The Summit League Will Lose Another Member in 2026

The Summit League relatively recently saw Western Illinois University move on to join a new conference back in 2023.

On Friday, news broke that the 9-member conference will soon be down to a total of 8 schools as soon as next year.

The Denver Pioneers announced that they will be joining the West Coast Conference in July of 2026.

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DENVER – The University of Denver has accepted a formal invitation to join the West Coast Conference (WCC) beginning in the 2026-27 academic year (July 1, 2026), DU and the conference office announced on Friday.

"This is an exciting day for the University of Denver and an incredible opportunity to continue to advance our exceptional academic and athletic programs," DU Chancellor Jeremy Haefner said. "The excellence of schools that are part of the West Coast Conference is a perfect complement to DU and will help us continue to recruit the very best students and faculty."

In addition to the institutional alignment as the university's primary conference home, Denver's nine athletic programs that will be joining the West Coast Conference are 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 women's volleyball. A conference transition plan for Denver's men's and women's swimming and diving programs is in place and will be announced at a later date.

DU's move does not impact the conference affiliations for Denver's hockey (NCHC), gymnastics (Big 12), men's and women's lacrosse (BIG EAST) or the men's and women's skiing (RMISA) programs. Denver triathlon will stay independent as an NCAA-emerging sport.

The West Coast Conference now sits at 10 full members in 2026-27 with the addition of DU and will add an 11^th when the University of California San Diego begins play in the West Coast Conference in 2027-28. Denver will join current full-time members Loyola Marymount University, University of the Pacific, Pepperdine University, University of Portland, Saint Mary's College, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University and Seattle University.

DU has active alumni chapters in every West Coast Conference market, including Southern California, the Bay Area and Seattle. California, Washington and Oregon are all in the top-10 states that University of Denver students and alumni call home.

Here's ESPN's Pete Thamel who was early on the news:

The move now leaves the Summit League with 8 schools, and takes the Conference out of one its larger media markets in Denver. Here are the schools that remain in the conference:

South Dakota Coyotes

South Dakota State Jackrabbits

North Dakota Fighting Hawks

North Dakota State Bison

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

UMKC Roos

St. Thomas Tommies

Omaha Mavericks

Sources: Pete Thamel Twitter and DenverPioneers.com