What's Up With Gonzaga?

[NJRedman]

All of Gonzaga's success has been under Few. He has probably another 10 years at the school if he doesn't leave early. Not a guarantee they will stay as good post Few.

There's no guarantee either way. In fact, an argument could be made that a move to a stronger basketball conference would improve their long-term stability. For example, recruiting is improved for the new programs.

Also playing much stiffer competition in conference will lead to less 1 loss regular seasons and as we seen with our others schools this season the grind that is the BE can take. The grind will be even worse for them with all the cross country flights.

That's their problem, not the problem of the conference. They know what would be involved and have to weigh that in their assessment.

No it's a problem because if they can't handle it and fall off it hurts the conference. If they are a 6-12 Big East team then what value do they bring us?

[Bill Marsh]

Gonzaga is never going to be in the Big East. No amount of stumping is going to change that. They are a fine program. Its too bad they are two time zones outside of the footprint. Let the poor horse rest in peace.

So you don't think that adding Gonzaga along with Wichita State and VCU to the American makes that conference a threat to the Big East? Or you don't think the AAC will add Gonzaga?

[Bill Marsh]

All of Gonzaga's success has been under Few. He has probably another 10 years at the school if he doesn't leave early. Not a guarantee they will stay as good post Few.

There's no guarantee either way. In fact, an argument could be made that a move to a stronger basketball conference would improve their long-term stability. For example, recruiting is improved for the new programs.

Also playing much stiffer competition in conference will lead to less 1 loss regular seasons and as we seen with our others schools this season the grind that is the BE can take. The grind will be even worse for them with all the cross country flights.

That's their problem, not the problem of the conference. They know what would be involved and have to weigh that in their assessment.

No it's a problem because if they can't handle it and fall off it hurts the conference. If they are a 6-12 Big East team then what value do they bring us?

What value have DePaul and St John's brought while their programs have been in the toilet? What value does any program bring when it doesn't attract fans and viewership, and isn't winning games? How does this hypothetical fall off by Gonzaga hurt its conference more than a fall off by any other team?

[NJRedman]

Gonzaga is never going to be in the Big East. No amount of stumping is going to change that. They are a fine program. Its too bad they are two time zones outside of the footprint. Let the poor horse rest in peace.

So you don't think that adding Gonzaga along with Wichita State and VCU to the American makes that conference a threat to the Big East? Or you don't think the AAC will add Gonzaga?

The AAC wont add Gonzaga. They are looking at Wichita St, and if not them then VCU and if not them then Dayton. No one has mentioned the Zags and the AAC. Also even if any of those schools get added to the AAC they would leave if we ever offered them membership.

[NJRedman]

No it's a problem because if they can't handle it and fall off it hurts the conference. If they are a 6-12 Big East team then what value do they bring us?

What value have DePaul and St John's brought while their programs have been in the toilet? What value does any program bring when it doesn't attract fans and viewership, and isn't winning games? How does this hypothetical fall off by Gonzaga hurt its conference more than a fall off by any other team?

Thats a very easy question. The #1 and #3 TV markets in the country with rich recruiting grounds. You're thinking like a fan not a president. A 0-18 DePaul brings more value than a .500 or worse Gonzaga. Gonzaga brings value while being a top flight program. Once they stop being a top flight program they are an albatross around our necks. Thats why these decisions are about more than current success. It's about 10-20-40 years from now. DePaul will always be in Chicago and that alone is worth the price of their admission.

[RedStorm]

The AAC wont add Gonzaga. They are looking at Wichita St, and if not them then VCU and if not them then Dayton. No one has mentioned the Zags and the AAC. Also even if any of those schools get added to the AAC they would leave if we ever offered them membership.

In fact that is their long game strategy to pivot upward into the BE. I think its a smart one in fact. The football schools all want to leave, that league might not exist forever. A slight step up could bolster their BE candidacy IF they can actually dominate the AAC the way they have the A-10 for the next decade. Although I still think theyre longshots to ever make it in.

As for the Zags, really no need for posters here to cite their performance as a pitch for BE membership. That isn't the thing keeping them out. Its because they are in Spokane, Washington. That's the ONLY obstacle. And as stated in the above post, this may be tolerable now, but becomes a problem should they ever fall into irrelevance.

[Edrick]

Gonzaga is never going to be in the Big East. No amount of stumping is going to change that. They are a fine program. Its too bad they are two time zones outside of the footprint. Let the poor horse rest in peace.

So you don't think that adding Gonzaga along with Wichita State and VCU to the American makes that conference a threat to the Big East? Or you don't think the AAC will add Gonzaga?

