Saint Mary's Gaels

The Saint Mary's Gaels play in the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, a small Bay Area campus that has become one of the West Coast Conference's most reliable tournament threats. Head coach Randy Bennett has built the program on a distinctive pipeline of Australian talent and stingy, physical defense. In a conference dominated by Gonzaga, the Gaels have carved out their own identity as the league's toughest out.

Saint Mary's basketball reached its first Elite Eight in 1959 under coach James Weaver, and the program won West Coast Conference tournament titles in 1980, 1989, and 1997. Randy Bennett arrived in 2001 and rebuilt the Gaels into a national mid-major power, highlighted by a 2010 Sweet Sixteen run as a 10-seed that included upsets of Villanova and Richmond. Saint Mary's has since become one of only three non-power-conference programs, alongside Gonzaga and UConn, to make five straight NCAA Tournaments. The Gaels have yet to win a national championship, but their string of tournament appearances is among the best outside the major conferences.