West_Coast_Conference_men's_basketball_tournament

West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament

West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament

Annual college basketball 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. The semifinals are broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and the championship is broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Quick Facts Sport, 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). In addition, reseeding was abolished, with the top seed automatically playing the winner of the quarterfinal game featuring the 4 seed and the 2 seed automatically playing the winner of the quarterfinal game featuring the 3 seed.

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. One semifinal aired on ESPN and the other on ESPN2, and the championship game was carried by ESPN.

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". The top two seeds receive byes into the semifinals.[1] According to media reports, the major impetus for this and other changes to WCC basketball was the potential loss of Gonzaga to the Mountain West Conference after the 2017–18 season, which in the end did not happen.[2]

List of finals

More information Year, Champion ...

Results by team

As of March 12, 2024[22][23]

Championship game team wins

More information School, Wins ...

Team win–loss records

More information School, Games ...

As of March 12, 2024.

Team head-to-head results

More information BYU, Gonzaga ...

Championship game team head-to-head results

More information BYU, Gonzaga ...

Results by seed

As of March 12, 2024[22][23]

Seed win–loss records

More information Seed, Games ...

Championship game seed win–loss records

More information Seed, Games ...

Results by coach

As of March 12, 2024[22][23]

Coach win–loss records

More information Coach, School ...
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Championship game coach win–loss records

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WCC Tournament Rivalries

Gonzaga–Saint Mary's men's basketball 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,[24][25] 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.[26][27] 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.[26] 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. And in 2024 took down the Zags in the WCC Championship game by the score 69-60.

Broadcasters

Television

Radio

See also


References

  1. "WCC Presidents' Council Approves Men's Basketball Schedule Changes" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 26, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  2. Hodges, Jim; Stewart, Larry (March 5, 1990). "Other Reactions: WCC Cancels Tournament; TV's Footage Is Dramatic". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013.
  3. "Gonzaga Tops Santa Clara For WCC Title, 77-68". March 5, 2007. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  4. "2011-12 WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL Weekly Release: March 13, 2012" (PDF). March 13, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  5. "2013 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships Post-Game Notes" (PDF). March 12, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  6. "2013-14 WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL Weekly Release: March 18, 2014" (PDF). March 18, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  7. "Crumpacker #WCChoops 2016 Men's Championship Recap". March 8, 2016. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  8. Faraudo, Jeff (March 9, 2021). "No. 1 Gonzaga Overcomes Double-Digit Deficit to Claim WCC Title". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  9. Faraudo, Jeff (March 8, 2022). "Gonzaga Wins 2022 WCC Men's Basketball Championship". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  10. "2020–21 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). West Coast Conference. November 26, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  11. "2021 UCU West Coast Conference tournament Central". West Coast Conference. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  12. Deitrick, Hayden. "Why Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's Is the West Coast's Best Rivalry in NCAA Basketball". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  13. Mehr, Justin (2016-07-23). "The Best Rivalry Out West: Gonzaga - St. Mary's". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  14. "Matchup Finder | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  15. "Championship Week: 136 Overall Men's Games". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  16. "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  17. "Your Championship Week Schedule (UPDATED)". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2009-03-09.

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