Gonzaga to join the Big 12?

[Clark]

In terms of getting a better seed it can help to have a great record in a crap conference or even just a better record in the 3rd or 4th best vs toughest.

The Big 12 has statistically quite clearly been the best conference for about 13 years straight yet only got widely acknowledged as such in the past 2-3 years. The tournament evens it out a little if you look at wide range of performance over several years, but there's still space to get a boost or get screwed in terms of # of selections and seeding matchups.

Zags could still be elite but the days of regularly coasting to top 4 seeds will be gone. I'm also not sure what the effects of being THAT isolated compared to other programs would be. It's not football where they'd have 5 long road trips. It's a long cross country road trip pretty much every week of the season. Makes my head spin thinking about how Big Ten non-revenue sports are going to do it (or even worse Stanford/Cal playing mostly east coast games).

I've heard some experts say they think there's something legit about Zags busting in the pros because the WCC doesn't expose weaknesses like the Big 12/Big East/Big Ten would.

I think going to the Big 12 is a mistake for Gonzaga because they've got it pretty good where they're at.

My point was responding to the suggestion that Gonzaga would struggle in the Big 12. They would not. They wouldn't win every year or win 90% of their games but they'd do well.

 

[Nolaeer]

I think going to the Big 12 is a mistake for Gonzaga because they've got it pretty good where they're at.

My point was responding to the suggestion that Gonzaga would struggle in the Big 12. They would not. They wouldn't win every year or win 90% of their games but they'd do well.

the zags are concerned about the big boys splitting away and leaving the lower level conferences behind.

zaga wants to get in a big boy conference in case the breakaway happens. They want to keep a seat at the table, and aligning with kansas, arz, and wvu in hoops, cements that. (yeah im joking about WVU).

but baylor tt, isu, cinn, houson, wvu etc are good hoops programs. no way a legit national title tourney in hoops excludes the big 12.

 

[HFCS]

I think going to the Big 12 is a mistake for Gonzaga because they've got it pretty good where they're at.

My point was responding to the suggestion that Gonzaga would struggle in the Big 12. They would not. They wouldn't win every year or win 90% of their games but they'd do well.

Yeah I don't see why they'd mess with what they have.

I think they'd find less #1 seeds in the NCAA than they have. A lot of their recent #1 seed teams would've probably been 3rd to 5th place Big 12 finishes just among the 10 Big 12 teams, let alone top 4 of all NCAA teams.

Who knows how they'd be with a different coach. To me that's the real question mark. It's not like UConn or Kansas where several coaches have come in and won National Championships in all of our lives.

 

[HFCS]

the zags are concerned about the big boys splitting away and leaving the lower level conferences behind.

zaga wants to get in a big boy conference in case the breakaway happens. They want to keep a seat at the table, and aligning with kansas, arz, and wvu in hoops, cements that. (yeah im joking about WVU).

but baylor tt, isu, cinn, houson, wvu etc are good hoops programs. no way a legit national title tourney in hoops excludes the big 12.

That's the one and only angle where it makes sense for them.

If they knew things weren't ever going to change they have it great where they are. If football and/or basketball splinter off they'd want to already be in rather than scrambling.

All of this really shows how shortsighted the Pac wasn't for trying to bring them into basketball long ago. That could have been mutually beneficial.

 

[tomar1]

They need to add football if they come

 

[Gorm]

That was renovated to be a youth sports complex.

They did? I had no idea. LOL Good memories from like 20+ years ago now in that place.

 

[CyCrazy]

the zags are concerned about the big boys splitting away and leaving the lower level conferences behind.

zaga wants to get in a big boy conference in case the breakaway happens. They want to keep a seat at the table, and aligning with kansas, arz, and wvu in hoops, cements that. (yeah im joking about WVU).

but baylor tt, isu, cinn, houson, wvu etc are good hoops programs. no way a legit national title tourney in hoops excludes the big 12.

The only break away from the little guys will only affect FB. Everything else will carry on. Zags are fine playing no one all year and making the tourney.

 

[isuclone89]

I pushback that Omaha is under and hour to Lincoln while Spokane to Seattle is 7+ hours.. Maybe I'm missing the mega donor angle here, but that would be like an ISU basketball fan cheering for the Indianapolis Colts (same drive time from DSM to Indy).

Am I way off here?

WSU only about an two hours away, and has a small campus in Spokane.

 

[AllInForISU]

They need to add football if they come

No way. That dilutes the football side of the conference and would make it significantly worse. If they get added, the only logical step would be to add 1 more basketball only school, like Creighton.

