25 and Daily College Basketball Rankings. The Gaels’ next game is Saturday night at BYU, where they’re listed as a 6.5-point favorite.The first of two regular-season games against Gonzaga is scheduled for Next Saturday night in the McKeon Pavilion.
