West Coast Conference

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.

West Coast Conference
FormerlyWest Coast Athletic Conference (1956–1989)
California Basketball Association (1952–1956)
AssociationNCAA
Founded1952
CommissionerStu Jackson (since 2023)
Sports fielded
  • 16
    • men's: 7
    • women's: 9
DivisionDivision I
Subdivisionnon-football
No. of teams9
HeadquartersSan Mateo, California
RegionWestern United States
Official websitewww.wccsports.com
Locations
Location of teams in

All of the current members are private, faith-based institutions. Seven members are Catholic Church affiliates, with four of these schools being Jesuit institutions. Pepperdine 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.[1]

History
West Coast Conference logo from 2011 to 2019

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. 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."[2][3][4]

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. 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 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, 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 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 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. 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 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, 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.[5][6] BYU's arrival gave the WCC another school with 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 the WCC, which Pacific left in 1971 in order to pursue its interests in football that it later abandoned in 1995.[7]

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, the WCC stated:[8]

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.[9] 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 will be joined by affiliates Air Force, California Baptist, and San Jose State.[10]

Member schools

Current full members
InstitutionLocationFoundedJoinedTypeEnrollmentEndowment
(millions)		NicknameColors
Gonzaga University Spokane, Washington 1887 1979 Private
Catholic - Jesuit		 7,421 $399.6 Bulldogs      
Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, California 1865 1955 Private
Catholic - Jesuit		 8,972 $611.3 Lions    
University of the Pacific Stockton, California 1851 1952;
2013[lower-alpha 1]		 Private
United Methodist Church		 6,652 $568.2 Tigers    
Pepperdine University Malibu, California[lower-alpha 2] 1937 1955 Private
Churches of Christ		 6,000 $1,205 Waves      
University of Portland Portland, Oregon 1901 1976 Private
Catholic - Holy Cross		 3,200 $297.2 Pilots    
Saint Mary's College of California Moraga, California 1863 1952 Private
Catholic - De La Salle Brothers		 4,768 $215 Gaels      
University of San Diego San Diego, California 1949 1979 Private
Catholic - Diocesan		 7,548 $652.5 Toreros      
University of San Francisco San Francisco, California 1855 1952 Private
Catholic - Jesuit		 10,017 $478.5 Dons    
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, California 1851 1952 Private
Catholic - Jesuit		 8,300 $1,471 Broncos    
Notes
  1. Pacific left the WCC after the 1970–71 school year to join the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now known as the Big West Conference); and rejoined the WCC, effective with the 2013–14 school year.
  2. The Pepperdine campus has a Malibu mailing address but lies entirely within unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Associate members
Institution Location Founded Joined Type Enrollment Endowment
(millions)		 Team Primary
conference		 WCC
sport(s)
United States Air Force Academy
(Air Force)		 USAF Academy, Colorado 1954 2023–24 Federal 4,304 $98.9 Falcons Mountain West Men's water polo
California Baptist University Riverside, California 1950 2023–24 Private
(Baptist)		 11,491 $82.9 Lancers WAC Men's water polo
Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska 1878 2010–11 Private
Jesuit		 8,910 $713 Bluejays Big East Women's rowing
San Jose State University San Jose, California 1857 2023–24 Public
(CSU)		 33,025 $197.1 Spartans Mountain West Men's water polo

Former full members
Institution Nickname Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Current
conference
Brigham Young University
(BYU)		 Cougars Provo, Utah 1875 Private
(LDS)		 34,737 2011 2023 Big 12
California State University, Fresno
(Fresno State)		 Bulldogs Fresno, California 1911 Public 22,565 1955 1957 Mountain West
University of California, Santa Barbara
(UCSB)		 Gauchos Santa Barbara, California[lower-alpha 1] 1891 Public 21,927 1964 1969 Big West
University of Nevada, Reno
(Nevada)		 Wolf Pack Reno, Nevada 1874 Public 18,227 1969 1979 Mountain West
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(UNLV)		 Rebels Las Vegas, Nevada[lower-alpha 2] 1957 Public 28,203 1969 1975 Mountain West
San Jose State University
(SJSU)		 Spartans San Jose, California 1857 Public 30,448 1952 1969 Mountain West
Seattle University Redhawks Seattle, Washington 1891 Private
(Jesuit)		 7,500 1971 1980 WAC
  1. The UCSB campus has a Santa Barbara mailing address, but is outside the city limits in the unincorporated community of Isla Vista.
  2. The UNLV campus lies outside the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated community of Paradise. The U.S. Postal Service considers all unincorporated areas within the Las Vegas Valley to have a Las Vegas address.

