Denver joining West Coast Conference, which looks to expand to 12 schools
Oct 31, 2025, 2:02 PM
Tommy Bruner of the Denver Pioneers during a 2023 game against BYU. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — The University of Denver is joining the West Coast Conference.
The league’s presidents’ council on Friday approved Denver’s admittance to the WCC beginning July 1, 2026. Denver is a current member of the Summit League.
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Denver is set to open the men’s basketball season on Monday at future WCC rival Seattle U, then will take on the UW Huskies also in Seattle next Thursday, Nov. 6.
Denver joins UC San Diego in moving to the WCC in recent months. The conference will have 10 competing members during the 2026-27 academic year, including Denver, and 11 beginning in 2027-28 when UC San Diego becomes official.
“The University of Denver is a superb addition to the growing constellation of top-flight schools in the West Coast Conference,” said Christopher Callahan, the chair of the WCC’s presidents’ council.
Who's excited for next year?
The West Coast Conference & @DU_Pioneers are 😤 pic.twitter.com/rwXVVIFKrz
— West Coast Conference (@WCCsports) October 31, 2025
Callahan added that “we look forward to setting our sights on recruiting” a 12th school to the league.
Callahan praised the addition of Denver, calling it an academically strong university with a championship-winning pedigree in athletics. It brings the WCC another major media market “while keeping true to our geographic profile” and “ensuring our student-athletes are not burdened with excessive travel,” he said.
The conference’s footprint now stretches across 1,200 miles of the western region and covers four states: California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado. The conference has representation in eight of the nine largest metropolitan cities in the West and has 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.
Denver will compete 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.
Seattle U moved from the Western Athletic Conference to the WCC this year. On the other side of the state, Spokane’s Gonzaga University is playing its final year in the WCC in 2025-26 before moving to the reconstructed Pac-12 for 2026-27. The WSU Cougars are also competing in the WCC in men’s and women’s basketball for the second and final season before the Pullman-based school rejoins the Pac-12 in 2026.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
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