Since Mark Few took over Gonzaga’s basketball program in 1999, it’s been pure dominance in the West Coast Conference. After a 98-39 win last night over Santa Clara (yeah, that’s 59 points, no typo), the Bulldogs are now 6-0 to start conference play. But that’s not the bad part. Gonzaga has won those six games by an average of 31.2 points.
One thing I won’t knock Gonzaga for is their non-conference scheduling. They played (and beat) the likes of Texas A&M, Illinois, Arizona, Duke, Creighton, and Washington. Their only two losses this year came against Tennessee and North Carolina. Scheduling hasn’t been a problem for the Bulldogs, and its shown in their previous tournament results that they’ve been prepared to start playing tough games after sleepwalking through conference play. They’ve won at least two NCAA Tournament games the last four years, including a national championship loss to North Carolina in 2016-17. In fact, the Zags have made the tournament every single year under Mark Few.
The Problem
So what’s the issue? A program of Gonzaga’s stature shouldn’t compete in the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga has won an NCAA record 27 straight non-conference road games, and are 84-9 overall against conference opponents the past five seasons. They’ve won both the regular season and conference tournament championship in each of those five seasons. Not like they really need the automatic bid to qualify, but it’s by far the easiest path to the NCAA Tournament every single year when the Bulldogs are that much better and have the recruiting abilities that no one else in the WCC even comes close to.
I’m not knocking Gonzaga as a program. What Mark Few has done with that university is truly impressive. But why beat up every conference opponent every year when you could be bettering yourself for a championship run? It’s crazy that Gonzaga has been allowed to have such a hold over their conference for this long.
To add insult to injury for other members of the WCC, Gonzaga more than doubles every single team in their conference outside of BYU. They don’t play with WCC level money, so why is it okay for them to beat up the WCC on the court?
The Solution
We’ve identified the problem. So how about a solution? Well, Gonzaga actually identified the problem this offseason and was offered a chance to join the Mountain West Conference. Not exactly a Power 5 conference, but nonetheless a chance to compete against the likes of Nevada, San Diego State, and New Mexico, among others. But Gonzaga turned it down. They opted to remain in the WCC for the 40th straight year and continue to dominate. My perfect solution? Have Gonzaga join the Pac 12. They’ve already built some rivalries with Washington and Arizona, and the move would only help the school revenue wise. The travel wouldn’t be bad, and most importantly the competition would be much stronger. A PAC 12 move may seem highly unlikely, but one thing is for certain. The NCAA cannot allow Gonzaga to keep beating up an awful conference.
