Feels like we’ve heard this song before, right?
Realignment never ends. It’s a revolving door, a late-night hallway with shadows on the walls, and every time you think the coast is clear, another door creaks open or a light goes out.
The latest twist, or should I say … opening, was that UC San Diego is headed to the West Coast Conference. A move that surprised many, including one university president who told me this week there had been “zero indication of any such movement.”
That’s the thing about realignment. Some moves play out in broad daylight. Others happen in the shadows.
The Big St. Mary’s Question
Almost immediately after the UCSD news broke, fans and media around the newly rebuilt Pac-12 started whispering that this must be a pre-emptive move tied to St. Mary’s and are off to Pac-12 2.0. On paper, that makes sense.
But what if it’s actually the opposite?
What if UCSD’s addition is meant to keep St. Mary’s in place, not grease the skids for their departure?
Consider it this way, would UC San Diego have jumped to the WCC—a move that many saw as a head-scratcher and surprise for several reasons—if they knew St. Mary’s already had one foot out the door? The Gaels are the future of the WCC. The league’s biggest brand, eyeball magnet, and an NCAA tournament ATM. It’s hard to imagine that UCSD would make that leap if they knew that. But then again, I’ve seen crazier things happen.
If you’re reading this and thinking, well sure, they’d take the invite to the WCC if they knew St. Mary’s was gone. Easier competition. That’s true. But you’re still moving into a lateral league, as the only public school, with an expanded travel schedule that shifts from north-to-south (Sacramento to Irvine) instead of Seattle to San Diego. OK, yes—you can add Utah Valley since I’m not counting Hawai’i in this exercise—but you see the picture. And don’t forget the multiple millions in an exit fee. It just doesn’t line up (yet).
The bigger question is whether the WCC was pre-emptively backfilling in case St. Mary’s bolts for the Mountain West. If that’s the case, is the WCC really putting all of your chips on a school that just barely finished its transition to full Division I membership? Maybe if the pitch to UCSD was, you’re going to be the flagship of this league once St. Mary’s leaves. I’m sure that would sit well with the current WCC schools. Don’t forget that with Gonzaga leaving, there are revenues from their units to be shared (or used to attract new league members).
Don’t get me wrong, the ingredients are there for the Tritons to grow into a strong athletic department, especially in basketball. So yes, if the WCC wanted to step outside its like-minded institutional profile and offer UCSD a sweetheart deal to keep the conference together, it makes sense. But let’s be honest, it’s a lot easier to do that with two brands in hand—especially when one of them is the Gaels.
There’s no denying the Pac-12’s interest in St. Mary’s — John Canzano has hammered that point for well over a year. The Gaels even received an offer late last year, though multiple industry sources described it as more “low-ball” than “come join us.” Sound familiar? It’s the same flirt-to-convert strategy Gonzaga once used, dangling interest in other leagues until the WCC ponied up with a sweetheart deal.
Maybe St. Mary’s just played the same card, hoping UCSD could become their running mate, their Gonzaga-lite.
Breaking Tradition
UCSD’s arrival also marks the previously mentioned philosophical shift for the WCC. Since Nevada left in 1979, the conference has been defined by private, faith-based institutions. UCSD is none of those things. A large, public, research-driven school crashing a party long reserved for religious privates is no small change.
In that sense, the Tritons’ move mirrors what the Big West has been doing in reverse. The Big West, once defined by its all-public, all-California identity, stepped outside its comfort zone by bringing in Cal Baptist and Utah Valley. UCSD’s departure for the WCC leaves the Big West bruised, right after it seemed to be stabilizing with the addition of Sacramento State and others.
The two leagues are like mirrors — each slowly bending its identity to survive.
Cal Baptist, Seattle U … and the Original Blueprint
The original WCC expansion pitch in early 2024 paired Grand Canyon with Cal Baptist, not Seattle. The fear of presidents and athletic directors? That another deep-pocketed private like Gonzaga would walk in and own the room from day one.
On paper, Cal Baptist fit the WCC perfectly: private, religious affiliation, strong campus branding — the classic “like-minded institution” line we’ve all heard. But when the dust settled, it was the Redhawks, not the Lancers, who got the call.
Meanwhile, Grand Canyon took the exit ramp a few months later and is headed for the Mountain West, leaving the WCC scrambling to rebuild its blueprint.
So where does that leave them now? If the conference is looking for the next puzzle piece, the name that keeps popping up is … Denver.
Why Denver Keeps Coming Up
I’ve seen a lot of skepticism on social media about the Pioneers in general. At first glance, DU might not appeal to the untrained eye. But look closer, and the Pioneers are quietly one of the most attractive chess pieces on the board. They combine high academic success with athletic success, boasting a 96% graduation success rate, multiple perfect APR scores, and 35 NCAA national championships across skiing, men’s ice hockey, and men’s lacrosse.
Hockey is the crown jewel — with two national titles since 2022, the most NCAA championships (10!) in the sport’s history, and 109% capacity attendance turns hockey into an economic engine on par with FCS football at other schools. Off the ice, DU has been on a tear in fundraising. The Pioneers have raised $9.01 million in 2024–25 alone — a 57% jump year-over-year and the fourth-highest total in school history.
Nationally, Denver’s reputation is growing, with 12, yes, T-W-E-L-VE Learfield Directors’ Cup championships in a row for the 1-AAA/non-football schools. Translation here? The depth runs deep — men’s lacrosse is a national contender, women’s gymnastics has earned attention on the biggest stages, and even so-called non-revenue sports like skiing carry a championship pedigree.
Geographically, Denver fits in many leagues. Institutionally, they have the resources and leadership to keep climbing. Right now and moving forward is that Denver remains in The Summit League. But remember, the Pioneers aren’t strangers to West Coast suitors, and the WCC isn’t the only league to kick their tires on them.
After all, Pioneers usually head west.
(Side note, Denver absolutely needs to bring back this elite logo. It ought to be a requirement in a new league!)
Realignment’s Hall of (Smoke and) Mirrors
And so the shadows keep moving. The WCC adds a public school, the Big West embraces private institutions, the Pac-12 eyes St. Mary’s, and Denver sits quietly in the corner — a program that “fits” more leagues than most realize. Here’s one more curveball. What if, in the shadows, St. Mary’s really does make a conference move…
… to the Mountain West.
With that, friends, some weekend food for thought.
Realignment never sleeps. Sometimes the doors slam, sometimes they creak. And sometimes, the move that looks like an ending is really just the setup for the next act.
After all, in the world of conference realignment, the lights never really go out.
