With the Big 12 being done for now and the Pac-12 all but disappearing, what is Gonzaga to do?

Will they try to reignite talks with the Big East?

Will they stay in the WCC?

Will they join OSU and WSU in a venture with the MW schools?

What say you?

Big East. League's contract is up soon. Gonzaga needs to prepare for Post-Few.

(09-07-2023 01:27 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Big East. League's contract is up soon. Gonzaga needs to prepare for Post-Few.

I think that may happen too, but there is still some moving pieces.

Does WSU and OSU joining with the MW schools really attract Gonzaga? Maybe, but I'm not sold.

Nothing. Join the new PAC/MW or Nothing.

Why do they need to do anything? Last time I looked they were pretty successful where they are.

(09-07-2023 01:27 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Big East. League's contract is up soon. Gonzaga needs to prepare for Post-Few.

Yup.

I think the pressure is more on the Big East's side than Gonzaga, though. Both have some challenges in the future they will need to weather. I said it on another thread, but it's worth noting here, too: Fox will have this new version of the Big XII and Big Ten during the basketball season. The Big East has some work to do, and it's not the kind where all of the programs magically become relevant and good again. It must grow.

I suspect they do exactly what they are doing right now. If the B12 decides to offer them I could see them joining that, otherwise I don't see the point of anything else.

If offered all 3, in this order:
1. XII
2. Big East
3. PAC/MWC/AAC/A10 Hybrid

They should join the MWC/PAC merger.

Big XII invitation isn't coming. PAC-12 sans just UCLA/USC no longer exists.

MWC is an upgrade over the WCC, and you get 2 Pacific NW regional rivalries in Oregon State and Washington State.

Plus you keep exposure to California w/ San Diego St, Fresno St, and San Jose St which is important when it comes to attracting regular students.

I'd say stay in the WCC or go to the MWC with Oregon State and Washington State. I see the Big East contract coming up but the MWC contract is also coming up. Adding both Washington State and Oregon State would boost the payout per team then potentially add in Gonzaga for Hawaii Olympic sports spot. Your looking at a good payout with similar travel to the WCC.

(09-07-2023 02:20 PM)WAChsenburggemeinde Wrote:  They should join the MWC/PAC merger.

Big XII invitation isn't coming. PAC-12 sans just UCLA/USC no longer exists.

MWC is an upgrade over the WCC, and you get 2 Pacific NW regional rivalries in Oregon State and Washington State.

Plus you keep exposure to California w/ San Diego St, Fresno St, and San Jose St which is important when it comes to attracting regular students.

This would keep the MWC/PAC at 14/14 with Hawaii as a football-only. If Hawaii wanted to join as a full member, bring St. Mary's along with Gonzaga for 14/16. The WCC would be at 7 and could add California Baptist, Grand Canyon, and Seattle from the WAC to get back to 10.

(09-07-2023 01:27 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Big East. League's contract is up soon. Gonzaga needs to prepare for Post-Few.

Pass. Big East leadership has already made it clear that the distance is not worth the effort.

(09-07-2023 02:30 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(09-07-2023 01:27 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Big East. League's contract is up soon. Gonzaga needs to prepare for Post-Few.

Pass. Big East leadership has already made it clear that the distance is not worth the effort.

I think that this was the Big East’s position up until now, too, but the total unraveling of any semblance of geographic fit at the power conference level plus the rapid extinction of the Pac-12 are probably going to have them reevaluate. It would be one thing if the Big East was a mid-major league where limiting travel costs are paramount, but it would be naive to think that the national TV pressures that are driving football realignment won’t also impact the Big East as the top basketball league outside of the now-P4. UConn got legit interest from the Big 12, so the Big East isn’t immune to losing members.

So, I think the Big East adding, say, Gonzaga and St. Mary’s (and maybe a 14th school like SLU, too) went from zero chance a year ago to something that has to at least be considered a real possibility today. The combination of the Big East needing to negotiate a new TV deal soon and the overall power conference realignment landscape becoming coast-to-coast brings up a lot of different calculations compared to a year ago.

