Pac-12 Departures

It's a shame the sports where the athletes are still actually students will now face new hurdles at those schools so football can belly up to a bigger trough.

On the GU board a few say there is now no excuse for them not to join the Big East. But I don't think the Big East will give them $100,000,000 like USC and UCLA are getting.

up7587 wrote:On the GU board a few say there is now no excuse for them not to join the Big East. But I don't think the Big East will give them $100,000,000 like USC and UCLA are getting.

I do think this is truly a "now or never" moment for Gonzaga. It's a true test of whether they will put their academic or athletic mission in front*. Thus far, there is no reason to believe that the WCC was preventing them from winning a championship, but the monetary gulf might become too great to ignore. Overall, I think it's a pretty simple equation for them: if joining the Big East nets them enough money that they are profitable even after flying the soccer/tennis/cross country/baseball/golf/rowing/etc. teams out there, then they are as good as gone.

To answer DD's earlier question to me: across the pond. Can be more specific later.

*I am sure we would hear something about how this is best for their "student-athletes" or how the additional revenue (e.g., TV, sponsorship, tickets, donations) generated from the Big East actually supports the academic side. I'm sure the faculty will be pleased.

Coaches in the UCLA and USC Olympic sports are irate. They will receive no benefit from the move, their travel will be greatly increased ( I steerage, not on chartered Jets) and they will loose the recruiting advantage of playing in a sunny, warm climate year round. Playing soccer in Wisconsin or Minnesota in November doesn’t sound very California girl to me.

Come to California. We’ll include snow pants in your sideline kit.

One coach sent the AD a spreadsheet that showed travel time doubled or tripled in many sports.

All around it’s a big loss for the Olympic sports.

Geezaldinho wrote:All around it’s a big loss for the Olympic sports.

Yup, but they don't draw any eyeballs to Fox Sports or butts in the seats at the Rose Bowl and L.A. Coliseum.

The Zag fans wanting them to jump to the Big East will result in similar difficulties for their Olympic sports. Other Zag fans think they can get into a reconfigured Pac-12 instead.

up7587 wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:All around it’s a big loss for the Olympic sports.

Yup, but they don't draw any eyeballs to Fox Sports or butts in the seats at the Rose Bowl and L.A. Coliseum.

The Zag fans wanting them to jump to the Big East will result in similar difficulties for their Olympic sports.  Other Zag fans think they can get into a reconfigured Pac-12 instead.

When is the last time Gonzaga offered football?

Geezaldinho wrote:

up7587 wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:All around it’s a big loss for the Olympic sports.

Yup, but they don't draw any eyeballs to Fox Sports or butts in the seats at the Rose Bowl and L.A. Coliseum.

The Zag fans wanting them to jump to the Big East will result in similar difficulties for their Olympic sports.  Other Zag fans think they can get into a reconfigured Pac-12 instead.

When is the last time Gonzaga offered football?

Jon Wilner, who broke the story on the Pac-12 departures, has an article about Pac-12 expansion considerations.

Jon Wilner wrote:Gonzaga: This is the boldest stroke available to Kliavkoff, albeit one that does not involve football and thus carries limited media rights value. (Then again, there aren't any football options with significant media rights value.)

Snatching the Zags from the West Coast Conference — as a basketball-only member — would give the Pac-12 instant credibility and a reasonable competitive response to UCLA's departure.

If the conference opted to expand its basketball offerings, it could attempt to poach Saint Mary's, as well.

Then again, every school in the Pacific Northwest might object to adding the Zags. If there's a tiger prowling in your backyard, why let it inside the house?

https://www.ksl.com/article/50435583/pac-12-survival-guide-expansion-options-if-the-conference-holds-together

Where would GU's other sports play if they tried to move basketball to the Pac-12? The WAC? The Mountain West? I can't imagine that the WCC would be willing to keep them around.