Five burning questions for WCC

Why Gonzaga is a threat to reach Sweet 16, and other key answers

Updated: October 23, 2012, 3:24 PM ET

By John Gasaway | Basketball Prospectus

With the start of the 2012-13 college basketball season fast approaching, ESPN Insider is looking at the five "burning" questions facing each of the major conferences. In this edition, John Gasaway looks at the West Coast Conference.

Will there ever be another streak like Gonzaga's in the WCC?
Now that Gonzaga's streak of 11 consecutive West Coast Conference regular-season titles has been snapped (congratulations, Saint Mary's), it seems like a good time to ask whether Mark Few's Bulldogs or anyone else can ever record such a streak again.

Step one: Win the WCC this season. The Zags should be in good shape there. With Elias Harris, Kevin Pangos, Gary Bell, and Sam Dower leading the way, Gonzaga figures to be not only the class of the WCC but also a legitimate threat to return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009. I wrote about the Zags just a few weeks ago, so I'll be brief on this subject. Bottom line: Few has the pieces in place to start a new streak of WCC titles.

To read John Gasaway's answers to the five burning questions facing the WCC this season, you must be an ESPN Insider.