The 2025-26 season will be the final year for the Western Athletic Conference. Grand Canyon and Seattle moved out this year. Cal Baptist and Utah Valley will move to the Big West next year. Southern Utah and Utah Tech will head to the Big Sky Conference next season, also. The remaining teams will merge with the Atlantic Sun Conference and form the United Athletic Conference next year. Which team will send the WAC out in style? We’ve gone through it and found a best bet that you’ll want to lock up for the upcoming season.
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2025-26 Western Athletic Conference Basketball Champion Best Bet
Cal Baptist to win the Western Athletic Conference
Cal Baptist has been quietly building a solid program under head coach Rick Croy for the past 12 years. Croy brought Cal Baptist from DII to the highest level of college basketball eight years ago. He finished second in the conference in his second year in D1 and finished third last year. This is the year that Croy gets his conference regular-season title at the D1 level.
Cal Baptist returns two starters from last year’s third-place team. Senior guard Dominique Daniels, Jr. returns and looks like the odds-on favorite to win Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this season. Daniels averaged 19.6 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.3 boards per game last year.
Senior guard Martel Williams will join Daniels in the Lancers’ backcourt. Williams started 18 games last year and averaged 9.1 points per game by shooting over 37.1% from three-point range.
A pair of Northern Arizona transfers will likely join the Cal Baptist starting lineup this year. Grad senior guard Jayden Jackson will round out the Lancers’ back court. Jackson averaged 12.6 points and 3.7 assists per game with the Lumberjacks last year. Grad senior forward Monty Bowser will be a part of the front court. Bowser managed 5.3 points and 2.4 boards in 18.4 minutes per game last year with Northern Arizona.
Sophomore forward Bradey Henige returns to Cal Baptist, but played a bench role last season. This year? He’s expected to start as the Lancers’ top rim protector and post presence. Henige averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 boards in 10.3 minutes per game last year.
Cal Baptist has a deep bench with a couple of DII transfers, a JUCO transfer, a foreign-born freshman big man, and a big man who transferred in from Oregon State.
The Lancers may struggle if they pick up a long-term injury to one of their key players, but they’re in a great position to make a run at first place in the Western Athletic Conference. They return a lot of key pieces, have a legitimate Player of the Year candidate, and added depth through the portal. Lock up the Lancers to win the WAC regular season title this year.
The College Basketball Experience
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