What's Up With Gonzaga?

[Bill Marsh]

There were a couple of articles which ran 10 days ago, which included some provocative comments from Mark Few. Here's the gist of what he said:

"We don't have our head in the sand (when it comes to conference realignment). We're well aware of what's been going on. We've watched it. I think about it. I'm always talking to that guy (AD Mike Roth) about it.

"We've got a brand. Our entity and our brand are national now. If there's a movement that's going to happen, we're certainly looking, the way other people have looked and analyzed to see how it would work out for them. We'll put ourselves in a position to do what we have to do."

What's he talking about? Certainly not last year's aborted Big 12 debacle.

What's been going on that he's well aware of that would have any implications for Gonzaga and its national brand? Is there a "movement" out there that might happen?

Few and Gonzaga have been open for years about wanting to get out of the WCC. When responding to William Rhoden's article in The NY Times last year, Few was highly critical of the other members of the WCC for dragging down Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU. He has to resent the fact that all of the tournament money that Gonzaga earns gets distributed to the rest of the conference. It's not equal revenue sharing in the WCC, but Gonzaga isn't getting anything back from anyone else. In the last 4 years, the WCC got 7 bids and posted an 11-6 record in the tournament. Only 3 of those bids and one of those wins were earned by someone not named Gonzaga.

But what are the alternatives? Not the F5. Not the Big East despite the fact that Few has been public in advocating for Gonzaga membership in the BE. What's left?

The AAC. That's the conference that has been public about studying ways to improve their basketball profile - a profile that already includes 12 bids, 12 tournament wins, and a NC in the last 4 years. The addition of Wichita State is considered all but a done deal in the media. Bladschun has speculated that 2 more teams might be under consideration, specifically VCU and Dayton. Aresco has denied that they would add multiple non-football schools after the past experience of the Big East.

But suppose that there are elements in the conference pushing for more than just the Shockers. The uncertainty created by Miller's departure certainly has to raise questions about Dayton. Gonzaga's emergence in the Final Four has to make them the gold standard. The AAC has a western wing beyond the Mississippi that would make divisional play with Gonzaga not such a big issue. How would a reconfigured AAC look like this?

EAST

UConn
VCU
Cincinnati
Temple
UCF
USF
ECU

WEST

Gonzaga
Wichita State
Memphis
SMU
Houston
Tulsa
Tulane

That would be 5 members who've been to a total of 7 Final 4's in the past decade alone. It would dramatically raise the conference's basketball profile. I may be connecting the wrong dots, but is this what Few is talking about?

Some of conference realignment is to strengthen a conference's position. There is also some that is done to block the competition. So if something like this were in the works, what would the Big East do?

Here are the links to the 2 articles I quoted:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/m ... ns-open-w/

http://www.bendbulletin.com/sports/5160 ... oing-to-do

[alduflux]

I don't follow the West coast mid major's much.

Is there any possibility of a West coast version of the Big East? I'm guessing not or it would have happened already.

[Michael in Raleigh]

I think the Mountain West is foolish for not having taken in Gonzaga already. They're not that far removed from having top 25 teams in San Diego State, New Mexico, UNLV, and Colorado State. Add in perennial power Gonzaga and they're a lot more secure for basketball.

The AAC would be nuts to add a school that far way for an all sports league, though. The coaches may be professionals, but the athletes in all these sports should be playing most of their games on the same side of the country as their campuses.

[DudeAnon]

Its funny, if we were going by pure basketball prowess then Gonzaga and Wichita St. would be the best additions to the Big East.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

There were a couple of articles which ran 10 days ago, which included some provocative comments from Mark Few. Here's the gist of what he said:

"We don't have our head in the sand (when it comes to conference realignment). We're well aware of what's been going on. We've watched it. I think about it. I'm always talking to that guy (AD Mike Roth) about it."

"We've got a brand. Our entity and our brand are national now. If there's a movement that's going to happen, we're certainly looking, the way other people have looked and analyzed to see how it would work out for them. We'll put ourselves in a position to do what we have to do."

Thanks Bill. Those are the first comments by Mark Few concerning realignment that I have read, although he is deliberately vague. Gonzaga’s AD had this to say three years ago, but I haven’t seen (or looked for) anything from him since then.

Previously posted: Downtown Zag Nation – The Gonzaga Bulletin - April 17, 2014

2. As we head into the The Summer of Conference Realignment, Part 2: One Year Later, it’s becoming clearer that GU isn’t going anywhere.

But Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth says it’s not his fault. When the Big East Conference reformed in July 2013, he had GU Athletics ready to move to the new Big East along with the other “Catholic Seven” schools. He recognized that GU would be a perfect fit in every way with the other private, Catholic, similar-size, liberal arts schools from that conference.

One single problem threw a wrench in the gears: geography. As much as a program can request to join a conference, it eventually has to be invited by the conference, Roth said.

Unfortunately for GU, the Big East programs were not willing to fly their sports teams five or six hours to Spokane dozens of times every year, even if Roth was.

Roth says he likes to say that the only way GU would be accepted into the Big East is if teleportation is invented.

Anytime teleportation enters a discussion of conference realignment, things aren’t looking good.

GU looks to be stuck in the ho-hum WCC. While it won’t do us any favors in terms of men’s or women’s basketball, at least the Zags won’t be constantly flying to the Northeast for every away game. That might qualify as low-level silver lining.

I also haven’t seen (or looked for) anything from Gonzaga’s President, who has a much broader range of responsibilities and a greater number of people to answer to than the school’s athletic director. In the excerpt above, Mike Roth speaks in first-person, and clearly does not state that that Gonzaga’s President shares his views about joining the Big East.

