Gonzaga Leaves the West Coast Conference

Photo Credit: Duane Burleson, Associated Press

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few signals from the sideline during the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, March 29, 2024, in Detroit.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Gonzaga will become the latest member of the rebuilt Pac-12, the conference and school announced on October 1st. The Zags will move from the West Coast Conference (WCC), where they have been a member for more than 40 years. 

The loss of its highest profile member is a blow to the West Coast Conference and could impact the remaining members, including Santa Clara University. It raises many questions about the future of the conference. Will it reduce the conference revenues that are shared with member schools? Will other schools make similar moves, endangering the future of the conference? More specifically for SCU, will the Broncos still play the Zags, its biggest conference rival that guarantees a sellout crowd at Leavey for basketball matchups?

An Athletics spokesperson texted that there are “too many moving parts” at this stage to comment and Athletics could respond when the situation becomes “a bit clearer.”

Gonzaga will become the eighth Pac-12 member along with holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, and fellow newcomers Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State and Colorado State from the Mountain West Conference. They will join the conference in all sports beginning on July 1, 2026, as the Pac-12’s only private college up to this point. 

The Pac-12 has been in a scramble to secure its future outside the Power Four of college sports, especially since they lost headliners USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon to the Big Ten, which sparked a mass exodus from the formerly premier conference on the West Coast. They began to restock for a 2026 relaunch last month by nabbing the five schools from the Mountain West to join Washington State and Oregon State, the only two schools left after the dramatic realignment. 

The Bulldogs have thrived in the WCC, reaching the NCAA Tournament every year it has been played since 1998, with two Final Four appearances and eight seasons of at least 30 victories. 

The Zags have also become a perennial tournament team in women’s basketball. 

As a whole, conference realignment has totally upended the landscape of college athletics in the past few years. The dominoes began to fall when Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and it has been all downhill from there. The publicity of losing their top team is not helping the WCC. This movement could completely upend the conference—it will lose a ton of money without the Zags as its headliner. There are also rumors of a potential Saint Mary’s exit from the conference, too, threatening the mere existence of the WCC for the future. 

Yet, in the midst of this, there is certainly more “hype” around college athletics than ever before, especially in the major sports of football and basketball. More movement means more fun for the fans and players. 

When reporters Sophia Alvarenga and Chris Longoni asked his initial thoughts about Gonzaga leaving the WCC and what the future holds for the Broncos, Men’s Basketball Senior Tyeree Bryan said, “New rivalries will come, old [ones] will stay the same. But new rivalries mean more animosity, and that’s what fans want to see.” 

It is obvious that things are going to change, but the Broncos still have one goal in mind—win the WCC and make the NCAA Tournament. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.