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Until now, the West Coast Conference has been little more than a basketball formality for Gonzaga to shimmy through on its way to the NCAA Tournament.

Until now, Gonzaga has won 11 consecutive WCC titles. Until now, that is, because the run of dominance might very well come to an end.

For the first time in over a decade, Gonzaga might not be the best team in its own league. And no, BYU fans, the honor doesn't belong to the Cougars.

Saint Mary's has taken a gigantic advantage over the two other league powers, with wins over both. Yes, they both came in Moraga, the home of the Gaels, but both victories were so decisive and so significant that you wonder how lasting an impression they may leave.

"Obviously, there's a lot of basketball left to be played this season," Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett told the San Francisco Chronicle. But it's great for the program to be recognized nationally."

For the first time this season, the 17-2 Gaels are ranked. Point guard Matthew Delladova has turned into a star, just another great player from the Bennett pipeline into Australia. Most significantly, Rob Jones has turned into a beast inside, averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Still in the hunt

For much of the season, Terrence Ross could've had his face on the back of a milk carton: That's how much his game has been missing.

With a touted lottery pick shooting guard from Washington struggling to get used to Tony Wroten, and with former Pleasant Grove star C.J. Wilcox breaking out, touches have been hard to come by for Ross.

But with Wilcox out with a stress fracture in his hip, Ross needed to take over a game and he did it against Washington State last weekend, with 30 points and 14 rebounds, both career-highs.

Ross always has had the talent. Showing it has been another matter. Against WSU, he scored 26 points in the second-half, leading the Huskies back from a sizable deficit.

And don't look now, but Washington, after a terrible start to the season, is 4-1 in Pac-12 play, a half-game out of first place.

Deep with answers

Want to know why Nevada is by far the best team in the Western Athletic Conference this season? A look at its win over Hawaii on Saturday night provides a response.

Against the Warriors, Olek Czyz scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

He's the fourth option for the Wolf Pack, after Deonte Burton, Malik Story and Dario Hunt.

Simply put, no other team in the WAC has as many different ways to beat an opponent. That kind of depth has Nevada unbeaten and largely unchallenged.

In elite company

He doesn't play for a major school and he won't often be found on a major television network, but Creighton's Doug McDermott is one of the best players in the country. At this point, he's one of the top contenders for national player of the year honors.

A forward, McDermott averages 24 points and eight rebounds per game for the Blue Jays.

All paying off

People have wondered why Don Monson would schedule his tiny Long Beach State team to face the likes of Pitt, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisville and Xavier, all on the road. Well, the 49ers are 5-0 in the Big West Conference. Plus, they have wins over Pitt and Xavier, so if LBSU stumbles in the league tournament, an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is entirely possible.