WCC Tournament 2012: Schedule And Bracket Announced

The West Coast Conference is a league with nine teams, which does not lend itself to a nice, even conference tournament. There should be a simple solution to this issue. Most conferences would have the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds play in a playoff, then have the winner play the No, 1 seed in the quarterfinals. Instead, the WCC uses a convoluted format where the top two teams do not play until the semifinals. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds get byes to the "quarterfinals", at which point six teams are remaining, not eight.

It makes sense for a mid-major to want to protect their top seeds, but the top three seeds in the WCC this year are likely locks for at-large bids anyway. It will be interesting to see how high of a seed Saint Mary's or Gonzaga can get if they take advantage of the tournament setup and win the tournament.

First Round - Wednesday, Feb. 29 (all times ET)

No. 8 Portland vs. No. 9 Santa Clara - 9 p.m.

Second Round - Thursday, March 1 (BYUtv)

No. 5 San Fransisco vs. Portland/Santa Clara - 9 p.m.
No. 6 San Diego vs. No. 7 Pepperdine - 11 p.m.

Quarterfinals - Friday, March 2 (ESPNU)

Second Round Game 1 Winner vs. No. 4 Loyola Marymount - 9 p.m.
Second Round Game 2 Winner vs. No. 3 BYU - 11 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 3 (ESPN2)

QF1 Winner vs. No. 1 Saint Mary's - 9 p.m.
QF2 Winner vs. No. 2 Gonzaga - 1 p.m.

Championship - Monday, March 5 (ESPN)

SF1 Winner vs. SF2 Winner - 9 p.m.