St. Mary's basketball enters strange territory next season with its Gonzaga rivalry. Saturday's Gaels upset becomes the final time both teams will be conference rivals. Which also marks the end of Randy Bennett and Mark Few preparing their teams against one another.
Turns out one final message got shared before Gonzaga moves to the Pac-12. Which Theo Lawson of the Spokesman Review revealed via the social media website X, formerly Twitter.
“I told him this before the game and after the game. It might have been one of the best coaching jobs he’s done,” Bennett explained.
However, those words had more to do with star Bulldogs player Braden Huff going down.
“Huff’s a heck of a player. They lose Huff and they just kept winning. They only lost two games coming into this,” Bennett said.
Are Randy Bennett, St. Mary's Staying amid Gonzaga departure?
Again, one of the top non-power conference rivalries has reached its regular season ending in the West Coast Conference.
Both teams could still face one another in the WCC title game. But still, only the Gaels will stay put next season.
Gonzaga, meanwhile, joins a newly revamped Pac-12 that lures back Oregon State and Washington State. But will soon add Fresno State, San Diego State, Boise State, Texas State, and others once hailing from the Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt.
But for now, the focus lies into March Madness and earning a spot there.
The Gaels are in a great position to land a bid even if they don't win their conference. Current projections via On3/Rivals list St. Mary's landing the No. 6 seed and facing Texas A&M in the Midwest regional.
