The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) is divided into three divisions based on scholarship allocation. Each division is made up of several conferences for regional league competition. Unless otherwise noted, changes in conference affiliation will occur on July 1 of the given year.
31-696: The West Coast Conference ( WCC ) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of nine member schools across the states of California , Oregon , and Washington . All of the current full members are private, faith-based institutions. Seven members are Catholic Church affiliates, with four of these schools being Jesuit institutions. Pepperdine
62-614: A 45-year absence. On October 1, 2024, Gonzaga announced they were leaving the conference to join the Pac-12 as a full member. On November 1, 2024, Grand Canyon announced they were declining the WCC's invitation to join the conference in 2025, instead accepting an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference in 2026. The WCC is made up entirely of private , Christian institutions with all but two being Catholic . Pacific
93-648: A WCC team since San Francisco advanced to its third consecutive Final Four in 1957. With a victory over South Carolina in the regional semifinal, the Bulldogs tied the NCAA Division I record for the second-most wins in a season. They lost in the NCAA National Championship game to North Carolina . The Bulldogs team finished the 2015–16 season 28–8, 15–3 in WCC play to earn a share for
124-674: A rich basketball tradition. The Cougars made the NCAA Tournament six straight times before failing to do so in 2013, and had made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances before joining the conference. 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 move removed Pacific from the Big West Conference back to
155-498: A second such sport in 2025. Unlike the other two divisions, Division III institutions cannot offer athletic scholarships. Among the other NCAA Division III requirements, schools have sports sponsorship requirements set by the NCAA. All institutions, regardless of enrollment, must sponsor at least three team sports for each sex/gender, and each playing season represented by each sex/gender. A sports sponsorship rule unique to Division III
186-812: Is affiliated with the United Methodist Church while Pepperdine is affiliated with the Churches of Christ . Member departing for the Pac-12 Conference in 2026. Of the former members of the WCC, only BYU ( Latter Day Saints ), and Seattle ( Catholic ) are Christian institutions. The other five are all public universities . Full members Associate member (basketball) Associate member (other sports) Other Conference Other Conference The West Coast Conference sponsors championship competition in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with
217-577: Is an affiliate of the Churches of Christ . The conference's newest member, the University of the Pacific (which rejoined in 2013 after a 42-year absence), is affiliated with the United Methodist Church , although it has been financially independent of the church since 1969. 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
248-592: Is that the total number of sports that must be sponsored differs by a school's full-time undergraduate enrollment. Schools with an enrollment of 1,000 or fewer must sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women; those with larger enrollments must sponsor six men's and six women's sports. As in the other divisions, teams that include both men and women are treated as men's sports for the purpose of these regulations. Conferences that sponsor football highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-III championships. In addition to
279-704: The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The team was led by head coach Mark Few , who was in his 18th season as head coach. The team played its home games at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington . The Bulldogs (also informally referred to as the Zags) played in their 37th season as a member of the West Coast Conference . The 2016–17 season was arguably the greatest season in Gonzaga's 109-year basketball history. The Bulldogs finished
310-496: 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. The rest have all dropped the sport, some as early as the 1940s, before the conference existed ( Gonzaga and Portland ), and one as late as 2003 ( Saint Mary's ). Historically,
341-501: The 1960s, San Francisco was reckoned as a "major" basketball power until the early 1980s. Also of note was Loyola Marymount's inspired run to the Elite Eight in 1990 following the death of Hank Gathers during that season's WCC championship tournament. 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
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#1732780338408372-590: The AdvoCare Invitational in Florida, where they ultimately played against Quinnipiac , Florida , and Iowa State . Gonzaga played 18 conference games (home-and-home) within a nine-week span, beginning on December 29, 2016. The Zags also played in and won the single-elimination WCC Tournament, which took place March 2–7, 2017 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. This year's tournament was the first under
403-558: The California Basketball Association, playing its first game on January 2, 1953. 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. After more than three decades as the WCAC, the name was shortened in the summer of 1989, dropping the word "Athletic". During
