Santa Clara Broncos

The Santa Clara Broncos play in the Leavey Center in the heart of Silicon Valley, a West Coast Conference program with a rich basketball tradition and a Hall of Fame alumnus in Steve Nash. Santa Clara's history includes an early Final Four appearance and a run of NCAA bids sparked by Nash's dazzling point guard play in the 1990s. The Broncos' 2026 return to March Madness reconnected the program with that history after a three-decade wait.

Santa Clara basketball began in 1904 and reached the Final Four in its very first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1952, part of five Elite Eight trips in program history. Steve Nash arrived in the early 1990s and led the Broncos to three NCAA Tournaments between 1993 and 1996 before going on to a Hall of Fame NBA career. After a 30-year absence from the tournament, Santa Clara earned an at-large bid in 2026 under head coach Herb Sendek. The program's twelve total NCAA Tournament appearances reflect a proud, if occasionally dormant, West Coast Conference tradition.