Sept. 1, 2004

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Commissioner Michael Gilleran announced today the men's basketball ESPN/ABC television package. ESPN will televise three WCC men's basketball regular season games and two WCC Championship contests during the 2004-05 season, while ABC will provide regional coverage of a WCC regular season contest.

This is the second straight year that ESPN will broadcast a minimum of six WCC men's basketball games, including a Gonzaga-Pepperdine match-up for the fourth straight season as part of ESPN's "Rivalry Week". The Waves-Zags matchup is the third game in a tripleheader, following the Tennessee-LSU women's basketball game and the Xavier-Cincinnati men's basketball contest.

The WCC/ESPN TV package opens up with a rematch of last season's WCC Championship semifinal, which saw Gonzaga edge host Santa Clara in the final seconds of one of the most memorable games during the 2003-04 season. The San Francisco Dons, under first-year Head Coach Jesse Evans, travel to Spokane, WA to face the Bulldogs in an ABC regionally televised contest. The Dons-Zags matchup is the first-ever WCC regular season contest to be broadcast on ABC. The WCC's regular season package is wrapped up with a battle between Pacific Northwest rivals, as Gonzaga heads to Portland to take on the Pilots.

After the regular season, ESPN will televise two games at the 2005 WCC Men's Basketball Championship. On March 6, ESPN2 will televise the league's second men's semifinal starting at 9:00 P.M. (PST). ESPN will also continue to broadcast the WCC Men's Basketball Championship final, held on Monday, March 7th at the Leavey Center on the Santa Clara University campus.

West Coast Conference 2005 ESPN/ABC Television Schedule

Thursday, January 6th - Gonzaga at Santa Clara (ESPN2) - 8:00 P.M. Thursday, February 10th - Gonzaga at Pepperdine (ESPN2) - 8:00 P.M. Saturday, February 19th - San Francisco at Gonzaga (ABC Regional Coverage) - 3:00 P.M. Saturday, February 26th - Gonzaga at Portland (ESPN2) - 8:00 P.M. Sunday, March 6th - WCC Tournament - Second Semifinal (ESPN2) - 9:00 P.M. Monday, March 7th - WCC Tournament Final (ESPN) - 9:00 P.M.

*All Times Pacific