2026 West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
Stepladder bracket, with bottom four teams starting in Thursday’s first round.
Site
The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas hosts, as it has since the 2009 event.
Participants
This is likely to be the final 12-team WCC Tournament for now. Seattle U joined for this season, but Gonzaga and associate members Oregon State and Washington State are departing to rebuild the Pac-12/9 for 2026-27. But Denver (Summit League) and UC San Diego (Big West) will be joining to make the 2027 tournament an 11-team event.
Schedule
Downloadable PDF Bracket
TV/Streaming Info
ESPN+ ($) will stream
all games before the quarterfinals.
First Round (Thurs. 3/5)
Gm. 1: (12) Pepperdine (9-22, 4-14) vs. (9) Portland (13-18, 6-12), 9
The Waves swept: 67-63 (home) on 2/14 and 95-87 (away) on 2/18.
Gm. 2: (11) San Diego (11-20, 5-13) vs. (10) Loyola Marymount (15-16, 6-12), 11:30*
The Lions swept: 85-63 (home) on 2/7 and 77-65 (away) on 2/21.
Second Round (Fri. 3/6)
Gm. 3: Gm. 1 winner vs. (8) Washington State (12-19, 7-11), 9
Gm. 4: Gm. 2 winner vs. (7) Seattle U (19-12, 8-10), 11:30*
Third Round (Sat. 3/7)
Gm. 5: Gm. 3 winner vs. (5) San Francisco (16-15, 8-10), 9
Gm. 6: Gm. 4 winner vs. (6) Pacific (17-14, 8-10), 11:30*
Quarterfinals (Sun. 3/8)
ESPN2 will air both games.
Gm. 7: Gm. 5 winner vs. (4) Oregon State (16-15, 9-9), 8:30
Gm. 8: Gm. 6 winner vs. (3) Santa Clara (24-7, 15-3), 11*
Semifinals (Mon. 3/9)
Gm. 9: Gm. 7 winner vs. (1) Gonzaga (28-3, 16-2), 9 (ESPN)
Gm. 10: Gm. 8 winner vs. (2) Saint Mary’s (27-4, 16-2), 11:30* (ESPN2)
Championship (Tues. 3/10)
Gm. 11: Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN)
Mayhem Potential
Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.
No tournament has been dominated by the top two seeds as much as the WCC’s. Since moving to the Orleans Arena in 2009, every single champion has been either the No. 1 or 2 seed. In fact, only Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have won in that span. The Bulldogs have 12 titles since 2009, with the Gaels claiming the other three. In fact, the pair have dominated final appearances in that time as well. BYU was the only other team to reach a WCC final since 2009, and the Cougars left the conference with four losses to Gonzaga to show for it.
- 1 seed (10): 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
- 2 seed (5): 2011, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2025
NCAA Seeding History In The 68-Team Era
Years with an NCAA win are in bold.
- 1 seed (5): 2013 (automatic), 2017 (automatic), 2019 (at-large), 2021 (automatic), 2022 (automatic)
- 2 seed (1): 2015 (automatic)
- 3 seed (1): 2023 (automatic)
- 4 seed (1): 2018
- 5 seed (4): 2022 (at-large), 2023 (at-large), 2024 (automatic), 2024 (at large)
- 6 seed (1): 2021 (at-large)
- 7 seed (4): 2012 (automatic), 2012 (at-large), 2017 (at-large), 2025 (at-large)
- 8 seed (2): 2014 (automatic), 2025 (automatic)
- 10 seed (2): 2014 (at-large), 2022 (at-large)
- 11 seed (5): 2011, 2013 (at-large, First Four), 2015 (at-large, First Four), 2016, 2019 (automatic)
- 14 seed (1): 2014 (at-large, First Four)
In 2025, both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s made their way into the field and recorded first-round wins over SEC teams—Georgia in the Bulldogs’ case and Vanderbilt for the Gaels. This year, the Zags still have a shot at a top 4 seed, while the Gaels are looking to avoid an 8/9 game. If Santa Clara gets in as an at-large, Dayton is a likely destination.
Last NCAA Tournament Appearances
Gonzaga: 2025 (8 seed, automatic, 2nd Round)—2020 WCC Tournament Champion
Saint Mary’s: 2025 (7 seed, at-large, 2nd Round)
Washington State: 2024 (7 seed, at-large, 2nd Round, Pac-12 member)
Oregon State: 2021 (12 seed, automatic, Elite Eight, Pac-12 member)
San Francisco: 2022 (10 seed, at-large, 1st Round)
Pacific: 2013 (15 seed, Round of 64, Big West member)
San Diego: 2008 (13 seed, 2nd Round)
Pepperdine: 2002 (10 seed, 1st Round)
Portland: 1996 (14 seed, automatic, 1st Round)
Santa Clara: 1996 (10 seed, at-large, 2nd Round)
Loyola Marymount: 1990 (11 seed, Elite Eight)
All 11 current WCC members have qualified for at least one NCAA Tournament, though three teams would have to go back to the 20th century to relive their last trips. The Broncos might just go back to the future, however.
