2026 WCC Men’s Tournament: Schedule, Bracket, Recent History, TV/Streaming Info

Story by2026 WCC Men’s Tournament: Schedule, Bracket, Recent History, TV/Streaming InfoThe 2026 WCC Men’s Tournament bracket heading into the Second Round, in logo form. | Chris Dobbertean using logos from SportsLogos.netChris DobberteanSat, March 7, 2026 at 4:08 AM UTC·4 min read

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.

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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) will be joining to make the 2027 tournament a 10-team event, with UC San Diego (Big West) following in 2027-28.

Schedule

Downloadable PDF BracketTV/Streaming Info

ESPN+ ($) will stream all games before the quarterfinals.

First Round (Thurs. 3/5)

Gm. 1: (12) Pepperdine (9-23, 4-14) 68, (9) Portland 77Gm. 2: (11) San Diego 66, (10) Loyola Marymount (15-17, 6-12) 62

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSecond Round (Fri. 3/6)

Gm. 3: (9) Portland 74, (8) Washington State (12-20, 7-11) 68Gm. 4: (11) San Diego (12-20, 5-13) vs. (7) Seattle U (19-12, 8-10), 11:30*The Redhawks won 75-64 in Seattle on 1/15.

Third Round (Sat. 3/7)

Gm. 5: (9) Portland (15-18, 6-12) vs. (5) San Francisco (16-15, 8-10), 9The Dons won 73-68 in San Francisco on 1/4.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), 8:30Gm. 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)

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChampionship (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.

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• 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 ChampionSaint 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)

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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.

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