Gonzaga’s athletic director met in person with the Big 12 commissioner last week as part of a broader discussion about the Top 5 Zags, who played for the national championship two years ago, leaving the West Coast Conference to join a power 5 conference as a basketball only member.
Big 12 aggressive commissioner Bret Yormark met with Zags AD Chris Standiford in Frisco, Texas, while the Zags were in the Dallas area for a secret scrimmage against Tennessee. None of this comes as a surprise. The move backs up Yormark’s aggressive approach to shrft the landscape of college basketball. Gonzaga has been exploring its conference options asit seeks to retain is status of a marquee program. The Zags has had conversations with the Pac-12 and the Big East, but the Big 12 makes the most sense since the Pac-12 seems committed to being an all sports league and the Zags don’t play football. Coast to coast Travel could be an issue in the Big East.
Gonzaga has dominated the WCC, a mid- major conference. If the deal comes through, the Zags could be moving to a conference where members Baylor Kansas have won the past two NCAA tournaments The addition of Gonzaga to the Big 12 would be a rating bonanza for TV partners, ESPN and Fox, who are near agreement on a six year deal with a significant pay raise and more than offset the fact Texas and Oklahoma basketball are leaving for the SEC. Yomark has already upgraded the sport with the addition of Houston, Cincinnati and BYU as new members.
