Breaking down the West Coast Conference basketball tournament schedule

The 2020 West Coast Basketball Conference Basketball Tournament will take place from Thursday, March 5th and go until Tuesday, March 10th. The tournament will be played at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first and second rounds will be streamed on WCC Network. The quarterfinals will air on ESPN 2, the semifinals will air on ESPN and ESPN 2, and the championship game will air on ESPN.

March 5 (WCC Network)

Game 1: No. 9 San Diego 61-75 No. 8 Loyola Marymount, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 2: No. 10 Portland 62-76 No. 7 Santa Clara, 11:30 p.m. ET

March 6

Game 3: No. 8 Loyola Marymount 53-82 No. 5 San Francisco, 9:00 p.m. ET
Game 4: No. 7 Santa Clara 73-84 No. 6 Pepperdine, 11:30 p.m. ET

March 7

Game 5: No. 5 San Francisco 72-54 No. 4 Pacific 10:00 p.m. ET
Game 6: No. 6 Pepperdine 82-89 No. 3 Saint Mary’s 12:30 a.m. ET

March 9

Semifinal 1: Game 5 winner vs. No. 1 Gonzaga 9:00 p.m. ET
Semifinal 2: Game 6 winner vs. No. 2 BYU 11:30 p.m. ET

March 10

Championship: Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, 9:00 p.m. ET

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are expected to come out on top in the WCC, as usual. They surprisingly lost to Saint Mary’s in last season’s title game, snapping a six-year streak of automatic bids. Gonzaga’s might still get a No. 1 seed even if it falls flat in Las Vegas, but a conference tourney win locks them on the top line. However, it’s possible that an underdog could rise to the occasion for a second consecutive year. The BYU Cougars and Saint Mary’s Gaels are both ranking well in NET and KenPom ratings, with BYU a lock and SMC likely dancing as well.