The WCC will be seeing several changes over the next few seasons. The biggest news is league giant Gonzaga will be shifting to the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 season.
Prior to the Bulldogs exiting the WCC, the conference welcomes in Pac-12 holdovers Oregon State and Washington State for the next two seasons before all three schools rebuild the barren Pac-12.
This conference has been all about Gonzaga, which has captured the WCC Tournament title in 20 of the past 26 seasons.
The only other team to wrestle that crown away from the Bulldogs is Saint Mary’s, which dethroned Gonzaga last March for the automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Past Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, the WCC is still a competitive league, with the likes of San Francisco and Santa Clara starting the 2024-25 campaign ranked in the top 100 in the country, according to KenPom.
2024-25 WCC Regular Season NCAAB Conference Title Odds
| Team Name | Odds (Via BetMGM) |
| Gonzaga | -300 |
| Saint Mary's | +400 |
| San Francisco | +1600 |
| Washington State | +2000 |
| Santa Clara | +2500 |
| Oregon State | +2500 |
| Loyola Marymount | +5000 |
| Pepperdine | +5000 |
| San Diego | +8000 |
| Portland | +8000 |
| Pacific | +10000 |
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Gonzaga Bulldogs
Mark Few has constructed the top "mid-major" program in the country over the last 25 years, and the Bulldogs will be rewarded as the only basketball school among football schools in the reworked Pac-12 in 2026.
Perhaps the most amazing note for Gonzaga is the fact that Few has led this program to the second weekend in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments.
Gonzaga hasn’t received the ultimate prize of a title, but the Bulldogs are always in the mix.
Last season, Gonzaga lost eight times, its most losses since 2016. Two of those defeats came to the two teams that played for the National Championship — UConn and Purdue — while its two WCC regular season losses came by a combined three points to Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara.
The Bulldogs are loaded once again, led by center Graham Ike, who led the team with 16.5 points per game, while pulling down 7.4 rebounds a contest, in 2023-24.
The transfer portal brought in former Arkansas standout Khalif Battle, who closed last season by averaging 29.5 points per game over his final seven contests.
Also, Few brought in the top scorer from the WCC last season, Pepperdine’s Michael Ajayi, who put up 17.1 points per game for the Waves.
There’s no messing around in non-conference play for the Zags, as they square off with Baylor, Arizona State, San Diego State, West Virginia, Kentucky, UConn and UCLA before their WCC opener on December 30 at Pepperdine.
Saint Mary's Gaels
For all the acclaim that Gonzaga receives as the kings of the WCC, the Gaels sit atop the throne heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
Not only did Saint Mary’s finish conference play with a spectacular 15-1 record (the loss came to Gonzaga in the regular-season finale), but the Gaels won the WCC Tournament by beating the Bulldogs 69-60 in the title game.
Although Randy Bennett’s team was one-and-done in the Big Dance (nine-point loss to Grand Canyon in the first round), the Gaels qualified for their third straight NCAA Tournament and have won 79 games in the past three seasons.
Saint Mary’s posted a 10-6 ATS mark in WCC play, but what made that record even more impressive is seven of those covers came as a favorite of 15 points or higher.
The Gaels went through a 1-4 stretch in late November last season, which included consecutive blowout losses to San Diego State and Xavier in Las Vegas. From that point forward, the Gaels won 21 of their next 22 games, with the lone slip-up coming in a five-point home setback to Missouri State.
Saint Mary’s will grind you down, as evidenced by not only owning one of the slowest tempos in the country, but also ranking in the top 15 in the nation in defensive adjusted efficiency in each of the past four seasons.
The only real negative the Gaels endure is poor free-throw shooting, as they ranked 325th in the nation last season from the stripe (67.2%).
Gone is last season’s leading scorer, Aidan Mahaney, who took his talents to Storrs, Connecticut, to play for the two-time defending champion Huskies.
However, Augustas Marciulionis (son of former NBA player Sarunas) is back for his senior season after putting up a career-best 12.4 points per game last season and winning WCC Player of the Year.
San Francisco Dons
Following an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022, the Dons have posted back-to-back 20+ win seasons under head coach Chris Gerlufsen. After joining USF as an associate head coach in 2021 under Todd Golden, Gerlufsen was elevated to the head man following Golden’s departure to Florida.
The Dons posted an impressive 10-2 start in WCC play last season, dropping three of their final four games (two losses came to Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga) before bowing out to Gonzaga in the conference tournament.
The season ended with a heartbreaking overtime defeat at Cincinnati in the opening round of the NIT.
San Francisco defeated five teams ranked 300th or below in non-conference play, while its best win outside of the WCC came against Minnesota at Chase Center.
The Dons owned solid offensive metrics last season, including ranking 12th in the nation in 2-point shooting at 56.6% and 42nd in free-throw percentage at 75.8%.
