SEATTLE – Grand Canyon University and Seattle University will join the West Coast Conference beginning with the 2025-26 season, giving the league best known nationally for its basketball programs 11 members of full rights for the first time in its history.
The conference announced the additions on Friday, and the two schools will drop their affiliations with the Western Athletic Conference after the next school year.
“The WCC Presidents' Council is deliberate in its effort to position the West Coast Conference as one of the top NCAA Division I conferences in the nation, and the addition of Grand Canyon University and Seattle University strengthens membership and enhances the profile of competitive excellence. and expands the conference's presence to two major cities in the Western region,” said WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson.
WCC members are currently located primarily in California, with San Diego, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, Pacific, San Francisco, and Saint Mary's. The only two out-of-state schools that are currently full members are Gonzaga and Portland.
Grand Canyon, which is in Phoenix, and Seattle will compete in 14 of the 16 sports the WCC offers, but most of the attention will be on basketball.
The two schools should bolster competitiveness in a conference that has been heavy on the men's side in the past, with Gonzaga and Saint Mary's leading the way. Grand Canyon won its first NCAA men's tournament in school history in March and the Seattle men won the CBI.
The WCC also had two women's teams reach the NCAAs last season after Portland won the conference tournament and Gonzaga earned an at-large bid and reached the Sweet 16.
“We are incredibly excited for this upcoming opportunity to join the WCC, which is one of the top sports conferences in the country, as well as one of the top basketball conferences in the country,” said Grand Canyon President Brian Mueller.
At least through the 2025-26 competition year, the league will have 13 schools competing in most sports, as Washington State and Oregon State will be in the final year of a two-year agreement to compete as members affiliates. The two Pac-12 schools were left out of the latest round of conference realignment and will be affiliate members of the WCC in most non-football sports starting next academic year.
Seattle's addition to the WCC is a reunion for the school after it competed in the conference from 1971 to 1981 before the school ceased membership in NCAA Division I. Seattle returned to the Division I level in 2008 and has competed in the WAC since 2012.
“We're excited to return home to the West Coast Conference,” Seattle athletic director Shaney Fink said. “Our student-athletes will receive an unparalleled experience, reaping the rewards of competing against talented peers at universities aligned with their mission within a limited geographic footprint.”
