Will another WCC team join Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament?

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the No. 1 team in the nation, and have been the top team in the West Coast Conference for two decades. The Bulldogs look to continue their league dominance with the West Coast Conference Tournament, which gets underway on Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga finished undefeated in conference play during the regular season, finishing first in the WCC for the seventh consecutive season and for the 18th time in the last 19 years. The Bulldogs have won the WCC Tournament the last six seasons, and 16 times in the last 20 years. In the four times in the last two decades that Gonzaga didn’t win the conference tournament, they reached the championship game.

The stakes

Gonzaga is a lock for the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in Las Vegas, and will most likely be a No. 1 seed. St. Marys finished second in the WCC and is on the bubble for the NCAAs, listed as one of the last four teams out of the tournament in Chris Dobbertean’s latest bracketology. A win in the semifinals would certainly help St. Mary’s case, but the Gaels might need a conference tournament win to punch their ticket to March Madness.

Format

All 10 teams in the WCC are in the tournament, even the Portland Pilots, who finished 0-16 in the league. To the victors go the spoils in Las Vegas, with the top two tournament seeds receiving byes all the way to the semifinals. Additionally, No. 3 and No. 4 get byes until the quarterfinals, while No. 5 and No. 6 get a pass into the second round.

Teams & seeds

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-0)
2. St. Mary’s Gaels (11-5)
3. BYU Cougars (11-5)
4. San Francisco Dons (9-7)
5. Loyola Marymount Lions (8-8)
6. Santa Clara Broncos (8-8)
7. San Diego Toreros (7-9)
8. Pepperdine Waves (6-10)
9. Pacific Tigers (4-12)
10. Portland Pilots (0-16)

Bracket & schedule

The WCC tournament runs from March 7-12, with the first round starting at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday. The championship game is on Tuesday night, March 12. Regional outlets will televise the first two round of the tournament, with online streaming through TheW.tv. Starting with the quarterfinals on Saturday, ESPN and ESPN2 take over, with online streaming of the final three rounds available on Watch ESPN.

Full bracket (PDF): West Coast Conference

Here is the schedule, with all times ET.

Thursday, March 7

Game 1: No. 8 Pepperdine 61, No. 9 Pacific 53
Game 2: No. 7 San Diego 67, No. 10 Portland 47

Friday, March 8

Game 3: No. 8 Pepperdine 68, No. 5 Loyola Marymount 65
Game 4: No. 7 San Diego 62, No. 6 Santa Clara 45

Saturday, March 9

Game 5: No. 8 Pepperdine 89, No. 4 San Francisco 72
Game 6: No. 7 San Diego 80, No. 3 BYU 57

Monday, March 11

Game 7: No. 1 Gonzaga 100, No. 8 Pepperdine 74
Game 8: No. 2 St. Mary’s vs. No. 7 San Diego, 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Watch ESPN)

Tuesday, March 12

Championship Game: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. Game 8 winner, 9 p.m. (ESPN, Watch ESPN)