(I'm borrowing this from a post I made in August)

Portland lost rebounding machine and team leader Ryan Nicholas, but they bring back every other contributor from a team that upset BYU and Gonzaga, in addition to beating solid Bradley and Princeton teams. Watch for Portland to beat Oregon State at home. Portland gets home/home deals with PAC-12 in state rivals Oregon and Oregon State, and this could be their 6th win over one of their in-state PAC-12 rivals since 2000 (3 wins against Oregon, 2 against Oregon State). Both of their PG's are steady hands, and van de Mars and Bailey are my picks to have a breakout season for the Pilots. Bobby Sharp is always a threat to go off like Jimmy Chitwood, as both BYU and Gonzaga learned last season.

Like USF, Portland may be in the bubble discussion at some point. They were a long time doormat in the WCC before Reveno became coach, and they haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 1996. Probably an NIT level team, although they could slip to one of the pay to play tourney's if they stumble once too often against a sub 200 RPI opponent, as the Pilots are wont to do even in their best seasons.

But this is a team with high potential. If you are looking for a complete WCC sleeper (many people are picking SMC and USF to be strong this season for obvious reasons), Portland is it.