Zags to Mountain West next year?

[Pakuni]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/gonzaga-to-the-mountain-west-zags-hope-to-reach-conference-decision-in-next-two-weeks/

[GGGG]

This move makes a lot of sense for the MWC.  They have 12 football members with Hawaii parking their non-football sports in the Big West.  This would give them 12 full members.

I'm not sure this is a great long-term move for Gonzaga though.  Sure it gives their basketball program a tougher schedule, but is being the only private school in this conference were you want to be with all of your athletic programs?

[D'Lo Brown]

This move makes a lot of sense for the MWC.  They have 12 football members with Hawaii parking their non-football sports in the Big West.  This would give them 12 full members.

I'm not sure this is a great long-term move for Gonzaga though.  Sure it gives their basketball program a tougher schedule, but is being the only private school in this conference were you want to be with all of your athletic programs?

Can you explain the reasoning here? I'm just curious to know your thoughts.

[tower912]

A basketball-only school in a conference of football teams means that you are forever at the mercy of football related decisions.    You are a junior partner. 

[GGGG]

Yeah I should have said expanded. They are going to be a private, basketball school in a conference of public, football schools. It may make sense in the short term, but what if Few leaves and his successor sucks? 

[D'Lo Brown]

Yeah I should have said expanded. They are going to be a private, basketball school in a conference of public, football schools. It may make sense in the short term, but what if Few leaves and his successor sucks?

So you're basically saying that they could be voted off the island easily, since they don't have any leverage beyond Few/Zags basketball. Small private school, no football.

I was just curious if you meant that being a private school was an independent variable in this whole thing, that them being private could cause it to not work out by itself.

[GGGG]

So you're basically saying that they could be voted off the island easily, since they don't have any leverage beyond Few/Zags basketball. Small private school, no football.

I was just curious if you meant that being a private school was an independent variable in this whole thing, that them being private could cause it to not work out by itself.

I think there are considerations that a private schools can have some issues keeping up with larger public schools funding wise.  That is more of a football issue though.

[GooooMarquette]

Kind of ironic that BYU moved the other direction a few years back to get their hoops program aligned with Gonzaga and St. Mary's. They're publicly downplaying it, but they're probably pissed.

[GGGG]

Kind of ironic that BYU moved the other direction a few years back to get their hoops program aligned with Gonzaga and St. Mary's. They're publicly downplaying it, but they're probably pissed.

They moved there because they had to put their non football teams somewhere. And they were the obvious best choice.

The decision to make football independent hasn't worked out for them.

[GGGG]

Zags are staying in WCC.

The WCC is allowing teams to keep a greater portion of the tournament shares they earn, reduce the number of conference games down to 16, and allows #1 and #2 seeds to enter conference tournaments at the semifinal round.

[GGGG]

So they are going from a true round robin to two games less to preserve the Zags strength of schedule.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

So they are going from a true round robin to two games less to preserve the Zags strength of schedule.

Plus it's two more games for St. Mary's to not schedule anybody.

[i71_dawg]

Plus it's two more games for St. Mary's to not schedule anybody.

I thought this very same thing when I heard about the reduced number of conference games!     LOL

.

[MU82]

So they are going from a true round robin to two games less to preserve the Zags strength of schedule.

It was a negotiation. The Zags had clout and used it.

[GGGG]

It was a negotiation. The Zags had clout and used it.

Oh I know.

The interesting thing is that after BYU joined, the conference had nine teams.  But then in 2012 they invited Pacific to join, increasing their true round robin to 18 games a year.

So why did they invite Pacific to join?

[MU82]

Oh I know.

The interesting thing is that after BYU joined, the conference had nine teams.  But then in 2012 they invited Pacific to join, increasing their true round robin to 18 games a year.

So why did they invite Pacific to join?

Good question. Maybe the Zags hadn't clouted them before then?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Anytime one team has this much power over the rest of the conference it is a dangerous situation.

On reducing the number of conference games...what happens if the two games Gonzaga gets taken off are the second games against BYU and Saint Marys...further damaging their SOS? I'd laugh

[MU82]

Anytime one team has this much power over the rest of the conference it is a dangerous situation.

On reducing the number of conference games...what happens if the two games Gonzaga gets taken off are the second games against BYU and Saint Marys...further damaging their SOS? I'd laugh

Maybe they are guaranteed those 2 games, just as UNC and Duke are guaranteed 2 games against each other every year. They demanded that as a condition of expansion.

[Herman Cain]

In the worth noting category, it is worth noting that despite 20 straight years of going to the NCAA, Gonzaga still has one of the smallest endowments in the West Coast Conference. They really have not taken full advantage of converting their success in basketball to the university in general. 

The problem with the WCC is the bottom dwellers are very bad.  I think eventually though one of the bottom dwellers in that conference will  decide to tap their resources and step up their commitment to basketball and we may see a fourth decent team to complement Gonzaga, BYU and St . Marys.  Until that type of thing happens, I believe the league was smart to make the changes they did as it will help keep all 3 of the top teams healthy .