WCC Capsules: A quick look at the West Coast Conference, from top to bottom

The Brigham Young University men's basketball team is about to embark upon its second season of West Coast Conference play. In its first year, BYU finished third, and this year presents a clean slate with new opportunities for the Cougars.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the perennial power of this conference, and they are not a team to take lightly. They have lost but one game heading into conference play, and have a top-25 strength of schedule. Unless a total meltdown occurs in Spokane, the Bulldogs are virtually a lock for the NCAA tournament.

St. Mary's is also looking to prove once again that its run as last season's postseason tournament overtime championship was no fluke. With reigning conference tournament MVP and Olympian Matthew Dellavedova returning for the Gaels again, this 4-loss St. Mary's team is also one to take seriously.

But of course, conference play is an animal of its own. Here's a very quick glance at how the nine basketball teams of the WCC have done heading into conference play, in projected order of finish from the preseason media poll.