LOS ANGELES: In approximately two weeks the University of Gonzaga will have the chance to become the 12th member of the Mountain West conference. Rumors surrounding Gonzaga’s potential move to the Mountain West have been circling around since last April.
“We’d like to be done with all this in the next couple weeks, but there is no deadline,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. “The time crunch is self-imposed. We’re not getting any pressure. We’re going to do what’s right for Gonzaga.”
Discussions regarding the conference realignment have picked up rapidly as Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth was seen talking to Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson during Gonzaga’s matchup in the final four in Los Angeles.
There have been talks among Media members that the Mountain West is looking to expand to 14-16 teams. An expansion including BYU seems to be the next target for the conference. However, Thompson noted that the topic was not discussed with his conversations with Roth in Los Angeles.
If Gonzaga joined the Mountain West Conference, CBSsports.com estimated it would result in about $375,000 annually from the conference’s TV contract.
Joining the Mountain West would improve the bottom half of Gonzaga’s schedule, which has depleted their RPI over recent years. Gonzaga has dominated the WCC for over two decades. So putting the program in a new environment would provide new energy to the Mid Major Giant. According to KenPom, the Mountain West is ranked 8th while the WCC is ranked 11th. It’s seems like a just a slight upgrade, the competitive perception around the program will be surely elevated. The Mountain West has been a 1-2 bid over the last four years. However, the Mountain West had the third best conference RPI in 2013 when they sent 5 teams to the NCAA tournament.
Gonzaga has made 20 consecutive NCAA tournaments and has made the Sweet 16 in each of the last three years including a national championship appearance in 2017. The Zags will have two weeks to make the decision that will change their program and will cause other conference alignment dominos to fall.