SAN BRUNO, Calif. - For a record sixth consecutive tournament and 11th time in the last 13 events, West Coast Conference men's basketball earned multiple bids in the NCAA Tournament as No. 19 Saint Mary's and Gonzaga received bids into the 2025 NCAA Tournament with Saint Mary’s entering as a No. 7 seed and Gonzaga as a No. 8 seed. The West Coast Conference also tied a conference record with six men's basketball teams selected to participate in the postseason after Oregon State and Washington State were named to the inaugural College Basketball Crown field and San Francisco and Santa Clara were named to the NIT field.

Fast Facts
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Gonzaga and Saint Mary's have each represented the West Coast Conference in the NCAA Tournament in the last four events (also San Francisco in 2022). 

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The West Coast Conference tied a conference best with six postseason teams. 

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The West Coast Conference has been a multi-bid league in the NCAA Tournament in 11 of the last 13 events. 

West Coast Conference Notes

West Coast Conference Once Again A Multi-Bid League at NCAAs
For a record sixth consecutive tournament and 11th time in the last 13 events, West Coast Conference men's basketball earned multiple bids in the NCAA Tournament as No. 19 Saint Mary's and Gonzaga received bids into the 2025 NCAA Tournament collectively for the fourth straight year. The Bulldogs earned the automatic qualifier after defeating the Gaels in the championship game of the 2025 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship.

In the last six NCAA Tournaments, 13 West Coast Conference teams have earned a berth since the 2019 season and 12 have been the better seed in their opening game. Over the previous nine tournaments, a West Coast Conference team has reached the Sweet 16 every year and played for a national championship twice. The WCC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC are the only conferences to have a team advance to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the last nine tournaments.   

Saint Mary's will face No. 10 seed Vanderbilt in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday at 12:15 p.m. PT on truTV. The Zags will play in Wichita, Kansas, against No. 9 seed Georgia on Thursday at 1:35 p.m. PT on TBS. 

West Coast Conference Ties Conference Record With Six Postseason Bids
The West Coast Conference tied a conference record with six men's basketball teams selected to participate in the postseason after Oregon State and Washington State were named to the inaugural College Basketball Crown field and San Francisco and Santa Clara were named to the NIT field.

West Coast Conference men's basketball has featured six teams in the postseason in two other seasons in 2022 and 2014. Combined with the six West Coast Conference women's basketball teams competing in the postseason, a conference-record 12 men’s and women’s basketball teams will compete in the postseason. The West Coast Conference also had 12 teams (six men’s teams and six women’s teams) compete in postseason tournaments in 2022. 

In the NIT, San Francisco is a No. 1 seed, hosting Utah Valley on Wednesday, March 19, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. Santa Clara is a No. 2 seed, hosting UC Riverside on Tuesday, March 18, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

In the College Basketball Crown, Oregon State will play UCF on April 1, at 2:30 p.m. from MGM's Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Washington State will play George Washington on March 31 at 8 p.m. from the same venue. The first two rounds of the CBC will take place at MGM's Grand Garden Arena with the semifinals (April 5) and championship game (April 6) taking place at T-Mobile Arena. 

WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT
The WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT men’s basketball podcast made its debut last month. Hosted by Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham, the podcast breaks down the previous week’s action, provides analysis of the games ahead and features a guest each week. This week's episode features Mark Few, Ryan Nembhard, Graham Ike and Khalif Battle from Gonzaga following their Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship win. Full episodes are available on the WCC’s YouTube channel (YouTube.com/WCCsports), as well as Apple and Spotify podcasts. Episodes will come out on Tuesdays during the conference season.

West Coast Conference Team Notes
The 2025 West Coast Conference regular season champions Saint Mary's enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed. The Gaels return to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history, earning spots in the bracket nine times since 2010. The Gaels enter the tournament with the fifth-ranked scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 60.7 points per game. SMC is 1-3 all-time against Vanderbilt, with the victory coming in their most-recent matchup in 2022.    

The 2025 West Coast Conference tournament champions Gonzaga enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. The Bulldogs will make their 26th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the third-longest current streak in the nation. The Zags are 46-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and enter this year's field having only lost twice since Jan. 25. Gonzaga looks to extend its streak of nine consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with the second-ranked scoring offense in the nation at 86.6 points per game. Gonzaga is 2-0 all-time against Georgia with wins in 2014 and 2008.  

Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard set the West Coast Conference single-season assists records in both overall and conference games this season. He currently sits at 325 assists on the year, which ranks No. 10 on the all-time NCAA single-season list. He is three shy of seventh on that list.

NCAA All-Time Single-Season Assist Leaders

Place	Player	School	Year	Assist Total
6.	Ja Morant	Murray State	2018-19	331
7.	Mark Jackson	St. John's	1985-86	328
8.	Scott Machado	Iona	2011-12	327
9.	Sherman Douglas	Syracuse	1988-89	326
10.	Ryan Nembhard	Gonzaga	2024-25	325

Oregon State ranked third in the West Coast Conference in scoring defense, allowing 69.1 ppg. OSU also ranked fourth in the league in scoring offense at 76.2 ppg. Michael Rataj finished the regular season third in the WCC in double-doubles with 10 and sixth in the WCC in rebounding at 7.2 rpg. Nate Kingz converted on nearly half of his three-point attempts (.446).

Washington State earned a bid into the postseason with Nate Calmese leading the way for the Cougars, averaging 15.2 points per game, sixth in the West Coast Conference. Thanks to Calmese's efforts, WSU averaged 78.8 points per game, which ranked third in the league. The Cougars also ranked second in three-pointers made (8.8).  

San Francisco is led by West Coast Conference scoring champion, Malik Thomas (19.3 ppg). Ryan Beasley posted 29 points in a quarterfinal win over Washington State in the 2025 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship before USF fell to eventual tournament champion Gonzaga in the semifinals. USF did not lose once in true home games this season, including a win over 2025 West Coast Conference regular season champion Saint Mary's. The Dons rank second in the WCC in scoring defense, allowing 68.9 ppg this season.

Santa Clara amassed 347 three-pointers this season that ranks tied for 10th in the nation and are just two shy of the West Coast Conference single-season record. The Broncos connected on a conference single-game record 23 treys in a 30-point win over Washington State. Five Broncos average over 10.0 ppg and SCU went through a seven-game stretch with seven different players leading them in scoring.