Former associate members
Institution Team Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Primary
conference		 WCC
sport(s)
California State University, Bakersfield
(CSUB)		 Roadrunners Bakersfield, California 1965 Public 8,317 2012–13 2012–13 Big West women's golf
California State University, Los Angeles
(CSULA)		 Golden Eagles Los Angeles, California 1947 Public 23,258 1975–76 1975–76 CCAA
(NCAA Division II)		 baseball
University of Nevada, Reno
(Nevada)		 Wolf Pack Reno, Nevada 1874 Public 18,227 1984–85bs.;
1985–86w.sp.		 1990–91bs.;
1986–87w.sp.		 Mountain West baseball,
women's basketball,
women's tennis,
women's volleyball
United States International University
(USIU)		 Gulls San Diego, California 2001 Private 3,871 1985–86 1986–87 n/a[lower-alpha 1] women's basketball,
women's tennis,
women's volleyball
Notes
  1. USIU dropped its athletics program following the end of the 1990–91 school year.

Membership timeline
Big 12 ConferenceBrigham Young UniversityUniversity of San DiegoGonzaga UniversityUniversity of PortlandWestern Athletic ConferenceGreat Northwest Athletic ConferenceNorthwest ConferenceNational Association of Intercollegiate AthleticsSeattle UniversityMountain West ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceBig Sky ConferenceUniversity of Nevada, RenoMountain West ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceUniversity of Nevada, Las VegasBig West ConferenceUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraPepperdine UniversityLoyola Marymount UniversityMountain West ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceCalifornia State University, FresnoSaint Mary's College of CaliforniaSanta Clara UniversityUniversity of San FranciscoBig West ConferenceUniversity of the Pacific (United States)Mountain West ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceBig West ConferenceSan Jose State University

Full members Other Conference Other Conference

  • Due to space limitations, the following affiliations are not linked within the timeline:
    • Fresno State had dual membership with the California Collegiate Athletic Association during their tenure in the WCAC before committing full-time with the CCAA from 1957 to 1969:
    • UC Santa Barbara joined what was then the PCAA in 1969. It left in 1974 to become independent and returned in 1976.
    • Seattle was a member of the Northwest Conference, then affiliated with the NAIA, from 1997 to 1999. The school then returned to the NCAA as a Division II institution and played as an independent until 2001.

Sports

The West Coast Conference sponsors championship competition in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with the newest addition being men's water polo in 2023–24.[11]

Teams in West Coast Conference competition
SportMen'sWomen's
Baseball
10
-
Basketball
10
10
Beach Volleyball
-
7
Cross Country
9
10
Golf
9
5
Rowing
-
7
Soccer
8
10
Softball
-
6
Tennis
10
10
Volleyball
-
10
Water polo
7
-

Men's sports
Men's sponsored sports by school
SchoolBaseballBasketballCross
Country		GolfSoccerTennisWater
Polo		Total
Sports
GonzagaYesYesYesYesYesYesNo6
Loyola MarymountYesYesYesYesYesYesYes7
PacificYesYesNoYesYesYesYes6
PepperdineYesYesYesYesNoYesYes6
PortlandYesYesYesNoYesYesNo5
Saint Mary'sYesYesYesYesYesYesNo6
San DiegoYesYesYesYesYesYesNo6
San FranciscoYesYesYesYesYesYesNo6
Santa ClaraYesYesYesYesYesYesYes7
Associate Members
Air ForceYes1
California BaptistYes1
San Jose StateYes1
Totals9988894+355+3
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the West Coast Conference which are played by WCC schools
SchoolFootballRowing[lower-alpha 1]Swimming
& Diving		Track & Field
(Indoor)		Track & Field
(Outdoor)		Volleyball
GonzagaNoWIRANoIndependentIndependentNo
Loyola MarymountNoWIRANoIndependentIndependentNo
PacificNoNoMPSFNoNoNo
PepperdineNoNoNoNoIndependentMPSF
PortlandNoNoNoIndependentIndependentNo
Saint Mary'sNoNoNoIndependentIndependentNo
San DiegoPioneer LeagueWIRANoNoNoNo
San FranciscoNoNoNoIndependentIndependentNo
Santa ClaraNoWIRANoIndependentIndependentNo
  1. The NCAA sanctions rowing only for women. Men's college rowing is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.

