WCC Announces 2020-21 Men’s Basketball Conference Matchups

2020-21 WCC Men's Basketball Regular Season Matchups

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference has announced the 16 conference matchups for each of its 10 men's basketball teams for the 2020-21 season. This is the third season the WCC will play a 16-game schedule after changes adopted by the WCC Presidents' Council as part of the Conference's Men's Basketball Enhancement Plan prior to the start of the 2018-19 season.

These schedule initiatives demonstrate the league-wide commitment by West Coast Conference Presidents and Athletic Directors to adopt an innovative approach to advance men's basketball on the national stage as a multiple NCAA bid Conference.

The matchups detailed below designate the 16-game home and away opponents for the upcoming season based on a Conference formula including the 2018-19 & 2019-20 team NET rankings, last year's West Coast Conference tournament seedings, and a spring survey of the league's 10 head coaches.

The 2021 West Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament will take place March 4-9 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

About West Coast Conference Basketball – 2019-20 
#WCChoops enjoyed a storybook season in 2019-20 with three teams projected as locks for single-digit seeds in the 2020 NCAA Tournament by every meaningful publication/metric.
 
CONSIDER…

• Gonzaga – finished the 2019-20 campaign ranked No. 2 and spent five weeks at No. 1 and spent 14 weeks in the top-three
• BYU returned to the top-25 Feb. 17 and surged up to No. 14
• Saint Mary’s entered the season in the top-20 and received votes in every weekly poll
• Three WCC teams were in Joe Lunardi’s final 2020 Bracketology report: BYU (No. 6 West), Gonzaga (No. 1 West) & Saint Mary’s (No. 8 South)
• Three WCC teams received votes in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls – Zags, Cougars and Gaels
• For the third time in four seasons, two #WCChoops programs earned a top-25 ranking in the final regular season poll (Gonzaga & BYU)
• Four WCC teams rated in the top-100 of the NET, led by two in the top-10 – Gonzaga (No. 1) & BYU (No. 9)
• A record seven WCC programs finished the season in the top-150 of the final NET rankings
• Seven WCC programs were in contention for postseason play, which would have established a new conference record
• The WCC led all Division I conferences in both field goal (45.93) and 3-point field goal (35.61) accuracy

ONE KEY THING FOR EACH PROGRAM

• BYU – Ranked seventh in adjusted offense (116.3) and 13th overall (+20.68) in 2019-20 according to KenPom under first-year head coach Mark Pope
• GONZAGA – Has been projected as a preseason No. 1 in multiple “Way Too Early” 2020-21 polls
• LMU – Welcomes former Marquette assistant Stan Johnson as head coach for 2020-21
• PACIFIC – Posted first 20-win season since 2010-11 under WCC Coach of the Year Damon Stoudamire
• PEPPERDINE – Welcomes back senior guard Colbey Ross, who ranks fourth among active Division I career leaders in assists (6.60)
• PORTLAND – Opened the season with an 8-3 slate – the best since 2014-15
• SAINT MARY’S – Was set to make the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history and the third in four seasons
• SAN DIEGO – Have posted two 20-win seasons in the last three years
• SAN FRANCISCO – Posted its fourth straight 20-win season under the direction of first-year head coach Todd Golden
• SANTA CLARA – Streaked to a 14-2 start – the best for the program since the 1968-69 squad opened at 21-0

A STRONG DECADE FOR #WCCHOOPS
From 2010-20, West Coast Conference programs produced...
1 – AP Coach of the Year
1 – NCAA Elite 90 Award Winner
1 – Final Four
3 – Elite Eight Appearances
6 – Sweet-16 berths
10 – NBA Championships won by WCC alums
10 – WCC programs to compete in at least one Postseason Tournament
13 – Academic All-Americans
16 – AP All-Americans
21 – NCAA Tournament Wins
65 – Overall Postseason Victories
308-54 – Combined decade record for Gonzaga – the highest win tally in Division I during the 2010s

The regular-season WCC matchups for the 2020-21 season are listed below. Conference play will begin on Thursday, December 31, 2020. Specific dates and times for each game will be announced later this summer after the conference's league schedule is finalized.

BYU
Home/Road: Gonzaga, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco
Home: Santa Clara
Road: LMU

Gonzaga
Home/Road: BYU, Pacific, Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara
Home: LMU
Road: Portland

Loyola Marymount
Home/Road: Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara
Home: BYU
Road: Gonzaga

Pacific
Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, Santa Clara
Home: San Francisco
Road: Pepperdine

Pepperdine
Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco
Home: Pacific
Road: Santa Clara

Portland
Home/Road: BYU, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara
Home: Gonzaga
Road: Saint Mary's

Saint Mary's
Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Santa Clara
Home: Portland
Road: San Diego

San Diego
Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Santa Clara
Home: Saint Mary’s
Road: San Francisco

San Francisco
Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara
Home: San Diego
Road: Pacific

Santa Clara
Home/Road: Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco
Home: Pepperdine
Road: BYU

**Notable: The scheduling matchups for West Coast Conference men's basketball do not impact the women's basketball schedule which will continue the traditional 18-game, double round-robin league slate in 2020-21.

About the West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference was formed in 1952 and has evolved and grown to become a nationally recognized and competitive force in Division I intercollegiate athletics, with 15 conference-sponsored sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's beach volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis and women's volleyball. The WCC is characterized by the stability of its membership and its unique emphasis on combining excellence in athletics with excellence in academics. For more information, visit WCCsports.com or follow the West Coast Conference on Twitter @WCCsports.