THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Everything in front of Gaels for a chance at WCC title

Tonight could be the start of “Milestone Week” for Randy Bennett.

And perhaps …

No fun at all for Gonzaga.

You know Bennett as the long-serving coach at Saint Mary’s, and often an irritating thorn in the side of the Zags.

Well, Bennett has a chance to truly gig Gonzaga over the next three days down in Moraga.

The Zags (18-4) will be busy on their own this evening — trying to dispatch Santa Clara at The Kennel — so events in the Bay Area must stay temporarily on the back burner.

After all, the Zags barely escaped Santa Clara 81-76 at the Leavey Center on Jan. 7 — the second stop on that three-game road swing that produced near-miraculous comebacks at each stop.

Santa Clara arrives in Spokane off a fairly startling loss at home to Pacific, so the Broncos will be anxious to prove they can play a bit.

While that game is going on, though, Saint Mary’s will be hoping (expecting, actually) to give Bennett his 500th career victory with a win at home over San Francisco.

Assuming there’s confetti and maybe a little celebration at the McKeon Pavilion, Bennett will get promptly back to work.

FOR ALL his accomplishments on a pretty tight budget at Saint Mary’s, Bennett has managed just a single outright WCC title in 21 years.

The Gaels have shared the regular season championship with Gonzaga a couple of times, but their only season alone on top of the pile was 2011-12.

Now, however …

Bennett has a chance to grab a second solo title.

Assuming the Gaels dismiss slumping San Francisco (whom they whipped by 17 on the road), they will have a shot at a gigantic win Saturday night when Gonzaga comes to visit.

A victory over the Zags would give the Gaels a two-game advantage in the conference, with a fairly easy road ahead (barring a trip to Spokane).

What’s unique about this next matchup between the longtime rivals is that it’s fair to say that Saint Mary’s is a legitimate favorite — especially at home.

Besides the McKeon advantage and around 3,500 bat-crazy students, the Gaels this time may just have a better team.

AT LEAST, that what all the analytics claim.

Saint Mary’s is ranked way down at No. 18 (Gonzaga is 12th) in the AP poll, but among the experts that is dramatically reversed.

In the NET rankings used by the committee seeding the NCAA tournament, Saint Mary’s is No. 6 and Gonzaga No. 12.

It’s even more dramatic in the widely used KenPom rankings, where Saint Mary’s sits at No. 7 and the Zags have sunk to No. 18 (mainly because they are stuck with the 79th adjusted defensive efficiency number).

No team in two decades has won the Final Four with a KenPom defense ranked worse than 20th.

Yikes!

Saint Mary’s, meanwhile, is always a defensive power.

The joke is that Bennett’s program is about “Good D and plenty of Australians.”

The year’s Gaels defense is ranked No. 5 nationally by KenPom.

In fact, one of Saint Mary’s four losses was a 53-48 rock fight on the road against Houston, which is No. 1 in the NET.

If there is an odd thing about the Gaels’ recognition this season, though, it’s that although they’re 8-0 in the conference, they’ve lost twice at home — to Colorado State and New Mexico.

Their only other defeat came against Washington (huh?) on a neutral court.

In fact, they’re 1-2 against teams that are considered Quad 1 in the NET.

NONE OF that will make Mark Few and his troops any more confident about their visit to Moraga.

Bennett always has a defensive scheme planned for the Zags, and it starts with slowing the game to a crawl and forcing Gonzaga to work against a clawing half-court defense.

There’s a new wrinkle to worry about this season, too.

Besides the usual complement of Australians — senior starters Alex Ducas and Kyle Bowen, along with 7-foot-1 freshman center Harry Wessels — the Gaels feature a super freshman guard from …

Campolindo High School.

If you don’t know the area geography, Bennett could probably hit a 3-wood from his office to the Campolindo gym.

The odds of a nationally recruited player coming from that area are, ah, slim.

And yet …

Meet 6-3 guard Aidan Mahaney, winner of plaques, trophies, awards and everything else available in California — home to 40 million people.

This is a kid who could have picked a school anywhere, yet chose to wander (walk?) over to Saint Mary’s.

Mahaney is already a hero, averaging about 15 points, shooting 43 percent from 3-point range – and he’s responsible for the Gaels staying unbeaten in conference play.

At BYU last weekend, Mahaney zoomed downcourt with Saint Mary’s trailing by a point, stopped near the edge of the key and swished a tough, turnaround jumper with 0.3 on the clock — stealing a 57-56 victory.

No question, things have lined up to make this a spectacular week for Randy Bennett and Saint Mary’s.

Over to you, Zags.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”