Zags want in

[Pakuni]

Despite the geographical/travel hurdles, I'd much rather add Gonzaga to the C7 than any of the A-10 schools.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/69795/3-point-shot-gonzaga-eying-big-east

1. While the Big East's seven non-FBS basketball schools are deciding what course of action to take next, there is one school that would love to be a part of any new conference or conglomerate: Gonzaga. Sources say the Zags would love to part with the West Coast Conference and be a member of a national, branded basketball conference. The theory is that if Boise State and San Diego State can be in the Big East for football, then why couldn't Gonzaga in a basketball version? Of course, the easy response is that football is played once a week and there is usually a maximum of four or five league road games. Still, the Zags are looking out for themselves and would like to be positioned with fellow national Catholic-based schools instead of regional ones in the WCC. Gonzaga might not have a choice, but is starting to be a bit more proactive if an opportunity arises.

[GGGG]

I'd take a pass.  Way too much of a geographic outlier.

[Chicos' Buzz Scandal Countdown]

Dumb question: How would the travel costs be distributed? Is that 100% on Gonzaga (if this happens), or would the league have to chip in since theirs would be higher than others?

[jficke13]

If, *if*, the schools can make the logistics work, then the Zags are a great add for hoops.

I'm working on the assumption that the plan is to get the best basketball schools that are not football schools together, and create a conference that in hoops can hang with the football conferences. Adding Gonzaga would be a step in that direction.

Making it work, of course, is the key

[hairy worthen]

Dumb question: How would the travel costs be distributed? Is that 100% on Gonzaga (if this happens), or would the league have to chip in since theirs would be higher than others?

They will play some home games

[M@RQUETTEW@RRIORS]

I'd take a pass.  Way too much of a geographic outlier.

You take them with open arms.  Theya are a good insurance policy in case Georgetown somehow gets into the ACC.  Dont put it past the football schools to take G-Town simply to try to muddy the waters of the BBall only conference.

[Pakuni]

I'd take a pass.  Way too much of a geographic outlier.

The days of regional/geography-based conferences are over. Syracuse and Louisville are in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Colorado is in the Pacific 12. Missouri is in the Southeastern Conference. West Virginia is in the Big 12. A team from Jersey is in the Big 10. Teams from Boise and San Diego have been accepted into the Big East.
Geography no longer matters.

The idea here, hopefully, is to build a national brand, not a regional one. You do that better with a consistently good and nationally recognized program like Gonzaga than a more conveniently located, but lesser, program like Dayton or UMass. It almost certainly would be more appealing to the networks ... which seems sort of important to consider.

[brewcity77]

If Gonzaga wants in, take them. The travel costs for the East Coast teams wouldn't be that large as it's be at most one game. If they want to pay for their team(s) to travel, let them do it and reap the benefits of another name brand basketball school. I'd consider also adding a St Mary's or BYU as a travel pairing.

Also, this shows that there's no reason for Marquette to go the big fish/small pond route. Butler and VCU have already abandoned that method, and if even Gonzaga wants out it's clearly not the way to go forward.

[MarquetteDano]

*IF* Gonzaga was in, would we think about making an offer to BYU since their football is independent?  Or is this too dangerous as sooner or later they will flee to a conference that has football?

[GGGG]

The days of regional/geography-based conferences are over. Syracuse and Louisville are in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Colorado is in the Pacific 12. Missouri is in the Southeastern Conference. West Virginia is in the Big 12. A team from Jersey is in the Big 10. Teams from Boise and San Diego have been accepted into the Big East.
Geography no longer matters.

These are completely different situations.  First of all, they involve football, so the $$ that we are talking about are huge compared to basketball.  In the Big East case, they are football only - and really is the BE model one that we should follow???  Second, most of the additions you reference above are simply expansions into bordering geographic areas.  The only exception to that is the West Virginia to B12 - which was the meeting of two desperate partners more than anything.

And finally, I really don't think Gonzaga has the national cache that you think it does.  At least not enough to make 2,000 - 3,000 mile roadtrips worth the time and expense.  C'mon...an "insurance policy" in case Georgetown leaves???  They have nowhere near that sort of identity.  

I'd rather not.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

My main concern would be that Gonzaga basketball would suffer. They've carved out a niche and Few knows how to recruit it. Imagine situations like having to fly to NY to play St. John's on Tuesday night, fly back to eastern Washington for a home game on Saturday, fly to Philadelphia for another week night game and then make a stop in Rhode Island on your way back. This isn't the NBA.

[jficke13]

*IF* Gonzaga was in, would we think about making an offer to BYU since their football is independent?  Or is this too dangerous as sooner or later they will flee to a conference that has football?

I really would prefer that any new conference avoid those types of situations. It's just inviting another round of restructuring a few years down the road. Frankly, I'm sick and d*mn tired of it.

Build a hoops only conference that can survive regardless of what happens with the football playing schools musical chairs game

[MU82]

Most of these 7 schools think nothing of plunking down $$$ to fly all over the place. One trip every other year to Gonzaga would not be a big deal.  I agree Gonzaga is not an insurance policy against Georgetown leaving because the TV markets are apples and oranges -- any conference would rather have D.C. than Spokane. But Gonzaga is a good "basketball brand," perhaps even a national one by now, and they'd be a fine addition to any hoops conference.

[bilsu]

Having Gonzaga would be great. It also indicates that the Catholic 7 Big East would be a national conference with a large number of schools. I suspect San Diego St would also join. Maybe St Mary's. The question is how many teams and how many divisions. MU and DePaul are the western most schools of the Catholic 7, so would they end up in Western Division? DePaul, MU, Creighton, St. Louis, Gonzaga ? ? ?
Eight team, nine team or ten team divisions? It could be even larger with 4 divisions of 6.

