The Gonzaga Thread... with Poll...

[NJRedman]

It's only 1 west coast trip for the current schools. Gonzaga could easily cut the trips to the East Coast in half if they played an East Coast team on Friday and another on Sunday. But only basketball.

Well that would take it's toll on their W/L record and if they struggle playing back to back BE games on the east coast then their value drops. Also does Fox want Friday night games? Probably not. Does Villanova want to play a Friday night game? I bet they don't.

A lot of these ideas to somehow squeeze the Zags in would never pass muster with the school presidents or the coaches and AD's. Think like an administrator, not a fan.

[Bill Marsh]

It's only 1 west coast trip for the current schools. Gonzaga could easily cut the trips to the East Coast in half if they played an East Coast team on Friday and another on Sunday. But only basketball.

Well that would take it's toll on their W/L record and if they struggle playing back to back BE games on the east coast then their value drops. Also does Fox want Friday night games? Probably not. Does Villanova want to play a Friday night game? I bet they don't.

A lot of these ideas to somehow squeeze the Zags in would never pass muster with the school presidents or the coaches and AD's. Think like an administrator, not a fan.

Right. School presidents never pay attention to the bottom line.

[NJRedman]

It's only 1 west coast trip for the current schools. Gonzaga could easily cut the trips to the East Coast in half if they played an East Coast team on Friday and another on Sunday. But only basketball.

Well that would take it's toll on their W/L record and if they struggle playing back to back BE games on the east coast then their value drops. Also does Fox want Friday night games? Probably not. Does Villanova want to play a Friday night game? I bet they don't.

A lot of these ideas to somehow squeeze the Zags in would never pass muster with the school presidents or the coaches and AD's. Think like an administrator, not a fan.

Right. School presidents never pay attention to the bottom line.

And they always invite the flavor of the month to join their leagues. Thats why all of the FB5 stretch from sea to shining sea.

[Hall2012]

While we're ignoring geography, let's convince Chaminade to jump to D1 and join the Big East too! It'd be great! It's a catholic, urban school so it's a perfect! And they have a great history of drawing strong non-conference opponents despite their D2 status. This could be a giant in the making!

[gosports1]

the Big East should pay 50% of moving expenses to relocate Gonzaga to Minneapolis

that way we pickup a solid new member in a good media market.

otherwise:

put it near a lake. I like lakes

[kayako]

Even before I can be convinced to vote yes, I am dead set against a 20 game conference schedule.

[SJHooper]

I'd love to have them but I doubt it will work due to the travel distance. If something can be worked out then of course take them. Right now, Gonzaga plays in an absolute joke of a conference. The only teams in their conference that have a pulse are BYU and St. Mary's. This is why they always have these crazy 30 win seasons...they feast on the weak. If they came to the Big East, they would be good but not great IMO. I could see them being a Butler or Xavier type...floating around the top 15 and sometimes dropping from the rankings but still receiving votes. There are literally no gimme games in this conference. No Santa Clara's or Portland's. Even terrible DePaul will give you a scare and make you earn the W.

One thing that has always fascinated me with Gonzaga is their ability to find overseas talent that translates as top notch talent here. We have gotten guys like Amar, Mussini, Freudenberg, Bourgault, etc. and the only one that can even be a decent role player is Mussini. Basically, our Euro experiments routinely blow up in our face at SJ and they look totally overmatched and slow. If Freudenberg does not improve significantly next year I would encourage him to transfer instead of wasting a roster spot.

[brewcity77]

The problem is that NCAA rules prohibit adding a team for basketball only. Football is the only sport that can be added as an "only" sport. If Gonzaga basketball comes, that means baseball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, cross country, etc all come along too. While we could probably make it viable for basketball I just can't see it for the rest of their sports. Sure, it's one trip west for us in basketball season, and could be limited to 5 trips east for Gonzaga, but it's all the other sports.

If they could park their non-revenue sports in the WAC, the MWC, or some other conference, sure. But I'm pretty sure that's not an option unless we turn this into a football league and scrap this whole basketball thing.

[Bill Marsh]

I'd love to have them but I doubt it will work due to the travel distance. If something can be worked out then of course take them. Right now, Gonzaga plays in an absolute joke of a conference. The only teams in their conference that have a pulse are BYU and St. Mary's. This is why they always have these crazy 30 win seasons...they feast on the weak. If they came to the Big East, they would be good but not great IMO. I could see them being a Butler or Xavier type....

Or a Villanova . . .

[EMT]

Do we know the Gonzaga message board or do any Gonzaga fans lurk here?

I've never read their take on things.