WCC Basketball: St. Mary's (CA) and Gonzaga Set to Clash for Automatic Bid

One has history on their side.

The other is looking to make history.

Both will be looking to secure the West Coast Conference's lone automatic bid and avoid sweating out Selection Sunday, just over two weeks away.

As the premier teams in the conference, St. Mary's (CA) and Gonzaga have dominated the WCC competition recently. Together, they are a combined 94-18 in conference play over the last four years—finishing 1-2 each year in the final regular season standings.

But their dominance hasn't ended in the regular season. Gonzaga and St. Mary's have met in the conference tournament championship game the past two years, with each winning once. Overall, Gonzaga has played in 12 straight championship games, winning nine (1999, 2000-03, 2005-07 and 2009).

However, this year hasn't gone according to plan.

Gonzaga battled through five early season losses and a three-game conference losing streak before getting hot and catching the Gaels, tying for their 11th consecutive regular season conference crown.

But the damage from their early season losses has already been done; knocking them from the perch of this year's elite and relegating them to an at-large bubble team should they slip up in the conference tourney.

One thing working in their favor, if they come under the microscope of the NCAA selection committee, is their nine-game winning streak—not to mention their run of 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Gaels, on the other hand, look to be going in the wrong direction. After staking a three-game lead in the conference standings, St. Mary's lost three of the their last four, including going 1-2 in conference play, to finish the season.

The most damaging of the losses was a 74-66 defeat by San Diego—a team coming in with only one conference win.

The Gaels followed that up with a 75-65 loss to Utah State as part of ESPN's BracketBuster.  An 89-85 OT loss to Gonzaga allowed the Bulldogs to catch them in the conference standings.

In a span of two weeks, the Gaels went from an NCAA lock to a potential NIT participant.

But tournament time is a chance for rebirth.

Both teams have the talent to make a run in March, with St. Mary's led by talented guards, Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova, and Gonzaga led by senior Steven Gray, along with Elias Harris and Robert Sacre. Plus, they have the advantage of earning byes into the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Make no mistake; these two teams are on a collision course for the WCC finals. The ultimate grudge match in the NCAA Tournament is on the line. With so much at stake, neither wants to leave anything to chance.

It should be an entertaining weekend in Vegas—as if it's ever not.

Things get under way in the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Championships on Friday, with No. 5 Portland squaring off against No. 8 San Diego, followed by No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 Loyola Marymount.

Here's the complete schedule for the 2010-11 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Championship:

Friday, March 4

No. 5 Portland vs. No. 8 San Diego: 6 p.m.

No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 7 Loyola Marymount: 30 minutes following

Saturday, March 5

Port./SD vs.  No. 4 Santa Clara: 6 p.m.

Pepp./LMU vs.  No. 3 San Francisco: 30 minutes following

Sunday, March 6

5/8/4 vs.  No. 1 St. Mary's (CA): 5:30 p.m., ESPN2

6/7/3 vs. No. 2 Gonzaga: 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

Monday, March 7

Championship: 6 p.m., ESPN

*All times PST.