West Coast Conference Not Expanding Conference Play

As the details of the COVID-19 slightly shortened college basketball season unfold, the West Coast Conference will not be expanding the number of conference games, sticking with the tried and true method of 16 games.

With the season now beginning on Nov. 25, some conferences have toyed with the idea of expanding their conference slate so that their members would not have to worry about scheduling as many non-conference games.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference expanded their conference slate from 20 to 22 games this year. As Jeff Borzello with ESPN mentioned, conferences are still working on figuring it out out, and expanding the number of games makes it easier on coaches.

“I’m hoping they will give us some extra league games so we won’t be scrambling around to find a bunch of games soon,” one mid-major head coach said. “I don’t want to be trying to find nine games.”

For Gonzaga, the non-conference scheduling isn’t appearing to be as big of an issue as it might for other schools. Gonzaga will be part of ESPN’s bubble/pod/controlled environment over the Thanksgiving holiday that will feature meat of the non-conference schedule. The Zags very well could play Baylor during this period, in addition to participating in the Jimmy V Classic and the Orlando Invitational.