The West Coast Conference: A History of Academic and Athletic Excellence

The West Coast Conference (WCC) stands as a testament to the enduring power of regional athletic competition rooted in academic values. From its humble beginnings as a basketball-centric league for San Francisco Bay Area schools, the WCC has evolved into a nationally recognized conference known for its commitment to both athletic and academic achievement.

Founding and Early Years: A Focus on Basketball

The West Coast Conference was formed in 1952 to provide a convenient venue for five San Francisco Bay Area schools to compete in basketball. The league began in 1952-53 as the California Basketball Association and included College of the Pacific, Saint Mary's College, University of San Francisco, San Jose State University, and Santa Clara University. The league was chartered by five northern California institutions, four from the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, San Jose State) and one, Pacific, from Stockton. It began as the California Basketball Association, playing its first game on January 2, 1953.

Expansion and Evolution: Becoming the West Coast Athletic Conference

It remained five teams until 1956-57, when Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, and Fresno State joined the conference, giving it eight teams. After just one season, Fresno State departed and the WCAC remained a seven-member conference until welcoming UC Santa Barbara in 1965-66. After two seasons under that name, the conference expanded to include Los Angeles-area schools Loyola (now Loyola Marymount) and Pepperdine in 1955 and became the "West Coast Athletic Conference" in 1956.

Membership Shifts and Stability

Pacific announced its departure in 1971 and was replaced by Seattle University for the 1971-72 school year. Four years later, UNLV announced its independence after winning a WCAC men's basketball crown. Nevada left the WCAC in 1979, and the conference welcomed Gonzaga University and the University of San Diego to the mix beginning in 1979-80. During the massive upheaval of conference affiliations in the 1990s, the WCC remained very stable. Before the 2010 realignment that eventually led to Brigham Young joining the conference, the last change of membership was in 1980, when Seattle University left the conference.

Rebranding and Continued Growth

The WCAC shortened its name to West Coast Conference in 1989, and developed a new logo in 1995 that lasted until 2011. Thirty years after its most recent expansion, the WCC welcomed its ninth member by extending an invitation to Brigham Young University in September of 2010. BYU officially joined the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2011, followed by the return of University of the Pacific on July 1, 2013.

A Geographically Diverse Conference

Today, the nine WCC members span the western coast of the United States from Canada to Mexico, from the pine forests of Eastern Washington, to the Columbia River Basin, to the dynamic San Francisco Bay Area and the sunny beaches of Southern California. All of the current full members are private, faith-based institutions. Seven members are Catholic Church affiliates, with five of these schools being Jesuit institutions, including the newest member of the conference, Seattle. Pepperdine is an affiliate of the Churches of Christ. Of the former members of the WCC, only BYU (Latter Day Saints) is a Christian institution.

Championships and NCAA Success

The Conference recognizes championships in each of its sports, has hosted NCAA championship events, and produced 26 NCAA Division I individual or team champions. The WCC participates at the NCAA Division I level and is considered to be a mid-major athletic conference. The conference sponsors 15 sports but does not include football as one of them. San Diego (Pioneer Football League) is the only school fielding a football team. Historically, the WCC's strongest sports have been soccer (nine national champions, including back-to-back women's soccer titles in 2001 and 2002) and tennis (five individual champions and one team champion).

Men's Basketball Tournament: A Path to the NCAA Tournament

The West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The winner of the tournament each year is guaranteed a place in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for that season. Through 2008, the tournament was played on a rotating basis at the home courts of member teams. The 2009 edition was the first played at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas.

