FanHouse NCAA Hoops BlogPoll: No. 19, St. Mary's Gaels

This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted me, Adam in the O.C., of NCAA Basketball FanHouse, to break down the St. Mary's Gaels. Mainly because we can't find a St. Mary's blog. If there is one out there, drop us a line in the comments section. But don't worry, I have enough of a West-Coast bias to make up for it.

Contrary to popular belief, St. Mary's didn't just emerge out of the ether last season. Some astute observers knew of their potential. (More on that in a second.) The Gaels had been successful in the past under coach Randy Bennett, but last year was a huge breakout season for the school.

Yet, somehow, the season still managed to be somewhat of a disappointment. If that's even possible with an NCAA tournament berth.

True, St. Mary's did have a break out year as it finished 25-7 and climbed as high as 20 in the polls. But somehow, the season still managed to be a bit of a disappointment. There were high points like beating Oregon, as predicted here. They also had big-time wins over Gonzaga (in overtime), San Diego State in the Wooden Classic and Cal State. (Hey, the Titans made the tournament, just roll with it.)

The team, however, wimpered out in the West Coast Conference tournament, losing to eventual champion, San Diego in their first game. And the NCAA tournament was disappointing, too. For a year that started out so well, the Gaels couldn't even get a postseason victory.

But let's look at the big picture, this was a good season for St. Mary's in a great year for the WCC. When you think of St. Mary's being disappointed with just going to the tournament, you are looking at rising expectations.

The expectations should be high for this team, too. A lot of St. Mary's problems last year could be attributed to them being a touch green. Now that they have a full year under their belts look for them to be stronger in those big games.

Why they should be ranked here: You can't blame some people for not totally buying into St. Mary's after its postseason woes. Although, if that's the case, why is Duke even in the Top 25? Still, you can't expect experts to give them the benefit of the doubt here. That needs to be earned.

Why they should be ranked higher: You watched the Olympics, right? Sophomore point guard Patrick Mills was tearing up the competition as a member of the Australian national team and drew rave reviews from some of the NBA players on the United States basketball team. Some even said that he was the best Aussie import since Colin Hay.

Mills will become more a leader and should be able to win games on his own down the stretch. But, he won't have to do it on his own. Diamon Simpson returns for his senior season and was the league's reigning defensive player of the year. That's right, his parents might have forgotten the 'd,' but he didn't. Simpson was like In-n-Out, because he cranked out the double-doubles and averaged 13.4 ppg and 9.6 rpg for the year. Big man Omar Samhan and Ian O'Leary also return, so this team is loaded with a lot of returning talent. This team is going to be pretty good, but they have to wait their turn in line because all of the overrated teams from the BCS conferences have to go out and lose before St. Mary's gets its credit.

Why they should be ranked lower: I'll pretend that you didn't ask that. Don't overlook this team again.