434-640: The NCAA sponsors separate championships for men and women are officially treated by the NCAA as two separate sports. Among the NCAA regulations, Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes. Conferences that sponsor football are highlighted in yellow. These all-sports conferences sponsor sports which do not have D-II championships. One of these conferences will add
465-538: 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
496-514: 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
527-649: The WCC preseason poll. Przemek Karnowski and Josh Perkins were selected to the All-WCC preseason team. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 14 in the preseason AP poll and No. 13 in the preseason Coaches Poll. Sources: Sources: Roster Last update: February 7, 2017 Gonzaga's non-conference schedule included a matchup with Washington as well as neutral court games against Tennessee (in Nashville) and Arizona (in Los Angeles). The Zags were invited to play in
558-619: The WCC regular season championship. They defeated Portland , BYU , and Saint Mary's to win the WCC tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament ; the Bulldogs have sequentially earned a place in this tournament for the past 18 years. As a No. 11 seed, they defeated No. 6 seed Seton Hall and No. 3 seed Utah to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There they lost to No. 10 seed and eventual Final Four participant Syracuse . The Bulldogs were picked to finish first in
589-710: The WCC stated: The "Russell Rule" requires each member institution to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coach position in the athletic department. 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. Full members Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Pepperdine, and Santa Clara were joined by affiliates Air Force , California Baptist , and San Jose State . On December 22, 2023,
620-413: 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). 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
651-519: The WCC, which Pacific left in 1971 in order to pursue its interests in football that it later abandoned in 1995. 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. In its announcement,
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#1732780338408682-548: The above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport. In addition to competing in football, multisport conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision must still meet the general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Multisport conferences that do not compete in football must still meet
713-515: The above, two single-sport conferences that currently participate in NCAA National Collegiate sports (those whose championship events are open to members of more than one NCAA division) and previously operated both men's and women's divisions now operate as women-only leagues. 2016%E2%80%9317 Gonzaga Bulldogs men%27s basketball team The 2016–17 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University in
744-462: The conference as the Gaels appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2021 (making the "Sweet Sixteen" in 2010). 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. Even so,
775-471: 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. The Bulldogs reached the title game again in 2021 , this time entering the game unbeaten , but again losing, this time to Baylor . Saint Mary's has also made marks for
806-429: The general NCAA Division I requirements regarding the minimum number of men's and women's sports ( see above ). Division I ice hockey has a different conference structure than the above multisport conferences. These schools have memberships in other conferences for other sports. This list includes conferences in sports that the NCAA does not fully split into divisions, such as men's volleyball and rifle. Sports in which
837-491: 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. At the time, only the Ivy League and Pacific-10 Conference (now the Pac-12 Conference ) had remained unchanged for a longer period. The WCC participates at
868-495: The newest addition being men's water polo in 2023–24. Future members in gray. Departing member in pink. Some of the famous athletes who played collegiately for WCC schools and coaches and executives that attended WCC schools, include: List of NCAA conferences Under NCAA regulations, all Division I conferences defined as "multisport conferences" must meet the following criteria: Schools in all divisions that sponsor athletic programs for only one sex/gender need only meet
899-551: The regular season with a 32–1 record, only blemished by a loss to BYU on February 25. They finished ranked second in the AP Poll , the highest final national ranking in school history prior to the 2020–21 season . They won both the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the first NCAA National Championship game in the school's history—the deepest NCAA Tournament run for
930-737: The sports sponsorship requirements for that sex/gender. Conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision must meet a more stringent set of NCAA requirements than other conferences. Among these additional NCAA regulations, institutions in the Football Bowl Subdivision must be "multisport conferences" and participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, and at least two other women's team sports. Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward
961-417: The two additions, Brigham Young University and University of the Pacific are both faith-based institutions, although Pacific has not been financially sponsored by the United Methodist Church since 1969. 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