The West Coast basketball tournament will be held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the 13th straight year. Can heavily favored Gonzaga finish off an undefeated season and earn the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament? The following contains the West Coast Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
West Coast Conference Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record | Tournament Outlook |
| Gonzaga | 15-0 | 24-0 | 1 seed |
| BYU | 10-3 | 19-5 | 2 seed |
| Pepperdine | 7-6 | 11-11 | 3 seed |
| Saint Mary’s | 4-6 | 13-8 | 4 seed |
| Loyola Marymount | 7-5 | 12-8 | 5 seed |
| Pacific | 6-7 | 9-8 | 6 seed |
| Santa Clara | 4-5 | 10-7 | 7 seed |
| San Francisco | 4-9 | 10-13 | 8 seed |
| San Diego | 2-7 | 3-10 | 9 seed |
| Portland | 0-11 | 6-14 | 10 seed |
West Coast Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 4-6, 8, 9
TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Stadium
Site: Orleans Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Byes: Top 6 get single; Top 4 get double; Top 2 get triple
Most Recent Champion: Gonzaga
West Coast Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (7) Santa Clara 95, (10) Portland 86
- (8) San Francisco 67, (9) San Diego 51
Second Round
- (5) Loyola Marymount 70, (8) San Francisco 66
- (7) Santa Clara 81, (6) Pacific 76
Third Round
- (3) Pepperdine 78, (7) Santa Clara 70
- (4) Saint Mary’s 52, (5) Loyola Marymount 47
Semifinals
- (1) Gonzaga vs. (4) Saint Mary’s
- (2) BYU 82, (3) Pepperdine 77 (OT)
Championship
- (1) Gonzaga 88, (2) BYU 78
Gonzaga advances to NCAA Tournament
West Coast Conference Breakdown
When it comes to West Coast basketball, Gonzaga is clearly the team to beat. The Zags have been ranked at the top of the AP rankings for most of the 2020-21 college basketball season. WCC competition offered little resistance for Gonzaga this season. They enter the West Coast Tournament undefeated and will enjoy a triple bye all the way to the semifinals along with 2-seed BYU. Gonzaga has won seven of the last eight WCC tournaments. The only other school to win in the last eight seasons was Saint Mary’s in 2019.
In addition to holding down the top spot in the AP poll, Gonzaga is also the top team in the college basketball net rankings. Three other West Coast basketball teams are ranked in the top 100 of the net. BYU (20), Saint Mary’s (65) and Loyola Marymount (97) figure to be the only teams with any chance of somehow knocking off Gonzaga in Las Vegas. Gonzaga led the WCC in scoring offense with 92.9 points per game. This was over 15 points better than the second-best offense, BYU (76.7). Somewhat surprisingly, Gonzaga was only fifth in scoring defense. Saint Mary’s had the top points allowed average in the WCC this season at 62.3. BYU (66.8), Pacific (68.5) and Loyola Marymount (68.9) occupied the spots between the Gaels and Bulldogs.
The West Coast basketball preseason poll correctly predicted that Gonzaga would finish atop the conference standings for the ninth straight season. Overall, the poll actually was quite accurate relative to the final standings and tournament seedings. Both Loyola Marymount and Pacific finished two spots higher in the standings (5th and 6th, respectively) than they were projected. San Francisco was the biggest underachiever in the WCC this season. The Dons were picked to finish fifth but enter the West Coast Tournament as the 8-seed.
