Cougars’ arrival turns WCC into three-team race

Brigham Young appears to be settling in well as it nears the midpoint of its first season in the West Coast Conference.

In basketball, the Cougars (16-5, 5-2 WCC), No. 24 Saint Mary's (18-2, 7-0) and Gonzaga (15-3, 5-1) have separated themselves from the rest of the conference and turned the title fight into a three-team race. The question is whether all three will make the NCAA Tournament.

WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich, a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, certainly hopes so.

"I think there is a lot of national respect for the play of those three programs," he said.

The WCC rewards the top two finishers with byes into the semifinals of its conference tournament, which is Feb. 29 to March 5 at Orleans Arena.

The prime tournament seeding adds a sense of urgency. Saint Mary's already defeated BYU (98-82) and Gonzaga (83-62) at home. The Gaels play at BYU on Jan. 28 and at Gonzaga on Feb. 9.

BYU and the Zags meet Feb. 2 at Provo, Utah, and Feb. 23 at Spokane, Wash.

"I think it's going to be a dogfight with those series coming down the stretch," Zaninovich said. "Those will be very high-level games, very high-intensity games and will show the conference in a very positive manner. They are three very strong teams, all with somewhat different strengths, but all very deep and all have proven their mettle so far."

■ COAST TO COAST -- BYU's next two basketball games will be 2,436 miles apart. The Cougars travel to Malibu, Calif., to play Pepperdine at 5 p.m. Saturday on BYUtv (Cable 352). BYU meets Virginia Tech for the first time on Wednesday at Blacksburg, Va., on ESPN3.com.

■ MAKING HIS MARK -- With 222 career victories, Jeff Judkins has become the winningest coach in BYU women's basketball history. He achieved the feat when the Cougars (16-3, 5-1 WCC) defeated Pepperdine 80-56 on Jan. 12.

"You can't make chicken salad without chicken," the 11th-year coach said. "This milestone means I've had a lot of great players and great assistant coaches who work hard and believe in me."

Judkins, who played basketball at Utah during the 1970s and in the NBA for five seasons (1978-83), surpassed the record held by Courtney Leishman, the Cougars' coach from 1977 to 1989.

■ HOME OPENER -- The Cougars' No. 1-ranked men's volleyball team (4-1) hosts No. 5 Southern California (3-0) tonight in its home opener. The match will be televised on BYUtv (Cable 352) at 6 p.m.

■ SPRING FOOTBALL -- BYU begins spring practice March 5. The Cougars finished 10-3 and ranked No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll this past season after beating Tulsa 24-21 in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Dave McCann is a morning news anchor on KLAS-TV (Channel 8). He hosts "True Blue" at 5 p.m. Monday on BYUtv and is the play-by-play voice for BYUtv. He can be reached at dmccann@8newsnow.com and on Twitter: @davemccann8.