Women's sports
Women's sponsored sports by school
SchoolBasketballBeach
Volleyball		Cross
Country		GolfRowingSoccerSoftballTennisVolleyballTotal
West Coast
Sports
GonzagaYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYes7
Loyola MarymountYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYes8
PacificYesYesYesNoNoYesYesYesYes7
PepperdineYesYesYesYesNoYesNoYesYes7
PortlandYesYesYesNoYesYesNoYesYes7
Saint Mary'sYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYes8
San DiegoYesNoYesNoYesYesYesYesYes7
San FranciscoYesYesYesYesNoYesNoYesYes7
Santa ClaraYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes9
Totals1071056+1[lower-alpha 1]106101074+1
  1. Associate member Creighton.
Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the West Coast Conference which are played by WCC schools
SchoolSwimming
& Diving		Track & Field
(Indoor)		Track & Field
(Outdoor)		Water Polo
GonzagaNoIndependentIndependentNo
Loyola MarymountPCS&DCIndependentIndependentGolden Coast
PacificMPSFNoIndependentGolden Coast
PepperdineMPSFNoIndependentNo
PortlandNoIndependentIndependentNo
Saint Mary'sNoIndependentIndependentNo
San DiegoMPSFNoIndependentNo
San FranciscoNoIndependentIndependentNo
Santa ClaraNoIndependentIndependentGolden Coast

    Facilities
    School Basketball arena Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity Soccer stadium Capacity
    Gonzaga McCarthey Athletic Center 6,000 Washington Trust Field 1,500 Luger Field 2,000
    Loyola Marymount Gersten Pavilion 4,156 George C. Page Stadium 1,200 Sullivan Field 2,000
    Pacific Alex G. Spanos Center 6,150 Klein Family Field 2,500 Knoles Field 600
    Pepperdine Firestone Fieldhouse 3,104 Eddy D. Field Stadium 1,800 Tari Frahm Rokus Field 1,000
    Portland Chiles Center 4,852 Joe Etzel Field 1,000 Merlo Field 4,892
    Saint Mary's University Credit Union Pavilion 3,500 Louis Guisto Field 1,000 Saint Mary's Stadium 5,500
    San Diego Jenny Craig Pavilion 5,100 Fowler Park 1,700 Torero Stadium 6,000
    San Francisco War Memorial Gymnasium 5,300 Dante Benedetti Diamond 2,000 Negoesco Stadium 3,000
    Santa Clara Leavey Center 4,500 Stephen Schott Stadium 1,500 Buck Shaw Stadium 10,300

    Notable sports figures

    Some of the famous athletes who played collegiately for WCC schools and coaches and executives that attended WCC schools, include:

    See also

    References
    1. "History & Mission". University of the Pacific. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
    2. "Transactions: College". Times Daily. Florence, AL. Associated Press. July 14, 1989. p. 2B.
    3. "WCAC shortens its name to West Coast Conference". Spokane Chronicle. July 14, 1989. p. B5.
    4. West Coast Conference Official Athletics Site – On Campus Archived March 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Wccsports.cstv.com (July 1, 2011).
    5. "BYU Becomes Ninth Member of West Coast Conference" (Press release). West Coast Conference. July 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
    6. Katz, Andy (August 31, 2010). "BYU leaving MWC for 2011–12 season". ESPN. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
    7. VanderBeek, Brian (March 28, 2012). "University of the Pacific joins West Coast Conference". The Modesto Bee. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
    8. "Russell Rule Diversity Hiring Commitment" (Press release). West Coast Conference. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
    9. "BYU to Join Big 12 Conference" (Press release). BYU Cougars. September 7, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
    10. "West Coast Conference Adds Men's Water Polo" (Press release). West Coast Conference. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
    11. "West Coast Conference Adds Men's Water Polo" (Press release). West Coast Conference. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
    12. Pepperdine Athletes Prepare for Beijing Olympics | Pepperdine University. Pepperdine.edu.
    13. National Men Water Polo Team USA Men's Olympic Team Archived January 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Usawaterpolo.org.
    14. "BYU sweeps California Baptist as Taylor Sander sets program kills record". NCAA. March 23, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
    15. Archived July 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
    16. Dr. Ted Leland. "Ted Leland Bio - Pacific". Pacifictigers.com. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
    17. "John Fassel athletic career, photos, articles, and videos". Fanbase. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
    18. Hobson, Geoff. "Cincinnati Bengals: Hue Jackson". Bengals.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
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