The University of Denver is riding the latest wave of college realignment.
DU is moving from the Summit League to the West Coast Conference in July 2026, the university announced Friday morning. The Pioneers will be a member of the conference in nine sports: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball.
“The West Coast Conference and the University of Denver are a natural fit,” DU vice chancellor for athletics Josh Berlo said in a news conference. “It’s an institutional fit, it’s a geographic fit, and it’s a fit for the pursuit of excellence.”
The move to the WCC does not affect four of DU’s marquee programs. Hockey will remain in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, gymnastics will remain in the Big 12, and men’s and women’s lacrosse will remain in the Big East. Plus, triathlon will stay independent, and DU will announce a conference transition plan for its swimming and diving programs at a later date.
A move to the WCC fits the bill for DU, a private school, as the league is largely comprised of private schools on the West Coast. Though Gonzaga, historically the conference’s best basketball school, is leaving for the rebuilt Pac-12 in 2026, the conference is still a step up for the Pioneers in the college athletics landscape.
As part of the move to the WCC, DU also announced plans to install new individual chairback seating in Hamilton Gymnasium that will be in place for the 2026-27 season. Those seats will replace the gym’s current bleacher seating. The university is also in the process of retrofitting Magness Arena to host select men’s and women’s basketball games when demand exceeds Hamilton’s capacity.
“(The Ritchie Center) has stood the test of time thus far, but it is also appropriate at this juncture to continue to invest in that space, and it’s something that we’ve looked at and the institution is committed to as we walk together with this journey of the West Coast Conference,” Berlo said. “I think you’re going to see some things happening pretty quickly here, and we’ll continue to work to elevate that facility, amongst other support for the basketball programs as they elevate their level of competition.”
WCC commissioner Stu Jackson said DU and the conference have been in casual conversations about the Pioneers joining the WCC for about a year, but talks heated up and were finalized over the past two weeks. Joining made even more sense for DU, considering the footprint of its alumni, students and future students, as California is one of the top three states the university draws from.
“We are comfortable in the West, it’s familiar in many ways, and it’s something that has been a goal of the institution, really dating back to our Division I elevation in the late 1990s,” Berlo said. “So it feels as though it’s the culmination of a lot of effort and success.”
The Pioneers have belonged to the Summit League since 2013. Prior to that, DU spent a year in the Western Athletic Conference, was in the Sun Belt from 1999-2012, and was independent from 1962-99. Before that, DU was a part of the Mountain States Athletic Conference.
Since going Division I in 1999, DU has been one of the best athletic programs in the country among schools that don’t have football. The Pioneers have finished atop the D1-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings 16 of the last 17 years. That success was a drawing point for the WCC.
“Denver’s history of athletic performance is undeniable,” Stu Jackson said.
Basketball-wise, the WCC will be a challenge for DU’s men’s team, which struggled to find consistent success in the Summit and has never made an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Pioneers begin the 2025-26 season next week under first-year coach Tim Bergstraser, and haven’t had a winning season since 2016-17. Meanwhile, the women’s team has had only one winning season in the Summit.
Berlo said DU is “embracing the challenge” that comes with moving to a tougher basketball conference.
“We’ve also got proof of concept here at the University of Denver and our ability to have national success in (sports like hockey, gymnastics and lacrosse) by leaning into the strengths that we have as an institution, the advantages that we have, the academic opportunities, the community, the campus, and leveraging that in recruiting and looking to elevate the support that we have for those programs,” Berlo said.
“… We understand the magnitude of the challenge (basketball-wise), but we also have that challenge in so many other sports that we compete in nationally against some of the biggest and best-funded programs across the country.”
In addition to better competition, moving to the WCC will bring DU’s athletic programs increased exposure. The conference has national TV deals with ESPN and CBS Sports Network, and ESPN+ is its digital platform for more than 900 conference events a year.
With the addition of DU, the WCC will have 10 members in 2026-27: Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Seattle University.
The conference is adding an 11th member, the University of California San Diego, in 2027-28 as its first public institution. Jackson said the conference will continue to search for a 12th school.
