Jan. 25, 2010

click here for coaches' preseason All-WCC team

San Diego was named as the preseason favorite in the West Coast Conference, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.

The Toreros earned six first-place votes and 48 points. Pepperdine came in second with 38 points and San Francisco was third with 33 points. Defending champion Gonzaga received one first-place vote and totaled 29 points for fourth, one point ahead of Loyola Marymount. Santa Clara garnered the other first-place vote and had 20 points, followed by Saint Mary’s with 17 points and Portland with 11 points.

San Diego was fifth a season ago and returns several key contributors, including 2009 WCC Player of the Year James Meador and First Team All-WCC performers Zach Walters and A.J. Griffin. Under head coach Rich Hill, the Toreros return eight starting position players and four pitchers.

Pepperdine tied for third a year ago with San Francisco. The Waves welcome back left-hander Matt Bywater, a First Team All-WCC selection.

The Dons bring back 23 letterwinners, including First Team All-WCC honorees Derek Poppert and Doug Murray.

2010 Predicted Order of Finish

(2009 WCC/overall records, points, first-place votes)

1 San Diego (11-10, 29-25) 48 (6)

2 Pepperdine (12-9, 31-23) 38

3 San Francisco (12-9, 28-28) 33

4 Gonzaga (14-7, 36-18) 29 (1)

5 Loyola Marymount 13-8, 30-29) 28

6 Santa Clara (6-15, 19-34) 20 (1)

7 Saint Mary’s (9-12, 28-27) 17

8 Portland (7-14, 25-26) 11