Its funny, if we were going by pure basketball prowess then Gonzaga and Wichita St. would be the best additions to the Big East.

[NJRedman]

I don't follow the West coast mid major's much.

Is there any possibility of a West coast version of the Big East? I'm guessing not or it would have happened already.

If Gonzaga was smart they'd be on the phone with St. Marys, BYU, Long Beach St, New Mexico St and Hawaii to start to figure out who they want to invite along to the west coast version of the BE. Thats 50-60% of a conference right there. Though for them i'd say 12 is the # they should strive for. Get the Staples Center for your conference tournament and call it a day.

[HoopDreams]

When the Big East first expanded Gonzaga should have been a top priority for addition. I think the Presidents are now kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger on an invite. The identity of a basketball only catholic school with national brand appeal perfectly aligned with our identity.

If we are to expand there are really only 2 options... Gonzaga and UConn. No thank you to anyone else!

[phphphonograph]

You could still add Gonzaga today. Fact of the matter is that travel costs do not increase that much for each school already in the BIG EAST. Heres a quick overview

Gonzaga's sports:

Mens
[*]Baseball
[*]Basketball
[*]Cross Country
[*]Golf
[*]Rowing - in WIRA Conf.
[*]Soccer
[*]Tennis
[*]Track and Field (Independent)

Women's
[*]Basketball
[*]Cross Country
[*]Golf
[*]Rowing - in WIRA Conf and WCC
[*]Soccer
[*]Tennis
[*]Track and Field (Independent)
[*]Volleyball

Travel
So for travel sports were looking at MBB, WBB, Baseball, Volleyball, WSOC, and MSCOC. Golf, Tennis, and XC are tournament events, which Gonzaga was likely already flying to.

Assuming MBB stays Round Robin (and WBB for sake of argument - but it doesn't have to). 2 flights

Soccers - 1 flight (either share or alternate each year) (also keep the same team from going to Creighton and Gonzaga in the same year)

Volleyball - 1 flight - piggyback off of a Central Time zone team
Baseball - 1 flight every other year (alternate year with Creighton).

So we can knock Current schools travel concerns off (even if Gonzaga has to pay a very small subsidy for first few years while adjustments are made to budgets).

Institutional Fit
Private, right sized, connections to Creighton, Marquette, Xavier, and Georgetown. Committed to basketball facilities. The McCarthey Athletic Center is a 6k seater that cost approx 35 million in today's dollars. Have the access to Spokane Area - 12k.

Media Market
Gonzaga is a nationally known brand that delivers (#73) Spokane and makes inroads to (#14) Seattle. While they may not deliver the state of Washington (approx 7m pop). They are on the radar their, on the mind of everyone in the Pacific Northwest, and have a national reputation and brand.

Another pro Fox has a new time slot available.

Geography
This is where they "fail" the test for the BIG EAST school side. The name itself doesn't help. Time zones are hard. If presidents can get past this then we have a deal. From an athletics sense, its probably one less road trip OOC game for each team - no big loss there for BIG EAST schools. Time zones for Gonzaga are hard though. They may have to watch their team at 5 or 6pm when on the road and be open to having 6pm tips at home.

When Gonzaga goes through a rough patch in basketball - we all do, this road trips could suck for them and us. Granted each school that is clearly committed (read everyone but DePaul) they should only have 1-2 years of rebuild and trend competitively after.

Cost of Transition

The exit fee for the WCC conference is unknown. It likely ranges from 1 million to 6 million (based on A10 and MAC exits over the years). For comparison the AAC's with 18 months notice lies between 5 and 10 million.

Second is the loss of tourney credits, unless the BIG EAST is going to share, this could put them in a bind in the short term as this is another addition say 2-3 million a year they are missing out on for the first couple years, this is entirely recoverable though as even in down years in the BIG EAST they should receive more than the WCC (long term outlook - past 6 years in the CONF).

Additional Revenue

FOX Contract will pay at least the 4.6m schools are making now, which should cover a majority of the revenue lost to credits. BIG EAST can loan them the money for the WCC exit fee (like it did Butler and Xavier).

Summary/TLDR:
Gonzaga needs to keep telling BIG EAST presidents they don't care about geography and having another WCC member tag along. Gonzaga itself moves the needle of revenue, prestige, and fits in all places but geography. Current Presidents will decide based on perception of geography (dilution of the brand) being greater/lesser than increased brand awareness, strength, and another revenue generating program.

[Jet915]

I agree, I would love to add Gonzaga but supposedly the east coast schools are not in favor of it. You would have to do smart scheduling, ie softball/baseball travel together but I'm sure Gonzaga would say yes if offered.

[phphphonograph]

I agree, I would love to add Gonzaga but supposedly the east coast schools are not in favor of it. You would have to do smart scheduling, ie softball/baseball travel together but I'm sure Gonzaga would say yes if offered.

No softball for the Zags. But yes, their presidents are against it - at least for now - which means Gonzaga's president won't publicly come out and say he supports such a move until he knows most of them are on board (he would get railed for not caring about student-athletes). With smart scheduling the east coast schools add 5 flights per year, and honestly its probably only 3 added flights as most fly everywhere for basketball anyway. Each school would sacrifice a road game in this scenario.

People are worried about what happens if Gonzaga falls off as well, which while fair, doesn't seem like they will become a DePaul anytime soon. Plus they will retain their PNW and International recruiting while trading So Cal for a region that spans from the Midwest to Northeast. They will have access to some of the most fertile recruiting grounds without directly competing at home with any current BIG EAST member.