WCC hoops power rankings: week 4

The majority of West Coast Conference teams are continuing to play quite well in non-conference action. Over half of the conference has two or fewer loses and only one team, Santa Clara, has a losing record.

With Pacific falling to 14th-ranked Oregon for the Tigers first loss of the season, Saint Mary's is now the only remaining unbeaten in the conference. The Gaels improved their record to 6-0 with a victory over the Murray State Racers (2-5) Saturday. Despite Saint Mary's unbeaten record the Gaels have been unable to move out of the number 3 spot in the rankings. The Gaels are led by one of the better frontcourt players in the WCC, Brad Waldow who is averaging 17.7 points and 7 rebounds per game. Saint Mary's will only play two games in the next two weeks starting off with a match-up with Eastern Washington (7-2) Sunday.

Our top spot once again goes to the 19th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Zags continue to impress, especially on the offensive side of the ball where they lead the nation in field goal percentage at a blistering 55.8 percent from the field as a team. Junior guard, Gary Bell Jr. is shooting 56.8 percent from the field himself and 54.2 from beyond-the-arc while averaging 15 points per game. Gonzaga will face a pair of two loss teams over the next week in New Mexico State (7-2) and West Virginia (6-2).

While BYU has been unable to unseat Gonzaga for the number one so far this season, the Cougars are putting together the best resume out of any team in the WCC during non-conference play. BYU has wins against three teams (Stanford, Utah State, and Texas) in the top 100 of the Ken Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings and another win over Weber State who is just outside of the top 100. The Cougars have squandered a couple opportunities to add a signature win to that resume falling to the two ranked opponents (Iowa State and Wichita State) they've faced this season. BYU will have another chance against a ranked opponent this as they head to the New England area Saturday to face the 21st-ranked UMass Minutemen (7-0).

Santa Clara claims the bottom spot in our rankings for the second straight week. After starting the season off 2-0 the Broncos have dropped four in a row losing to Cal State Fullerton (2-6), Notre Dame (5-2), North Dakota State (5-3), and Rice (3-4). One of the few bright spots for Santa Clara is freshman, Jared Brownridge. Brownridge is the second leading scorer on the team at 16.5 points per game and third in assists at 3.2 per game.

Without any further interruption here's our rankings:

WCC Hoops Power Rankings: Week 4

Week 4 voters (8 total): Mid-Major Madness writer, Will Maupin, Slipper Still Fits writer, Peter Woodburn, Land-Grant Holy Land and Vanquish the Foe writer, Matt Brown, and Vanquish the Foe writers, Jordan Edwards, Kevin Schaefer, Nate Kennedy, and Michael Murray.

What would your WCC Hoops Power Rankings ballot look like for week 4? Tell us what you think below.