Tournament Formats: Evolving with the Conference

The tournament has used several formats in its history, though seeding in all formats has been based strictly on conference record (with tiebreakers used as needed). When the tournament began in 1987, when the conference had eight members, it used a standard single-elimination bracket that was reseeded after the first round so that the highest and lowest remaining seeds played one another in the semifinals. Beginning in 2003, the bottom four seeds played first-round games (5 vs. 8, 6 vs. 7), with the 3 and 4 seeds receiving byes to the quarterfinals and the top two seeds receiving byes to the semifinals. For the 2012 tournament, the first after the 2011 arrival of BYU in the WCC, this format was adjusted so that the 8 and 9 seeds played in the first round, with the winner joining the 5 through 7 seeds in the second round, and the top four seeds continuing to receive byes into the quarterfinals (3 and 4) or semifinals (1 and 2). Beginning in 2014, the WCC adopted a new format to incorporate a tenth team (Pacific). The new format is a traditional 10-team tournament. Seeds 1-6 received a bye into the quarterfinals while 7 played 10 and 8 played 9 in the first round. The second round featured the winner of the 7/10 match playing the 2-seed while the winner of the 8/9 match played the 1 seed. The 3 seed played the 6 seed and the 4 seed played the 5 seed. In 2014, the first-round games aired on BYUtv Sports. The afternoon quarterfinal games aired on BYUtv, and the evening quarterfinals were on ESPN2. For 2019 and beyond, the tournament returned to a format similar to that used from 2003-2011, with slight changes to the terminology used for the rounds prior to the semifinals. The 7 through 10 seeds play in what is now called the "opening round", the 5 and 6 seeds start play in the "second round", and the 3 and 4 seeds start in the "third round".

Gonzaga and Saint Mary's: A Defining Rivalry

The Gonzaga-Saint Mary's men's basketball rivalry is an intra-West Coast Conference college basketball rivalry between the Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team of Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California and the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Many analysts and members of the media have touted the Gaels vs. Zags as one of the best, if not the best, college basketball rivalry on the West Coast, as both teams have been consistently two of the top three teams in the conference over the last 2 decades. Gonzaga and Saint Mary's have combined to win 26 out of the last 30 conference championship games, including each of the last 16. The two teams have met a total of 116 times dating back to 1955 and currently meet biannually as a part of WCC conference play, with the potential to play a third game in the WCC tournament and a fourth in the postseason. As of March 2022, they have met 20 times in the WCC Tournament but have never met in any postseason tournaments beyond the end of conference play. Saint Mary's has upset a number 1 ranked Zags squad twice - once in the 2019 WCC final as an unranked team and once in 2022 as #23 in Moraga.

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Memorable Moments and Historical Significance

As previously mentioned, the 1990 tournament final was canceled following the on-court death of Loyola Marymount player Hank Gathers during the Lions' semifinal game against Portland.

Gonzaga's Rise to National Prominence

The conference has also made its presence felt nationally in men's basketball. San Francisco won two consecutive national titles in the 1950s with all-time great Bill Russell. Although the WCAC's stature declined in the 1960s, San Francisco was reckoned as a "major" basketball power until the early 1980s. More recently, Gonzaga's rise to national prominence after being invited to the NCAA tournament every year since their Cinderella run to the "Elite Eight" in 1999 has helped make the WCC a household name. As San Francisco was from the 1940s to the early 1980s, Gonzaga has gained recognition as a major basketball power, despite the WCC being a mid-major conference. Gonzaga has been to 23 consecutive NCAA tournaments-the longest streak for any school in the Western United States, the third-longest active streak, and the sixth-longest streak in history. They have also been to all but one WCC tournament final since 1995, and have played for the conference title every year since 1998. In 2016-17, the Bulldogs advanced all the way to the national championship game-the deepest run by a conference team since San Francisco went to three consecutive Final Fours from 1955 to 1957.

Expansion Plans and the "Russell Rule"

Eventually, with the 2010 realignment opening up new avenues for expansion, the WCC decided to revisit expansion plans. The conference decided that it would only seek out private schools, but would not limit its search to faith-based institutions. On August 31, 2010, BYU announced plans to join the WCC for the 2011-12 season in all sports the conference offers. BYU joined the conference on July 1, 2011. BYU's arrival gave the WCC another school with a rich basketball tradition. On March 27, 2012, the University of the Pacific (UOP), a charter member of the conference in 1952, accepted an invitation to rejoin the WCC, effective July 1, 2013. The WCC became the first Division I conference to adopt a conference-wide diversity hiring commitment, announcing the "Russell Rule", based on the NFL's Rooney Rule and named after Basketball Hall of Famer and social activist Bill Russell, a graduate of charter and current conference member San Francisco, on August 2, 2020.