 

[FarminCy]

I pushback that Omaha is under and hour to Lincoln while Spokane to Seattle is 7+ hours.. Maybe I'm missing the mega donor angle here, but that would be like an ISU basketball fan cheering for the Indianapolis Colts (same drive time from DSM to Indy).

Am I way off here?

Way off on drive time. It’s 4 hours to Seattle from Spokane. It’s no different than many parts of Iowa to IC. Know a number of people that live in eastern Washington and it’s no different than Iowa for college football fandom. They generally support WSU or UW.

 

[NWICY]

im still confused to this narrative that gonzaga would instantly suck in the big 12

I think they will be ok but won't run the undefeated or 1 loss season like they usually do. Part of their allure is their season record every yr.

 

[cyfan92]

Way off on drive time. It’s 4 hours to Seattle from Spokane. It’s no different than many parts of Iowa to IC. Know a number of people that live in eastern Washington and it’s no different than Iowa for college football fandom. They generally support WSU or UW.

My maps lied to me good catch. 4 hours is much different than 7.

But I do think Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined area draws a ton of people to Gonzaga basketball. It's as big or a bigger area than DSM and has no major sports except Gonzaga basketball and WSU. One is about to get relegated to a G5 level

 

[CyNews]

Gonzaga isn't some plucky underdog story full of overlooked prospects. They are an elite basketball school with elite players. It makes no difference what conference they're in, if anything moving to a better conference makes the job much easier to recruit to.

Their record will take a hit if this happens, in my opinion. Also,no football.

 

[peteypie]

I'm in favor, don't get me wrong, they will have a rude awaking when their toughest games aren't BYU twice a year in conference. It'll be like playing BYU or better every week. But they are still a top 20 at minimum program in college basketball, and I believe in Yormarks vision

 

[1UNI2ISU]

I'm in favor, don't get me wrong, they will have a rude awaking when their toughest games aren't BYU twice a year in conference. It'll be like playing BYU or better every week. But they are still a top 20 at minimum program in college basketball, and I believe in Yormarks vision

St Mary's has been a borderline Top 25 program for a long time plus Gonzaga has played ridiculous non-conference schedules for years. I don't think the culture shock would be what people think it would.

Will they lose more games? Of course but it's not like they're going to be a .500 team if/when they change leagues.

I feel the exact same way about Houston, fwiw...

 

[CascadeClone]

I dont like adding Zaga by themselves for bball. Like, why? Is it just to get UConn? Well, youre still a football team short, and the BigEast wont be happy about it either.

I would try to rope in the ENTIRE BigEast and create a nationwide bball only league, or association, or whatever you want to call it. And then including Zaga in that would make sense. Youre almost creating 2 different conferences, the big12 football and the bigger12 bball.

That is where the value is, east coast bball and wrapping up some more great brands. If UConn wants to play football w the Big12, they are always gonna be available when a partner for them shows up.

 

[AllInForISU]

St Mary's has been a borderline Top 25 program for a long time plus Gonzaga has played ridiculous non-conference schedules for years. I don't think the culture shock would be what people think it would.

Will they lose more games? Of course but it's not like they're going to be a .500 team if/when they change leagues.

I feel the exact same way about Houston, fwiw...

There is a huge difference between only playing good teams at the beginning of the season when everyone is healthy and no one has film on you yet or your 1 good conference opponent compared to playing in the best conference in the country night in and night out. They wouldn’t be cellar dwellers probably, but they also wouldn’t just come in and be top third right away. It’s a totally different animal.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

There is a huge difference between only playing good teams at the beginning of the season when everyone is healthy and no one has film on you yet or your 1 good conference opponent compared to playing in the best conference in the country night in and night out. They wouldn’t be cellar dwellers probably, but they also wouldn’t just come in and be top third right away. It’s a totally different animal.

They've got elite talent and coaching. They'd step in and be in the top group immediately much like Houston is going to. You don't do what they do in the tournament without being an elite program.

 

[clonedude]

Obviously moving to the Big 12 would help Gonzaga.... but would it help the Big 12 financially?

 

[AllInForISU]

They've got elite talent and coaching. They'd step in and be in the top group immediately much like Houston is going to. You don't do what they do in the tournament without being an elite program.

When you aren’t run down because you play nobody the last 1/2 of the season, of course you are fresh and play well in the tournament.

They play a bunch of nobodies in their conference.

They have good players, but don’t kid yourself if you think the tournament is some sort of metric for how good a team would be in an elite conference.