Amazingly, USF compiled an 0-10 straight-up record in the role of an underdog, but it managed a 5-5 against-the-spread mark in those defeats.
Since December 2022, the Dons are 2-17 in games that they're listed as an underdog in.
In non-conference play this season, San Francisco battles Memphis at Chase Center and Clemson in Daytona Beach, so keep an eye out if those underdog struggles continue.
Last season’s leading scorer Jonathan Mogbo is off to the NBA; he was selected by the Toronto Raptors back in June.
Guards Marcus Williams (14.0 PPG) and Malik Thomas (12.4 PPG) return, while forward Ndewedo Newberry put up double-digit scoring efforts in nine WCC games.
Santa Clara Broncos
Herb Sendek has gone through three long-term relationships with schools in his career, starting with NC State in 1996 before heading to Arizona State in 2006.
Following a nine-year stay in Tempe, Sendek went further west to Santa Clara to take over the Broncos’ program in 2016. He's led things ever since, and he's posted three consecutive seasons of 20 wins or more.
Although Santa Clara hasn't reached the Big Dance since 1996, the Broncos have appeared in the NIT in two of the last three seasons, albeit losing each time in the first round.
Santa Clara picked up a trio of wins in non-conference play over teams ranked in the KenPom top 100 last season, beating Washington State, Oregon and Duquesne, while also knocking off Stanford as a 7.5-point road underdog.
The most prolific victory came against Gonzaga in a 77-76 home triumph as eight-point ‘dogs. The Broncos limited the Bulldogs to 2-of-20 shooting from 3-point range.
The Broncos have won at least 10 WCC games in three straight seasons, and Santa Clara posted an impressive 12-3-1 ATS mark in regular season conference play.
Adama-Alpha Bal returns for the Broncos (the team had no one transfer out) after averaging a career-high 14.4 points per game last season. Bal blew up in his first season with the Broncos, as the France native put up less than three points per game in his two seasons at Arizona before transferring to Santa Clara.
Washington State Cougars
In its final season in the Pac-12, Washington State won 25 games — including 14 within the league — and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars swept conference-champion Arizona along the way, while winning 10 of their final 12 regular season games.
With the Pac-12 on ice for a few seasons before its return in 2026, Washington State and Oregon State landed in the WCC for the next two years for basketball.
The Cougars also got themselves a new coach after Kyle Smith departed for Stanford. David Riley comes over from a successful Eastern Washington program that finished 31-5 in Big Sky play the last two seasons.
Last season, Washington State cleaned up in non-conference play against a weak schedule, although the Cougs knocked off Boise State in Spokane in late December. Wazzu defeated Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the school’s first win in the Big Dance since 2008.
The Cougars will be tested in non-conference play this season, as they face Bradley, Iowa, Nevada, Boise State and revive their rivalry with cross-state foe Washington in Seattle.
It'll be tough to duplicate last season’s success as the top five scorers are gone from Pullman. However, Riley brought in four players from his Eastern Washington squad, including three that averaged double-digits in scoring last season.
Loyola Marymount Lions
The Lions saw a substantial drop off last season following a successful 19-12 mark in the 2022-23 campaign. Loyola Marymount fell to 12-19 last season, including a 5-11 ledger in WCC action, which included a seven-game slide.
Four of the five wins in league play came against teams below it in the standings, including a pair of blowouts of Pacific, which finished 0-16 in the WCC.
Interestingly enough, the Lions hung with Saint Mary’s in a pair of close losses, dropping those two games by a combined nine points.
Forward Jevon Porter transferred in from Pepperdine after averaging a career-high 16.2 points per game for the Waves last season.
The Lions also showcase forward Alex Merkviladze, who returns for his final season after scoring in double figures in 13 WCC games.
Loyola Marymount put together a balanced non-conference schedule that includes four home games against teams ranked 200th or lower, according to KenPom, but it'll also face UC Irvine, Saint Louis, Colorado State and Nevada.
Oregon State Beavers
It’s a new day in Corvallis as Oregon State starts its two-year trek in the WCC, just four seasons after reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Granted, the Beavers haven't put together a winning season since that magical run in 2021, but Wayne Tinkle’s team could use this time to improve before heading back to the Pac-12 in two years.
Besides a home upset of Arizona, there wasn't a lot to get excited about with Oregon State last season, which finished 13-19 overall and won only five games in the Pac-12.
The top two scorers for the Beavers — Jordan Pope and Tyler Bilodeau — both transferred out, along with five other players.
From an ATS standpoint, the Beavers covered 13 of 20 games against Pac-12 foes, which included six covers when receiving double digits. It’s hard to think — even with the massive roster turnover in Corvallis — that Oregon State will be listed as that heavy of an underdog many times, besides facing Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, of course.
The Beavers play one true road game prior to WCC play, when they travel to North Texas prior to Thanksgiving.
Oregon State also hosts rival Oregon at Gill Coliseum on November 21, as it's looking to beat the Ducks for the first time since the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals in 2021.
