San Diego Toreros Take Down Kentucky, No. 21 Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary’s College of Moraga will, in all likelihood, be kicked out of the AP Top 25 Poll for the second time this season. Weeks ago the Gaels reached a No. 24 ranking, only to be stripped of their number prefix when they lost to Southern Illinois the week after they got their spot in the AP Poll. This time, the Gaels had a No. 21 ranking for less than 24 hours before they lost to the University of San Diego Toreros, 63-55.

Perhaps the fact that they get a ranking makes the Gaels play soft, or maybe it’s just that it makes their opponents try harder to beat them. Or, maybe San Diego is simply a dangerous team. Earlier in the season USD beat the winningest college basketball team of all time, the Kentucky Wildcats, and now they’ve ole!-ed a ranked team in the Gaels. The Toreros are 11-11 overall, 4-1 in conference play, but that’s good enough for third place in the WCC, where the unranked Gonzaga Bulldogs occupy the top spot. If the Toreros play well at home versus Gonzaga next month, they’ll be a sleeper pick to get to the NCAA Tournament via a WCC Tournament win. They WCC Tournament will be played at the Slim Gym, The Jenny Craig Pavilion at USD, where in 2003 the Toreros stunned the college basketball world with a win over Gonzaga (No. 5 at the time) in the WCC Championship.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

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