(11-18-2014 08:11 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  Gonzaga is fine where they are IMO. They have been to 16 straight tournaments. They have earned a #1 seed. BYU and Saint Mary's are in the tournament discussion every year, and there are a couple other schools in the conference who are competitive as well. They are able to get all the SOS out of conference they need. They are in a league with like-minded schools that make geographic sense. What conference would they be better off in? Only one I can think of is the Big East, but the geography is just not logical. I don't think the Mountain West is enough of an upgrade to warrant consideration. They aren't getting in the Pac 12. So I think they are content where they are.

Gonzaga disagrees. They actively lobbied for inclusiong in the Big East and are on record as saying they'd like to join.

Exactly, they have done studies on the travel expenses and were trying to get into the Big East. Supposedly, it is mainly the east coast Big East schools that are against adding Gonzaga.

(11-23-2014 01:17 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  

(11-18-2014 10:19 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  Unless Elgin Baylor finds the fountain of youth and some more eligibility, I don't see how adding Seattle does anything. Their name means as much as San Francisco now days (insert Bill Russell and Cartwright into that last thought).

The program(s) to try and add are Creighton (ha, maybe 5 years ago) and maybe NDSU if they wanted to make an exception and add a public (odd fit though, obviously).

Creighton?

They very probably wouldn't have left the MVC but like most of the WCC schools they are Catholic (Jesuit) and are far enough west that playing in the WCC isn't as much of a stretch as GU in the Big East. They may have been enticed by the idea because of BYU if not for the invitation to the nBE. That would be a potential 4-5 bid league (SMC, GU, BYU, CU and if someone else stole the auto-bid).

(11-23-2014 01:18 AM)Melky Cabrera Wrote:  

(11-18-2014 08:11 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  Gonzaga is fine where they are IMO. They have been to 16 straight tournaments. They have earned a #1 seed. BYU and Saint Mary's are in the tournament discussion every year, and there are a couple other schools in the conference who are competitive as well. They are able to get all the SOS out of conference they need. They are in a league with like-minded schools that make geographic sense. What conference would they be better off in? Only one I can think of is the Big East, but the geography is just not logical. I don't think the Mountain West is enough of an upgrade to warrant consideration. They aren't getting in the Pac 12. So I think they are content where they are.

Gonzaga disagrees. They actively lobbied for inclusiong in the Big East and are on record as saying they'd like to join.

Obviously they are an excellent fit aside from geography. Of course, they pretty much already have to fly everywhere anyway. The Big East is much better money, exposure, and competition, so I do understand why they would want in. As long as BYU is in the WCC, I personally think they are in a good spot, but that's obviously not for me to judge.

Like I've said many times before, they'd have been in the A-10 and looked at as just about any quasi-major program (St. Joes, UMass, George Wash., etc...) if they were at least east of the Rockies.