WCC partners with Ken Pomeroy for conference tournament seeding

The West Coast Conference will be partnering with college basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy to determine the seeding for its men's and women's conference tournaments in March, the league announced Tuesday.

Pomeroy, best known for his college basketball database website kenpom.com, created adjusted conference winning percentage, the sole determinant for this year's tournament seeding. The statistic uses a proprietary algorithm that takes into account a team's current record, along with the strength of opponent and location of games.

This change comes during a challenging season due to COVID-19 concerns. In the WCC, only three schools have played double-digit conference games, while three have played six or less.

"We have all experienced unprecedented challenges associated with conducting athletic competition throughout the past year and we continue to work to find the appropriate solutions to the challenges ahead of us," West Coast Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said. "The reality of not completing a full conference schedule is in front of us and we have explored alternative models to properly seed our men’s and women’s basketball tournament. The Ken Pomeroy adjusted conference winning percentage model that has been developed for the WCC provides the most accurate reflection of the conference games that have been completed."

Tuesday's announcement also brought the first of five standings updates given by the league. On the men's side, Gonzaga - AP's No. 1-ranked school - sits in first, followed by BYU and Pepperdine. The Bulldogs also rank first on the women's side, trailed by BYU and Santa Clara to round out the top three.