1. Conferences will do as they will do. It is FAR more likely the AAC falls apart because its core programs leave than being somehow buttressed by a hodgepodge of schools from across the country. The AAC will always be the Island of Misfit Toys. Its not a viable and never will be because everyone is hoping Rudolph is going to show up and take them away.

2. Gonzaga would have absolutely no interest in joining that league anyway. None.

3. I couldn't care less about what is going on with WSU or VCU or Dayton or whomever. It makes no difference. Everyone of those programs would opt to join the Big East immediately if they were admitted, so they have no weight or power for anyone. If they actually did, the Big East would take them.

4. And this is the main one. The Big East will have ten members at least through the end of its present media deal and likely far beyond that because no member institution desires expansion and the only semi-viable target doesnt fit the institutional model. This is not going to change. This whole discussion is completely pointless. The Big East expansion is wholly about UConn's football program. At some point in the future, they do in fact decide to go FCS, why don't we dust off this tired discussion to see if at that point there is a 12th that makes sense?

[muskienick]

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

Yikes!!! Gonzaga and Wichita State would be the "step-children" in that version of the AAC. If the C-7 thought they had it bad in the hybrid Big East, imagine how horrible it would be for the Zags and Shockers, especially knowing full well that at least UConn and Cincy would still be praying for their first possible chance to bolt for one of the Power 5's. Gonzaga and Wichita seem to be doing pretty well for themselves as it is in basketball-centric conferences. It would seem to me that the AAC needs them more than they need the AAC!

[CrawfishBucket]

Yikes!!! Gonzaga and Wichita State would be the "step-children" in that version of the AAC. If the C-7 thought they had it bad in the hybrid Big East, imagine how horrible it would be for the Zags and Shockers, especially knowing full well that at least UConn and Cincy would still be praying for their first possible chance to bolt for one of the Power 5's. Gonzaga and Wichita seem to be doing pretty well for themselves as it is in basketball-centric conferences. It would seem to me that the AAC needs them more than they need the AAC!

I've never understood why it matters if a conference member aspires for upward mobility.
Even in the P5, there are schools that are pining for an upward move. Ever member of every conference not named the B1G or SEC can likely be poached. However, I doubt anyone in Austin is sweating losing Baylor or Iowa State to the B1G (even though the Cyclones are more of a natural fit there). Mizzou has long made their hopes known that they would someday get into the B1G. And even though they're in the SEC now, if the B1G offers they are gone.
It's just the nature of the beast. There are only so many spots. For there to be more movement, it will need to start with one P5 cannibalizing another P5 (first) and with the grants of rights it's very easy to know where those fault lines are located. The next Grant of Rights to pay attention to is the Big 12 8 years from now. When that comes up, either the B1G or ACC (or Pac 12) will be eyeing those teams.
For UConn or Cinny to get any play in 8 years, they are going to have their eyes on the Big 12 in a backfill situation. For that to happen, they're going to need to leapfrog Houston (in the case that Texas leaves), Memphis, the Florida schools, etc.
I just don't see how those teams (Wichita State and Gonzaga) have any more to worry about regarding UConn than the Georgia Bulldogs do regarding Mizzou. The Big 12 already settled with the networks on their expansion clauses.

[Bill Marsh]

Gonzaga is never going to be in the Big East. No amount of stumping is going to change that. They are a fine program. Its too bad they are two time zones outside of the footprint. Let the poor horse rest in peace.

So you don't think that adding Gonzaga along with Wichita State and VCU to the American makes that conference a threat to the Big East? Or you don't think the AAC will add Gonzaga?

1. Conferences will do as they will do. It is FAR more likely the AAC falls apart because its core programs leave than being somehow buttressed by a hodgepodge of schools from across the country. The AAC will always be the Island of Misfit Toys. Its not a viable and never will be because everyone is hoping Rudolph is going to show up and take them away.

2. Gonzaga would have absolutely no interest in joining that league anyway. None.

3. I couldn't care less about what is going on with WSU or VCU or Dayton or whomever. It makes no difference. Everyone of those programs would opt to join the Big East immediately if they were admitted, so they have no weight or power for anyone. If they actually did, the Big East would take them.

4. And this is the main one. The Big East will have ten members at least through the end of its present media deal and likely far beyond that because no member institution desires expansion and the only semi-viable target doesnt fit the institutional model. This is not going to change. This whole discussion is completely pointless. The Big East expansion is wholly about UConn's football program. At some point in the future, they do in fact decide to go FCS, why don't we dust off this tired discussion to see if at that point there is a 12th that makes sense?

Even more pointless is the repeated pining for UConn. It's not happening. Wake up and smell the coffee. You're so set on UConn that you're already looking forward to who is #12? Make that #11. UConn is a pipe dream.