2026 West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Basics
Format
Ladder play, with the bottom four teams beginning in the first round on Thursday.
Place
The event has been held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas since 2009.
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participants
This will likely be the last 12-team WCC tournament for now. Seattle University joins this season, but Gonzaga and associates Oregon State and Washington State will leave to rebuild the Pac-12/9 for the 2026-27 season. But the University of Denver (Summit League) will join, making the 2027 tournament a 10-team event, with UC San Diego (Big West) following in 2027-28.
schedule
Downloadable PDF stand
TV/Streaming Information
ESPN+ ($) will broadcast all games leading up to the quarterfinals.
Round 1 (Thursday 3/5)
General Motors. 1: (12) Pepperdine (9-23, 4-14) 68, (9) Portland 77
General Motors. 2: (11) San Diego 66(10) Loyola Marymount (15-17, 6-12) 62
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Second round (Friday 3/6)
General Motors. 3: (9) Portland 74(8) Washington State (12-20, 7-11) 68
General Motors. 4: (11) San Diego (12-20, 5-13) vs. (7) Seattle University (19-12, 8-10), 11:30*
On January 15, the Redhawks won 75-64 in Seattle.
Round 3 (Saturday 3/7)
General Motors. 5: (9) Portland (15-18, 6-12) vs. (5) San Francisco (16-15, 8-10), 9
In game 1/4, the Dons won 73-68 in San Francisco.
General Motors. 6: General Motors. 4 Winners vs. (6) Pacific (17-14, 8-10), 11:30*
Quarterfinals (Sun. 3/8)
ESPN2 will televise both games.
General Motors. 7: General Motors. 5 Winner vs. (4) Oregon State (16-15, 9-9), 8:30
General Motors. 8: General Motors. 6 Winner vs. (3) Santa Clara (24-7, 15-3), 11*
Semifinals (Mon. 3/9)
General Motors. 9: General Motors. 7 Winner vs. (1) Gonzaga (28-3, 16-2), 9 (ESPN)
General Motors. 10: General Motors. 8 Winner vs. (2) Saint Mary’s (27-4, 16-2), 11:30* (ESPN2)
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Championship (Tues. 3/10)
General Motors. 11: Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN)
potential for chaos
Data originally published by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter In 2020 I will be adding my own content for future seasons.
No tournament is as dominated by the top two seeds as the WCC. Since moving to Orleans Arena in 2009, every champion has been either a No. 1 seed or a No. 2 seed. In fact, only Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have won during that span. Since 2009, the Bulldogs have won 12 titles, while the Gaels have won three more. In fact, the pair dominated the finals during that period as well. BYU is the only team to reach the WCC finals since 2009, and the Cougars proved it with four losses to Gonzaga.
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1 seed(10): 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
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2 seeds(5): 2011, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2025
NCAA seeding history in the 68-team era
The NCAA’s winning days are behind us Bold.
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No. 1 seed(5): 2013 (automatic), 2017 (automatic), 2019 (General Member), 2021 (automatic), 2022 (automatic)
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2 seeds(1): 2015 (automatic)
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No. 3 Seed(1): 2023 (automatic)
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No. 5 Seed (4): 2022 (General Member), 2023 (At-Large), 2024 (Automatic), 2024 (at large)
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6 seeds(1): 2021 (At-Large)
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No. 7 Seed(4): 2012 (automatic), 2012 (General Member), 2017 (General Member), 2025 (general member)
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No. 8 Seed(2): 2014 (automatic), 2025 (automatic)
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No. 10 Seed(2): 2014 (General Member), 2022 (General Member)
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No. 11 Seed(5): 2011, 2013 (At-Large, top four), 2015 (At-Large, top four), 20162019 (automatic)
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No. 14 Seed(1): 2014 (Ordinary members, top four)
In 2025, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s both entered the field and had first-round wins over SEC teams — Georgia for the Bulldogs and Vanderbilt for the Gaels. The Zags still have a chance to finish in the top four this year, while the Gaels hope to avoid an 8/9 finish. If Santa Clara joins as an at-large, Dayton could be a destination.
Last NCAA Tournament appearance
Gonzaga: 2025 (8th seed, automatic, second round) — 2020 WCC Tournament Champion
St. Mary’s Church: 2025 (7th seed, at-large, second round)
Washington State: 2024 (7 seed, at-large, second round, Pac-12 member)
Oregon: 2021 (12th seed, automatic, Elite Eight, Pac-12 member)
San Francisco: 2022 (10th seed, at-large, first round)
Pacific Ocean: 2013 (15th seed, Round of 64, Big West member)
San Diego: 2008 (No. 13 seed, second round)
Pepperdine: 2002 (10th seed, first round)
Portland: 1996 (14th seed, automatic, first round)
Santa Clara: 1996 (10th seed, at-large, second round)
Loyola Marymount: 1990 (No. 11 seed, Elite Eight)
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All 11 current WCC members have qualified for at least one NCAA tournament, though three teams must travel back to the 20th century to relive their final runs. However, the Broncos may be back in the future.
