ESPN BPI Predicts BYU-Pepperdine in the WCC Semifinal

The first three rounds of the WCC men's basketball tournament are in the books, and the semifinals tip off on Monday night. Saint Mary's takes on undefeated Gonzaga in the first game before BYU takes on Pepperdine for a 10 PM (Mountain time) tip. Shortly after the semifinal matchups were finalized on Saturday night, ESPN BPI, an analytics-driven matchup predictor, submitted its prediction for BYU-Pepperdine. ESPN BPI gives BYU an 83% chance to win on Monday.

ESPN BPI's prediction is in line with Ken Pomeroy's, who gives the Cougars an 84% chance to win in his predictive model.

On the opposite side of the WCC bracket, #1 Gonzaga will be highly favored against #4 Saint Mary's. BPI gives Gonzaga a 94% chance to win. Below is the updated WCC tournament bracket following Saturday's games:

Gonzaga and Saint Mary's tip off Monday's action at 7:00 PM MST on ESPN. Then BYU will face Pepperdine on Monday night at 10:00 PM MST on ESPN2.

Gonzaga swept the season series against Saint Mary's, BYU and Pepperdine split their two-game series in the regular season.

ESPN BPI believes there is a 78% chance of a BYU-Gonzaga matchup in the WCC championship game.

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