Ultimately, the travel burden is much more on Gonzaga (and any other West Coast school like St. Mary’s) as opposed to the legacy Big East schools. To me, it’s more about convincing Gonzaga that it’s worth it than the other way around (and if Gonzaga thinks that it’s worth it, then I think the Big East needs to add them since there’s no single more valuable basketball brand outside of the P4/Big East plus they’re an institutional fit).

Likely not going to go anywhere. If the PAC were to add SDSU, Memphis and Wichita St then perhaps they could be temped to leave the WCC for that. But, they get what they want from the WCC and with all the travel former PAC schools will be doing in their new conferences they should have no issues scheduling good OOC games.

The Big East is in Nebraska. And Wisconsin. And Chicago.

Why not add Gonzaga and St Mary's and another school (Dayton) and get it to 14. TV windows open up, west coast recruiting opens up. Kill the competition. The WCC would drop substantially and the A-10 would be further diluted.

The one thing the Big East really missed out on was Notre Dame non football.

Nothing, if football schools in the ACC are complaining about travel costs to the West Coast, imagine what it's like without football and the football Brinks truck. I know it's easy to move pieces around when you're armchair quarterbacking, but until someone actually tries to do a basketball-only conference affiliation, it's not a given that it will be allowed, and it appears dead in the water financially if it's all sports.

(09-07-2023 03:52 PM)HP-TBDPITL Wrote:  The Big East is in Nebraska. And Wisconsin. And Chicago.

Why not add Gonzaga and St Mary's and another school (Dayton) and get it to 14. TV windows open up, west coast recruiting opens up. Kill the competition. The WCC would drop substantially and the A-10 would be further diluted.

The one thing the Big East really missed out on was Notre Dame non football.

It wasn’t an option. ND gets the best of both worlds: its own CFP vote as an independent and part of an autonomy conference vote with the ACC on NCAA matters. As long as P4 league offers a non-football membership to ND, then they’ll take that over the Big East.

However, I agree with your first point: I think the Big East needs to expand with this new landscape. Threading the needle with the minimum number of members to make revenue isn’t an option anymore. What if UConn eventually leaves? What if Brett Yormark is serious about baking basketball more and starts going after Villanova, Georgetown, etc.? What if the ACC backfills with Big East members if the ACC loses other schools?

As of today, the Big East has total leverage over every non-FBS conference. However, that leverage can be fleeting (as we saw with the Pac-12 compared to the Big 12). By the time you *need* to expand, it’s often too late.

I have posted multiple times that the Big East is at a crossroads of sorts regarding expansion. The P4 now have "numbers" (each with 16 or more members) while the Big East remains stuck on 11 members (with one, UConn, potentially to leave). At some point, the perception of "inferiority" could become a de facto reality and, if so, Big East basketball might no longer be categorized as "power" by the media and fans. If that happens, ... what does that do to BE recruiting and hiring/keeping coaches (head and assistance)?

Gonzaga and St. Mary's seem, at least on paper, like a strong combo addition. But I don't understand TV contracts and all the variables involved in expansion.

If the Big East expands to take Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, we will probably call the Big East "the Big Ten of Basketball."

I don't see Gonzaga leaving the WCC, and I don't see Saint Mary's leaving unless they leave with Gonzaga. When the Big 12 said no to Gonzaga, and with the virtual dissolution of the Pac-12, there's nothing to justify a conference move for the Zags and Gaels at this time.

(09-07-2023 06:03 PM)rtist Wrote:  I don't see Gonzaga leaving the WCC, and I don't see Saint Mary's leaving unless they leave with Gonzaga. When the Big 12 said no to Gonzaga, and with the virtual dissolution of the Pac-12, there's nothing to justify a conference move for the Zags and Gaels at this time.

Except they'd be making 8 digits more in the Big East between the next tv deal and NCAA Tournament credits.