SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference officially welcomed the University of Denver to the conference on Wednesday as it expands its footprint into another major metropolitan area in the western region.
The conference will have 10 competing members in the 2026-27 academic year. The West Coast Conference Presidents’ Council approved the admission of Denver as a conference competing member back in October. The conference will expand to 12 beginning with the 2027-28 academic year when UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego become competing members.
Denver’s addition highlights the West Coast Conference as the gateway to the western region. The conference rises in the west with a footprint that now stretches across 1,200 miles of the western region and expands to four states – California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado. The West Coast Conference is the only NCAA Division I conference with representation in eight of the nine largest metropolitan cities in the West. Conference membership is now represented in seven of the top 30 media markets in the United States in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, Portland and San Diego.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of the West Coast Conference as we officially welcome the University of Denver as our newest member institution,” West Coast Conference Commissioner Stu Jackson
said. “Denver brings a long-standing tradition of academic and athletic excellence that aligns seamlessly with the values and aspirations of the WCC.
“The University of Denver has demonstrated a sustained commitment to broad-based athletic success, highlighted by national prominence across multiple sports and a strategic investment in the continued growth of its men's and women's basketball programs. Equally important, Denver shares our commitment to providing a transformational student-athlete experience that prioritizes competitive excellence, academic achievement and personal development. We are also excited to expand our presence into the Denver metropolitan area, one of the nation's premier and fastest-growing markets. The addition of Denver strengthens our regional footprint, enhances the visibility of the Conference and positions us for continued success in the years ahead. We are thrilled to welcome the University of Denver to the West Coast Conference family."
Denver will compete in the West Coast Conference in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s tennis.
Denver has a storied history of postseason success with 36 national championships overall and numerous deep postseason runs, including a pair of NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup appearances in the last 10 years (2016 and 2024). Across the nine sports that DU will compete in the West Coast Conference, the Pioneers have earned NCAA Tournament berths 94 times since 1998. DU's men's hockey team won the 2026 national championship, as well, gaining more national notoriety.
Denver has made a multi-year commitment to position its men’s and women’s basketball programs for national competitive excellence as it enters the West Coast Conference. DU recently finalized plans to install new chairback seating in Hamilton Gymnasium ahead of the upcoming 2026-27 season.
“It is an incredibly exciting day to be a Pioneer,” Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations Josh Berlo said. “This transition to the West Coast Conference has been both an expedited move since the announcement in October and a long-time vision of the University since elevating to the Division I level in 1999 – a vision that aligns our great institution with some of the top-ranked private universities in the west, elevating our brand and national reputation.
“Significant excitement and effort has gone into this transition. Denver Athletics is positioned to continue to compete for championships. We are thankful for the commitment from Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, our Board of Trustees, our coaches and our staff to prepare for immediate conference success in 2026-27. I’m also thrilled for the fans of all nine of our athletic programs making the move and the exciting matchups they’ll see coming to Denver’s Home for College Sports from the West Coast Conference this year.”
With the addition of Denver, seven West Coast Conference member institutions are ranked in the top 120 of U.S. News and World Report’s list of the best universities in the United States.
The West Coast Conference is well regarded as one of the nation’s premier leagues in men’s basketball with seven consecutive years of multiple NCAA Tournament bids, including multiple selections in 12 of the past 14 tournaments. The conference featured three teams in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in conference history and the first time since 2022 last season.
A conference-record seven women’s basketball teams earned postseason tournament berths last season. Over the past two seasons, the West Coast Conference has earned 13 postseason bids in women’s basketball, the most in any two-year stretch in conference history.
The West Coast Conference is a multiple-bid conference in several sports with a rich tradition of postseason success. The conference has sent multiple women’s soccer teams to the NCAA Tournament in 33 of the last 34 seasons. Men's soccer was a three-bid league in the NCAA Tournament last season, including San Diego and Portland garnering first-round byes as national seeds. The conference has earned multiple NCAA selections in men’s soccer in nine of the last 10 years. Pepperdine’s recent NCAA Men’s Golf Championship highlights NCAA appearances by multiple West Coast Conference men’s golf teams in 11 consecutive seasons, with four bids in four of the last five years. Led by a recent NCAA title match appearance by Pepperdine, multiple women’s tennis teams have been part of the national rankings and advanced to the postseason. The Waves reached the national quarterfinals last season. Multiple conference women’s volleyball teams have earned NCAA Tournament bids in 12 of the past 15 seasons, including a recent Final Four appearance by San Diego. In 2025, LMU beach volleyball advanced to the NCAA Championship dual.
About the West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference, founded in 1952, is a premier NCAA Division I conference with a longstanding history of national competitive excellence and institutions of great academic distinction. Guided by its “We Rise in the West” identity, the conference is represented throughout the Western region’s largest cities with a pronounced coastal footprint. Conference membership is driven by championship ambition and core values of integrity, respect, collaboration, innovation, inclusiveness and the holistic well-being of its student-athletes. For more information, visit WCCsports.com and follow the West Coast Conference on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok @WCCsports.
About the University of Denver
Founded in 1864, the University of Denver is a private university that empowers students who want to make a difference. Recognized as one of the top research universities in the country, DU has more than 300 academic programs serving about 12,000 graduate and undergraduate students. DU students benefit from an experience on two campuses—in the city and in the mountains — that channels their passions to serve the public good.
About Denver Athletics
The University of Denver is home to 36 national championships, ranking Denver as the 14th-most prolific national-title winning athletic department in the country. Denver has finished as the highest athletic department without football (DI-AAA) in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings 17 of the last 18 academic years. Since the late Daniel L. Ritchie elevated Denver’s entire athletic lineup to Division I in 1998-99, Denver has 100 conference regular season titles, 133 conference tournament titles and has made 215 NCAA Tournament appearances.