SAN BRUNO, Calif. - For the third time in program history, West Coast Conference men's tennis will be a three-bid league in the NCAA Tournament as announced Monday afternoon. San Diego will host as the No. 15 seed while Pepperdine and Santa Clara also heard their names called. These same three teams all shared the West Coast Conference regular season championship, as well. 

The Toreros will play UC Santa Barbara in the first round, and the winner will play the winner of UCLA and Arizona State. The Waves head to Baton Rouge, La., to play Michigan in the first round. If the Waves advance, they will play the winner of No. 7 seed LSU and Alabama. The Broncos will play Auburn in the first round. The winner of that match will play the winner of No. 10 seed Baylor vs. Tulsa. 

At last weekend’s West Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament, No. 1 seed San Diego beat No. 2 seed Pepperdine, 4-3, to be crowned the 2026 tournament champions, claiming 10 of the last 11 WCC tournament titles. 

This is the fifth straight year multiple West Coast Conference men’s tennis programs earned NCAA bids. San Diego and Pepperdine represented the Conference in the NCAA Tournament the past four seasons, as well. The Toreros will host the first two rounds for the second consecutive year.

Santa Clara returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, it's only appearance previously in the NCAA Tournament. The last time the West Coast Conference was a three-bid league was 2013 when San Diego, Pepperdine and BYU represented the conference. The year before, USD, PEPP and SCU all competed in the field. 

As of the current ITA rankings, San Diego stands at No. 16, followed by No. 27 Pepperdine and No. 35 Santa Clara. 
 
Boasting a 20-5 overall record and 6-1 in conference matches, USD enters the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of its last 13 matches. USD and UCSB met in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament with the Toreros winning, 4-1. USD is 19-7 all-time against the Gauchos, most recently picking up a 4-2 win over the then-20th ranked Gauchos on Feb. 21 this season. 

Pepperdine finished the regular season 17-9 overall and have won eight of its last 10 with the two losses during that span both coming against USD. Pepperdine is 7-2 all-time vs. Michigan and the Waves have won the last three matches over the Wolverines. These teams met once in the NCAA Tournament with Michigan defeating Pepperdine in the 1988 quarterfinals. The Waves also beat Michigan during the regular season of the Waves' national championship year in 2006.

Santa Clara finished the regular season at 20-4 and 6-1 in conference play. The Broncos went 13-1 at home this season, as well. The Broncos have won 16 of their last 18 matches, including a win over San Diego in the regular season finale. The only other time that SCU competed in the NCAA Tournament was in 2012, and the Broncos advanced to the second round. After knocking off Texas in the first round, they fell to Stanford in the second round. Santa Clara and Auburn have never played each other in the past. 
 
The first two rounds will take place on May 1 and 2. The winner of each site advances to super-regional competition May 8 and 9. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to Athens, Ga., where the eight teams will compete for the national championship from May 16-17.