SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference tied a conference record with six men's basketball teams selected to participate in the postseason with the last two tipping off in six days as Oregon State and Washington State are set to compete in the inaugural College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas.
Fast Facts
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Oregon State and Washington State are two of the five WCC teams to finish the regular season in the top 85 of the NET rankings.
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The West Coast Conference tied a conference best with six postseason teams - two in the NCAA Tournament, two in the NIT and two in the CBC.
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Oregon State and Washington State both rank in the top 25 in field goal percentage (No. 9 Washington State and No. 21 Oregon State).
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.
No. 7 seed Saint Mary's and No. 8 seed Gonzaga both advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels beat No. 10 seed Vanderbilt before falling to No. 2 seed Alabama, while the Bulldogs topped No. 9 seed Georgia before losing to No. 1 seed Houston.
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 tying 12 men’s and women’s basketball teams competed 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, No. 1 seed San Francisco and No. 2 seed Santa Clara advanced to the second round. USF beat Utah Valley before losing to Loyola-Chicago, while SCU beat UC Riverside before losing to UAB.
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. Last week's episode featured 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
Oregon State ranked third in the West Coast Conference in scoring defense, allowing 69.1 ppg at the conclusion of the regular season. 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 College Basketball Crown 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 at the conclusion of the regular season. The Cougars also ranked second in three-pointers made (8.8).
The 2025 West Coast Conference regular season champions Saint Mary's entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 7 seed, advancing to the second round in its program-record fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Gaels returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history, having earned spots in the bracket nine times since 2010. The Gaels concluded the regular season with the fifth-ranked scoring defense in the nation, allowing 60.7 points per game.
The 2025 West Coast Conference tournament champions Gonzaga entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. The Bulldogs made their 26th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the third-longest current streak in the nation. After advancing to the second round this year, the Zags are now 47-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and are enjoying a nation-leading 16-game winning streak in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after beating Georgia in the first round this year. Gonzaga's streak of nine consecutive Sweet 16 appearances was snapped after losing to Houston in the second round. The Bulldogs concluded the regular season with the second-ranked scoring offense in the nation at 86.6 points per game.
San Francisco was led by West Coast Conference scoring champion, Malik Thomas (19.3 ppg). Thomas ended his season with a bang, scoring 36 points in the second round of the NIT against Loyola-Chicago. The loss to Loyola-Chicago was the Dons' first true home loss this season during a stretch of home that games that included a win over 2025 West Coast Conference regular season champion Saint Mary's. The Dons finished the regular season second in the WCC in scoring defense, allowing 68.9 ppg.
Santa Clara amassed 372 three-pointers this season that ranks tied for seventh in the nation and also set a 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 earlier this season. Five Broncos averaged over 10.0 ppg and SCU went through a seven-game stretch with seven different players leading them in scoring.