Recent Membership Changes

In September 2021, BYU announced that it would leave the WCC in 2023 for the Big 12 Conference. The WCC announced on July 19, 2022 that it would add men's water polo starting in 2023-24. On December 22, 2023, the WCC announced that Oregon State University and Washington State University, the two schools left behind by the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference, would become affiliate members in all sports apart from football and baseball through 2025-26. This was followed in May 2024 with the announcement that Grand Canyon University and Seattle University would join in July 2025, with Seattle rejoining after a 45-year absence. On October 1, 2024, Gonzaga announced it would be leaving the conference to join the Pac-12 as a full member. On November 1, 2024, Grand Canyon announced it was declining the WCC's invitation to join the conference in 2025, instead accepting an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference no later than 2026. On September 2, 2025, after coming off their first NCAA March Madness appearance in their first year of eligibility, the WCC extended an offer to the University of California, San Diego to join in 2027. The school will be the first public school since 1979, when the University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada) left to join the Big Sky Conference. On October 31, 2025, the University of Denver (DU) announced it would join the West Coast Conference in 2026. This will be the first university in the Rocky Mountain Region to join the conference since BYU left in 2023.

The WCC: A Conference of Private, Faith-Based Institutions

The WCC is made up entirely of private, Christian institutions with all but two being Catholic. Pacific is affiliated with the United Methodist Church while Pepperdine is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.

Associate Members

Oregon State and Washington State have a two-year agreement with the WCC for associate memberships in various sports. Oregon State competes as an associate member in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, softball, men's and women's golf, women's cross country and women's rowing. Washington State competes as an associate member in men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's golf, women's tennis, men's and women's cross country and women's rowing.

Notable Alumni

The West Coast Conference has produced a number of notable alumni who have gone on to achieve success in a variety of fields, including:

David Cooke: Former NBA player (Saint Mary's College).
Brandon Davies: Former NBA player who currently plays in the Liga ACB (BYU). During his sophomore year, he helped BYU rise as high as #3 in the national polls before being suspended for an honor code violation. He was reinstated for his junior and senior seasons and named to the All West Coast Conference team.
Dennis Johnson: Basketball Hall of Famer, former NBA player (1976-1990) 1979 NBA Finals MVP and 5-Time NBA All-Star (Pepperdine).
Austin Daye: Former NBA player, also with European professional experience (Gonzaga).
Ken Sears: Former NBA Player (1955-64), First basketball player on a Sports Illustrated cover (Santa Clara University).
Vance Law: Former MLB player, and 1-time MLB All-Star (1988). Former BYU Baseball Coach (2000-2012). Son of MLB Pitcher Vern Law (BYU).
Ken Dayley: Former major league pitcher, 1980 1st round draft pick, 3rd overall, pitched in both the '85 and '87 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals (University of Portland).
Taylor Sander: Member of the American US Indoor Volleyball team and a player for Blu Volleyball Verona. Led US national team to an upset of Brazil to win the FIVB World League 2014. Was named best outside spiker and tournament MVP. He holds the BYU all-time single-match record for service aces (nine) and career service aces (182) (BYU).
Hust Stockton: back; Frankford Yellow Jackets (NFL) (1925-1928). Member of the Yellow Jackets' 1926 NFL Championship team. Grandfather of John Stockton (Gonzaga).
Ray Flaherty: end; Los Angeles Wildcats (1926), New York Yankees (1927-1928), New York Giants (1928-1929, 1931-1935), No. 1 retired. Head Coach; Gonzaga Bulldogs (1930), Boston/Washington Redskins (1936-1942), New York Yankees (1946-1948), Chicago Hornets (1949). Three time NFL champion (1934, 1937, 1942). Pro Football Hall of Fame (1976) (Gonzaga).
Tony Canadeo: halfback; Green Bay Packers (1941-1944, 1946-1952). Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, No. 3 retired, Pro Football Hall of Fame (1974) (Gonzaga).
Tom Fears: wide receiver and defensive back; Los Angeles Rams (1948-1956). The first Mexican-born player to be drafted into the National Football League. Broke the NFL's single-season record in 1949 with 77 receptions for 1013 yards, and again in 1950 with 84 receptions for 1116 yards. Career totals include 400 receptions for 5,397 yards and 38 touchdowns. Pro Football Hall of Fame (1970) (Santa Clara University).
Pete Carroll: current coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, former coach of the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, former head coach of USC Trojans of the NCAA. Led Seattle to Super Bowl XLVIII, where they defeated the Denver Broncos (University of the Pacific).
Ted Leland: a first team PCAA selection as a defensive end in 1969. Current athletic director at Pacific (University of the Pacific).

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