The 2026 West Coast Conference Tournament will take place again at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, from March 5-10. Both Gonzaga Bulldogs programs will have seven days off before the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals on March 9.
Despite falling at the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Feb. 28, 70-59, Mark Few’s group still secured the No. 1 overall seed and will await most likely either the No. 4 Oregon State Beavers or the No. 5 San Francisco Dons coming out of the quarterfinals. The semifinals
are set for Monday, March 9, at 6:00 pm. PT on ESPN. The championship would be the following day, Tuesday, March 10, at 6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN.
The Zags most likely went down to the No. 4 seed line in the West Region for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but have the opportunity to move back up to No. 3 if they were to win the West Coast Conference Tournament over the Gaels.
After losing at the Portland Pilots on Feb. 28 in a nail-biting regular-season finale, 92-91, coach Lisa Fortier’s unit was given the No. 2 overall seed. Gonzaga will open up their tournament run on Monday, March 9, at 2:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2, probably against No. 3 Santa Clara Broncos if they win their quarterfinal matchup. The championship is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, at 1:00 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
The Zags would need to win the West Coast Conference Tournament over the No. 1 seed Loyola Marymount Lions, potentially in the title game, to receive an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. An at-large bid is out of the question.
For those who are still interested, Gonzaga men’s (28-3, 16-2 WCC) slid three spots in the Associated Press poll to No. 12 with 752 total points. Saint Mary’s (27-4, 16-2 WCC) is now ranked No. 21 with 304 total points after being unranked the previous week.
Santa Clara (24-7, 15-3) received one vote and needs to reach the West Coast Conference Tournament title game, picking up another Quad 1 win against coach Randy Bennett’s team, in order to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.
In the NET rankings, the Zags are No. 6 with a 6-2 record in Quad 1 and a 5-0 record in Quad 2. Their KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is No. 19, and BPI (Basketball Power Index) is No. 77.
As for KenPom, the Bulldogs fell out of the top-10 to No. 12 with the No. 30-ranked offense and No. 10-ranked defense. EvanMiya and Bart Torvik have also kept the Zags away from the top-10.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
