Gonzaga University announced Oct. 1 they will depart from the West Coast Conference following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season, leaving 12 teams in the conference for the start of the 2026 season, according to multiple reports.
The decision comes after Gonzaga announced their plan to join the Pac-12 in 2026, becoming the eighth team to join the conference after 10 teams left the Pac-12 following the 2023-2024 season.
“It’s kind of a shame that Gonzaga will be leaving the WCC because we won’t be able to compete with them anymore,” Isaiah Dean, sophomore Pepperdine Men’s Basketball guard said. “Especially since they were kind of a key piece in keeping the WCC as high of a prestige as it is now.”
Gonzaga made this decision with hopes of more revenue and coverage, as they has been a top five seed in March Madness eight of the last nine years, along with success in other sports such as cross country, soccer and rowing.
With the Pac-12 being particularly weak in men’s basketball as of late, Gonzaga’s program looks to be as dominant as they were in the WCC, where they made the past 16 WCC championships, winning 12 of them.
On top of dominating the WCC, Gonzaga has made the past 25 March Madness tournaments, with two finals appearances in 2017 and 2021. Gonzaga looks to repeat their success with four Pac-12 teams making March Madness last year, with the most successful being University of Arizona, who made it to the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga also hopes to rebuild the Pac-12 conference to what it once was for basketball, with Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould praising the Bulldogs for their incredible successes for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Since the start of the 2019-2020 season, the men’s and women‘s teams have amassed a win percentage of 86.7, with the men’s boasting a 66.7 win percentage since the team’s creation in 1943, according to Sports Reference.
For the WCC, 11 teams alongside Pepperdine will be members in 2026, including: Oregon State University, Washington State University, Seattle University, Grand Canyon University, Loyola Marymount University, University of the Pacific, University of Portland, Saint Mary’s College of California, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University.
“It could be an opportunity to rise in the conference but at the same time we still have to win,” Dean said. “We still have to beat teams like Saint Mary’s, San Francisco and LMU, but they also added Washington State and Oregon State recently.”
The clear favorite for men’s basketball is St. Marys, as they have dominated alongside Gonzaga, winning last year’s WCC championship against Gonzaga.
The WCC losing its most profitable team may have a large blow to funding and revenue, but the plan to add two more teams that have had success in both sports and academics can prove to help the conference keep its standard.
Grand Canyon University and Seattle University are joining the WCC in the 2025-2026 academic year, announced in May earlier this year, keeping the conference competitive and fair in size.
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Email Shane Stephens: shane.stephens@pepperdine.edu
