When Gonzaga departs the West Coast Conference for the Pac-12 next year, it will leave big shoes to fill. The Bulldogs' men's basketball program, after all, has won 26 regular-season and 22 tournament titles in the conference it helped put on the map.
Attempting to replace Gonzaga's hoops prowess is a fool's errand, but the WCC appears to be thinking outside the box with new membership. On Friday, the conference announced the addition of the University of Denver for the 2026-27 academic year.
“This is an exciting day for the University of Denver and an incredible opportunity to continue to advance our exceptional academic and athletic programs,” school chancellor Jeremy Haefner said in a release. “The excellence of schools that are part of the West Coast Conference is a perfect complement to DU and will help us continue to recruit the very best students and faculty.”
The move is an intriguing one for the entire mid-major world. First and foremost, the West Coast Conference has no current full-time presence outside California, Oregon and Washington. The Pioneers, however, are used to such awkwardness, having spent extended spells in the Sun Belt and (currently) the Upper Midwest-centric Summit League.
Despite its formidable market size, Denver's basketball teams collectively have been to one NCAA tournament all-time (the women went in 2001, losing to Virginia Tech in the first round). Once a solid football draw, the Pioneers dropped the sport in 1960—the same year a new professional team called the Broncos moved into their stadium.
In an unfortunate twist for the WCC, the only three Denver programs to have won national championships—men's hockey, men's lacrosse and skiing—will remain in their current leagues.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as West Coast Conference Adds Another Basketball School As Gonzaga Nears Exit.
