SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The West Coast Conference has unveiled its 2023-24 men’s basketball conference schedule, which includes conference games on as many as four days in a given week during the regular season.
While the majority of conference games will continue to be contested on Thursdays and Saturdays, the WCC worked collaboratively with ESPN to identify three additional dates in an effort to create opportunities for enhanced exposure and greater programming flexibility across ESPN networks for its programs.
ESPN networks will continue to showcase the WCC as a staple of its men’s college basketball coverage on Thursdays and Saturdays, along with three WCC appearances on Tuesdays during the regular season. The three Tuesday contests include LMU at Gonzaga on Jan. 30, Saint Mary’s at Pacific on Feb. 6, and the San Francisco at Saint Mary’s on Feb. 20 as part of its 17 regular season selections. Associated with the Tuesday games, additional games originally scheduled for a Thursday tipoff will be contested on Wednesday during those weeks.
The full selection of games from the WCC’s national television partners, ESPN and CBS Sports Network, will be announced at a later date.
The race for the WCC regular season crown will stretch over a nine-week span, featuring 16 conference games. Conference play is slated to begin on Thursday, Jan. 4, and will conclude on Saturday, March 2. WCC men's basketball will return to a complete round robin conference schedule, with all nine teams playing each other twice (home and home) over the course of the nine-week conference schedule.
The WCC is coming off another highly successful men's basketball season in 2022-23 that featured two teams in the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga advanced to the Elite Eight, while Saint Mary's advanced to the second round for the second straight year. The WCC has been a multi-bid league in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2019, excluding 2020 when the NCAA was not conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the WCC has been a multi-bid league 10 times since 2010. The WCC also boasted two teams in the Top 19 in the final AP poll of the regular season - No. 9 Gonzaga and No. 19 Saint Mary's.
Anton Watson returns to Gonzaga after shooting 60.8 percent from the field last season, second only to his teammate Drew Timme (61.6) among WCC players. The Bulldogs reloaded in the transfer portal, including the addition of Ryan Nembard, who was ranked the No. 2 point guard in the transfer portal, according to ESPN. For the Gaels, All-WCC First Team honoree Aidan Mahaney returns to lead Saint Mary’s after averaging 13.9 points per game last season, which ranked 13th among freshmen in the nation.
The regular season tips off on Nov. 6 and the 2024 WCC Men’s Basketball Championship will be held from March 7-12 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Specific game times and television details for each game will be announced at a later date.
2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Conference Schedule
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4
Saint Mary's at San Diego
Pepperdine at Gonzaga
San Francisco at Pacific
Santa Clara at LMU
SATURDAY, JANUARY 6
San Diego at Gonzaga
Pacific at Portland
Saint Mary's at LMU
Santa Clara at Pepperdine
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11
Gonzaga at Santa Clara
Portland at Saint Mary's
Pacific at Pepperdine
San Francisco at San Diego
SATURDAY, JANUARY 13
Portland at San Francisco
Pepperdine at San Diego
Pacific at LMU
Saint Mary's at Santa Clara
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18
San Diego at Portland
Gonzaga at Pepperdine
LMU at San Francisco
Santa Clara at Pacific
SATURDAY, JANUARY 20
Gonzaga at San Diego
Portland at Santa Clara
LMU at Pepperdine
Saint Mary's at San Francisco
THURSDAY, JANUARY 25
Portland at LMU
Pepperdine at Santa Clara
Pacific at Saint Mary's
San Francisco at Gonzaga
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27
San Diego at Pepperdine
Gonzaga at Pacific
LMU at Saint Mary's
San Francisco at Portland
TUESDAY, JANUARY 30
LMU at Gonzaga
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31
Santa Clara at Saint Mary's
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1
San Diego at San Francisco
Portland at Pacific
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3
San Diego at Santa Clara
Pepperdine at Portland
Pacific at San Francisco
Saint Mary's at Gonzaga
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Saint Mary's at Pacific
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Portland at Gonzaga
LMU at San Diego
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8
San Francisco at Pepperdine
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10
San Diego at Pacific
Pepperdine at LMU
Saint Mary's at Portland
Santa Clara at San Francisco
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15
Gonzaga at LMU
Portland at San Diego
Pepperdine at Saint Mary's
Pacific at Santa Clara
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17
Portland at Pepperdine
Pacific at Gonzaga
San Francisco at LMU
Santa Clara at San Diego
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20
San Francisco at Saint Mary's
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Pepperdine at Pacific
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Gonzaga at Portland
LMU at Santa Clara
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
San Diego at Saint Mary's
LMU at Pacific
Pepperdine at San Francisco
Santa Clara at Gonzaga
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29
San Diego at LMU
Gonzaga at San Francisco
Saint Mary's at Pepperdine
Santa Clara at Portland
SATURDAY, MARCH 2
Gonzaga at Saint Mary's
LMU at Portland
Pacific at San Diego
San Francisco at Santa Clara
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. The WCC is fueled by the conviction to achieve its goals with strong core values of integrity, respect, collaboration, innovation and inclusiveness that create a holistic student-athlete experience across the Conference. The WCC’s membership includes Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Conference sponsors 16 sports. In the WCC, We Create Champions on the field of competition and leaders in life. For more information, visit WCCsports.com and follow the WCC on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @WCCsports.