WCC Tournament Bracket Projection: What Will BYU’s Seed Be In Vegas?
Feb 21, 2022, 4:48 PM | Updated: 4:48 pm
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 09: Head coach Mark Pope of the Brigham Young Cougars gestures as his team takes on the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the championship game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 9, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs defeated the Cougars 88-78. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – The 2022 WCC Tournament is just around the corner. After the final weekend in February, all 10 of the West Coast Conference teams will descend on Las Vegas.
BYU basketball will be looking to enhance their at-large NCAA Tournament resume in the WCC Tournament. With a 19-9 record overall, 7-6 in WCC play, BYU is No. 54 in the NET ratings. Not an ideal spot for a team looking to secure an at-large bid from a mid-major conference.
The good news for BYU is that there could be quality wins in the 2022 WCC Tournament. The bad news is BYU will need to go through No. 1 Gonzaga at some point in the tournament if they get that far.
WCC Standings through February 19th.
Gonzaga 12-0 (WCC champ)
Saint Mary's 10-3
San Francisco 8-5
Santa Clara 8-5
BYU 7-6
San Diego 7-7
Portland 6-6
Pacific 3-8
LMU 2-11
Pepperdine 1-13#WCChoops @kslsports— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 20, 2022
As of Monday, BYU is at No. 5 in the WCC standings. Not all WCC teams have played an equal number of games this league season due to COVID interruptions. But the league has not issued any adjusted standings, as they did last season.
WCC standings
Here are the WCC standings as of February 21, 2022.
1. Gonzaga – 12-0 (WCC record)
2. Saint Mary’s – 10-3
3. San Francisco – 8-5
4. Santa Clara – 8-5
5. BYU – 7-6
6. San Diego – 7-7
7. Portland – 6-6
8. Pacific – 3-8
9. Loyola Marymount – 2-11
10. Pepperdine – 1-13
With tonight's victory, @ZagMBB has secured the 2022 #WCChoops regular season 🏆.#WCChoops | @ZagMBB pic.twitter.com/pO7ZoZVT7Q
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) February 20, 2022
Projected WCC Tournament Schedule
The WCC has a tournament setup that provides byes to the top six seeds for the fourth consecutive year. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will have byes until the Semifinal round on Monday, March 7.
As the projected No. 5 seed, BYU would get a bye from the first round, but they would begin their WCC Tournament run in the second round on Friday, March 4. If the WCC Tournament started today, BYU would play the Pacific/Loyola Marymount winner. Pacific defeated BYU last month and LMU was up on the Cougars by 17 in Los Angeles before BYU made a comeback to take down the Lions in overtime.
If BYU got past that first game, they would face Santa Clara in the Saturday Quarterfinal round. It’s still possible that San Francisco could slide to the four-seed, creating a “Quad One” opportunity for BYU. Then if BYU gets a victory in the quarterfinals, they would see Gonzaga in the semifinals.
The 2022 UCU WCC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will be coming to the Orleans Arena, March 3-8!
All-session tickets are now on sale —> https://t.co/HgMxgNLyCg #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/gpf5fbKsJ8
— Orleans Arena (@orleansarena) January 14, 2022
Gonzaga has appeared in the WCC Tournament Championship Game every year since 1998. In addition, the Zags have only missed seven WCC Tournament Championship games since the WCC Tournament was created in 1987.
BYU closes out the regular season this weekend with a pair of home games against LMU (Thursday, February 24) and Pepperdine (Saturday, February 26).
All times Mountain
First Round | Thursday, March 3
Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed, 7 p.m.
Game 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed, 9 p.m.
Second Round | Friday, March 4
Game 3: No. 5 seed vs. Game 1 winner, 7 p.m.
Game 4: No. 6 seed vs. Game 2 winner, 9 p.m.
Quarterfinals | Saturday, March 5
Game 5: No. 4 seed vs. Game 3 winner, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2
Game 6: No. 3 seed vs. Game 4 winner, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2
Semifinals | Monday, March 7
Game 7: No. 1 seed vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m., ESPN
Game 8: No. 2 seed vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
Men’s WCC Tournament Championship | Tuesday, March 8
Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m., ESPN
History of WCC Tournament Champions
2021: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: BYU)
2020: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2019: Saint Mary’s (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
2018: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: BYU)
2017: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2016: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2015: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: BYU)
2014: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: BYU)
2013: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2012: Saint Mary’s (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)* – BYU’s first year in the WCC
2011: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2010: Saint Mary’s (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
2009: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)* – First year the WCC Tournament played in Las Vegas
2008: San Diego (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
2007: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Santa Clara)
2006: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Loyola Marymount)
2005: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2004: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
2003: San Diego (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
2002: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Pepperdine)
2001: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Santa Clara)
2000: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Pepperdine)
1999: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Santa Clara)
1998: San Francisco (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
1997: Saint Mary’s (Runner-Up: San Francisco)
1996: Portland (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
1995: Gonzaga (Runner-Up: Portland)
1994: Pepperdine (Runner-Up: San Diego)
1993: Santa Clara (Runner-Up: Pepperdine)
1992: Pepperdine (Runner-Up: Gonzaga)
1991: Pepperdine (Runner-Up: Saint Mary’s)
1990: None
1989: Loyola Marymount (Runner-Up: Santa Clara)
1988: Loyola Marymount (Runner-Up: Santa Clara)
1987: Santa Clara (Runner-Up: Pepperdine)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
