PROVO — The finish to the West Coast Conference's unique 2020-21 regular season is almost here.
On Thursday, the league adjusted the finish line.
BYU will now play San Francisco and Saint Mary's instead of Santa Clara and Gonzaga in the final week of the regular season. The Cougars will host USF at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25 (CBS Sports Network) in place of Santa Clara, and will turn around to end the regular season against the Gaels on Saturday, Feb. 27 (8 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
The game with the Gaels replaces BYU's initial season-ending game against Gonzaga, which had previously been moved to Monday, Feb. 8, as a result of multiple cancellations related to COVID-19 on both teams' schedules. The No. 1 Zags won that game, 82-71.
The reshuffling impacts 12 games and will put all 10 of the league's teams into action, including No. 1 Gonzaga facing Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount. Each new game will be televised on ESPN, CBS Sports, or the league's streaming partners at Stadium.
"This is crunch time, and it's going to be the teams that can rise up one more time," BYU coach Mark Pope said during the program's pregame show on BYU Radio. "That's what we've been talking about the last few games … We want to get better, and I think we've done that. Now we've got to go prove that."
BYU tips off at Pacific at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