Pepperdine Waves
Pepperdine waved goodbye to its two top scorers from last season, along with head coach Lorenzo Romar. The Waves actually improved from their dreadful two-year stretch in 2022 and 2023, when the program won a combined 16 games. Pepperdine put up 13 wins last season.
Not to rain on Pepperdine’s parade for posting a 13-20 record following two abysmal seasons, but the Waves picked up two victories over non-D-I opponents, along with four non-conference wins against teams ranked 250th or worse, according to KenPom.
The Waves will certainly miss one of the WCC’s top players last season in Ajayi, who took his talents to loaded Gonzaga.
Ed Schilling took over for Romar in his first head coaching job since leading Wright State back in the early 2000s.
Schilling will look to turn around a Pepperdine defense that ranked 358th in the country in defensive 3-point percentage by allowing opponents to hit 38.4% of its shots from deep.
Pepperdine put together an 0-6 mark against the top three teams in the WCC last season (Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco) and managed only once cover in those losses.
The Waves begin a nice gauntlet in late December when WCC play opens up as they start with Santa Clara, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
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Portland Pilots
Portland is coming off its second consecutive season owning a 5-11 record in the WCC; only one of those wins came against a team in the top half of the league (Santa Clara in overtime).
The Pilots weren’t exactly defensive stalwarts last season, as they ranked 337th in defensive efficiency, 355th in defensive effective field goal percentage and 356th in defensive 3-point shooting.
In nine WCC games, Portland was torched for 85 points or more and finished with a 1-8 record in those contests.
Top scorer Tyler Robertson (16.9 PPG) graduated, so the Pilots will depend on Serbian guard Vukasin Masic to run things after he averaged 12.5 points per game last season.
The Pilots have 11 freshmen on the roster — including seven on scholarship — as the team tries to build off a 3-1 finish in the final four games of last season.
Pacific Tigers
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire led Pacific to a 23-10 record in the 2019-20 season before the worldwide pandemic hit. Stoudamire lasted one more season before accepting an assistant coaching job with the Boston Celtics.
The Tigers haven't finished with a winning record since he departed the program.
Pacific was one of the worst teams in the country last season at 6-26, which included an 0-16 record in WCC play.
The season ended on the lowest of low notes, with a 102-43 blowout loss to Pepperdine in the conference tournament. The Tigers trailed 39-2 out of the gate.
Somehow, Pacific defeated California in Berkeley early in the season, but two other wins came against non-Division-I opponents. The Tigers also defeated Le Moyne by two points and Mississippi Valley State in overtime (both teams ranked 300th or worse in the country).
It’s not like you could've depended on Pacific to cover big numbers as an underdog; the Tigers covered just six games last season.
Out of the six ATS wins, Pacific cashed as a ‘dog of 23 points or more three times, including as a 31-point underdog in a 102-76 defeat at Gonzaga.
Pacific will have several opportunities as a hefty ‘dog in non-conference play when it faces Arkansas, Missouri and Colorado on the road, and UNLV in Henderson, Nevada.
San Diego Toreros
Steve Lavin has been around the block running some of the top college basketball programs in the country, including UCLA and St. John’s.
Lavin has turned the Toreros of USD into winners (for at least one season) as they improved from 11-20 to 18-15 this past campaign.
It’s hard to be showcased in the same city as San Diego State, which is two seasons removed from making the National Championship game. However, San Diego posted a 7-9 WCC mark and finished in fifth place in the WCC.
The biggest improvement among the Toreros’ overall numbers from Lavin’s first season to second is the 3-point defense. USD ranked last in the country by allowing opponents to shoot 41% from deep in 2022-23, but it upgraded its numbers drastically last season, giving up nearly 34% shooting from downtown.
Three players that averaged double digits in scoring last season have exited the program, as Lavin looks to rebuild and avoid falling to the bottom of the WCC this season.
The Toreros were the biggest rollercoaster squad in conference play last season from an ATS standpoint. Following a cover in a loss at Saint Mary’s to open WCC play, USD went into an 0-4 ATS slump before cashing in six consecutive games, capped off by a 1-4 ATS stretch to close the regular season.
WCC Prediction & Futures
Gonzaga is a hefty -300 favorite to win the WCC regular season title at BetMGM, followed by Saint Mary’s at +400.
The last time the Bulldogs lost more than two conference games was in 2016.
It’s easy to predict Gonzaga to capture another WCC crown, but with the additions of Ajayi and Battle to an already potent offense, there’s no reason to think Few’s squad can’t climb to the top, especially when facing Washington State and Oregon State twice each this season.
From a long shot standpoint, Santa Clara is worth a look at 25/1 if you want to get nuts. The Broncos have gone 21-11 in WCC play the last two seasons.
However, it'll likely be either Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s winning the crown again and everyone else racing for third place.