[GGGG]

Most of these 7 schools think nothing of plunking down $$$ to fly all over the place. One trip every other year to Gonzaga would not be a big deal.  I agree Gonzaga is not an insurance policy against Georgetown leaving because the TV markets are apples and oranges -- any conference would rather have D.C. than Spokane. But Gonzaga is a good "basketball brand," perhaps even a national one by now, and they'd be a fine addition to any hoops conference.

But it's not one trip.  There are other sports involved as well.

[Hards Alumni]

I'm totally lukewarm on Gonzaga joining the BEAST

[RushmoreAcademy]

From a basketball standpoint, I'd welcome them.

[M@RQUETTEW@RRIORS]

These are completely different situations.  First of all, they involve football, so the $$ that we are talking about are huge compared to basketball.  In the Big East case, they are football only - and really is the BE model one that we should follow???  Second, most of the additions you reference above are simply expansions into bordering geographic areas.  The only exception to that is the West Virginia to B12 - which was the meeting of two desperate partners more than anything.

And finally, I really don't think Gonzaga has the national cache that you think it does.  At least not enough to make 2,000 - 3,000 mile roadtrips worth the time and expense.  C'mon...an "insurance policy" in case Georgetown leaves???  They have nowhere near that sort of identity.  

I'd rather not.

I think you over emphasize the "National Cache" that Georgetown has...

Who says all sports have to travel to Gonzaga?

There are also some teams out west you could pair with Gonzaga. 

[MarquetteDano]

But it's not one trip.  There are other sports involved as well.

Maybe the Zags stay in another conference for other sports?  A stretch I guess but you never know.

[bilsu]

Maybe the Zags stay in another conference for other sports?  A stretch I guess but you never know.

I think this might be the trend for all of the schools. The new conference is likely to be a basketball only conference, especially if it goes coast to coast.

[jficke13]

I think this might be the trend for all of the schools. The new conference is likely to be a basketball only conference, especially if it goes coast to coast.

I don't have a problem with this as long as it doesn't involve football schools. Enough is enough with the instability they bring.

[brewcity77]

*IF* Gonzaga was in, would we think about making an offer to BYU since their football is independent?  Or is this too dangerous as sooner or later they will flee to a conference that has football?

It's not dangerous at all as long as you have a base of 12 basketball schools. The problem we have now is football drives the bus. And when all the new football schools arrive, the basketball schools will be right back where they were at the whim of places like Connecticut, Louisville, and Syracuse. However if we remove football from the equation, allow football schools to play basketball in our conference while parking their football programs elsewhere, the worst thing that happens is they leave. If they do we still have a strong basketball foundation, and can replace them with whomever we choose. There's nothing at all wrong with having football playing schools in our conference, as long as they realize that the basketball schools are the ones in control.

[Pakuni]

These are completely different situations.  First of all, they involve football, so the $$ that we are talking about are huge compared to basketball.  In the Big East case, they are football only - and really is the BE model one that we should follow???  Second, most of the additions you reference above are simply expansions into bordering geographic areas.  The only exception to that is the West Virginia to B12 - which was the meeting of two desperate partners more than anything.

And finally, I really don't think Gonzaga has the national cache that you think it does.  At least not enough to make 2,000 - 3,000 mile roadtrips worth the time and expense.  C'mon...an "insurance policy" in case Georgetown leaves???  They have nowhere near that sort of identity.  

I'd rather not.

Think you're overstating the travel issues and understating Gonzaga's national cache.

Regarding travel, schedules would and could easily be arranged so that East Coast programs would travel out west once every other year. That's not that big of a deal. I don't see how, for example, Providence to Milwaukee or St. Louis is totally acceptable, but that extra couple hours on an airplane to Spokane once every 24 months is somehow a deal killer. You're going to turn this down over four hours flight time every two years? (and yes, I realize that's for multiple teams ... still not a big deal).
Obviously if Gonzaga is expressing interest, they've already worked out in their minds that travel is not a barrier to making this happen, at least from their side ... where the majority of travel issues exist.

As for cache, it's not a matter of Gonzaga vs. Georgetown. That's not the choice. It's Gonzaga vs Dayton or UMass or St. Joe's o St. Bonnie. The Zags are by far the best option there.
And Gonzaga has a larger cache than most of the C7 and all of the A-10. The College Licensing Company puts out an annual list of the 75 most popular schools, in terms of merchandise sales. Last year's relevant ranks:
58. Georgetown
67. Villanova
69. Gonzaga
73. Marquette

All other C7/A-10 schools failed to make the list.
Admittedly, this is just one measure of "cache", but by this one measure, the Zags outrank everyone other than Georgetown and Nova, and they were ahead of Nova on the 2010 list.

[dgies9156]

Do any of you people travel for a living?

Here's the reality. Gonzaga is in Spokane. It's probably three hours from Milwaukee to Spokane on average (actually about 3.5 westbound and under three eastbound). Don't know if we charter or travel commercial, but as long as you don't fly through Chicago, Sea-Tac or MSP, those times should hold.

Now, we play UConn. From Milwaukee to Hartford and Storrs and UConn on a good day is about 2.25 hours. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. I don't see what the big difference is for us.

You can argue what you want to with Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova etc., but that's their problem. I like the idea of Gonzaga in our conference. They play tough basketball; they win; and, they have a national following.

What more can you ask for?

[GGGG]

Those are solid points.  (And I only brought up the Georgetown comparison because someone brought it up as an insurance policy...)