(09-13-2021 12:13 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:53 AM)solohawks Wrote:  At the bare minimum, a current program is going to have to add softball

An associate member for softball can take care of that. A D-I conference has to have at least six teams for every "olympic" sport it sponsors, but they don't all have to be full members.

All other 32 D1 conferences sponsor softball

Its going to be tough to get an affiliate

Gonzaga currently doesn't sponsor softball

I suppose If they want to stay at 9, Gonzaga could add it

(09-13-2021 12:06 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:58 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I know that markets aren't supposed to matter these days but it's hard for me to fathom that a conference with a presence in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Portland would not take advantage of an opportunity to plant the flag in Seattle.

Gonzaga would make the case that Gonzaga plants the flag there.

Fair point. And they are well-covered by the Seattle media.

(09-13-2021 11:35 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-11-2021 02:34 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  CBU 18-19 to present, 50-35, .588 W-L% and 23-21 in the WAC
SU 17-18 to present, 64-55 .538 W-L% and 25-28 in the WAC
DU 17-18 to present 32-80 .285 W-L% and 14-45 in the Summit
GCU 17-18 to present 72-50 .599 W-L% and 36-22 in the WAC
w/ Reg WAC Championship and WAC Tournament Championship 1 NCAA tournament appearance.

Again, the clear choices for the WCC are:

(1) Add no one and stay at nine members.
(2) Go for the strong institutional and cultural fit, and add Seattle
(3) Forget about (2), look solely at men's basketball program strength, and add Grand Canyon

It's extremely unlikely the WCC will do anything other than one of those three options.

You don't think Cal Baptist has a chance?

Private, Religious based school in Southern California that would fill in the map nicely as a travel partner for San Diego

If they can't find a softball school (Seattle, CBU, and GCU all sponsor it, Denver does not) maybe the WAC or someone just adds the 5 WCC schools as affiliate members? While I'm sure the WCC schools care about their softball programs I can't imagine it's really going to play that big of a role in what the WCC does.

(09-13-2021 12:36 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:06 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:58 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I know that markets aren't supposed to matter these days but it's hard for me to fathom that a conference with a presence in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Portland would not take advantage of an opportunity to plant the flag in Seattle.

Gonzaga would make the case that Gonzaga plants the flag there.

Fair point. And they are well-covered by the Seattle media.

Seattle is the best choice if they are interested in one school. Seattle checks every box accept the Gonzaga box. I think Gonzaga does not want to elevate the Seattle program. Seattle will be moving back into the renovated Climate Pledge Arena this fall, an NBA ready arena. In a city with two D1 schools and no NBA team, they could really take-off as a basketball program. There is a lot of basketball talent in the Seattle area. I think they should move to 12 and add Seattle, CBU, and GCU. All three have a lot of upside and that is what the WCC should be focused on. Not what they are at this moment in time, what they can be.

(09-13-2021 01:03 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:35 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-11-2021 02:34 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  CBU 18-19 to present, 50-35, .588 W-L% and 23-21 in the WAC
SU 17-18 to present, 64-55 .538 W-L% and 25-28 in the WAC
DU 17-18 to present 32-80 .285 W-L% and 14-45 in the Summit
GCU 17-18 to present 72-50 .599 W-L% and 36-22 in the WAC
w/ Reg WAC Championship and WAC Tournament Championship 1 NCAA tournament appearance.

Again, the clear choices for the WCC are:

(1) Add no one and stay at nine members.
(2) Go for the strong institutional and cultural fit, and add Seattle
(3) Forget about (2), look solely at men's basketball program strength, and add Grand Canyon

It's extremely unlikely the WCC will do anything other than one of those three options.

You don't think Cal Baptist has a chance?

Private, Religious based school in Southern California that would fill in the map nicely as a travel partner for San Diego

I'm looking at this as if I was betting on the outcome, i.e., what is the best bet or the most likely outcome.

Seattle U is a cultural and institutional fit with the other WCC schools. All of them other than Pacific and Pepperdine are Catholic universities, similar sizes and histories.

My guess is that the WCC presidents would look at Cal Baptist as an institution the same way they look at Grand Canyon. So if they are dead-set on adding one more member, and if they have to eliminate Seattle to please Gonzaga, then Grand Canyon would be the WCC's choice because of their superior athletic department.

(09-13-2021 03:14 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 01:03 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:35 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-11-2021 02:34 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  CBU 18-19 to present, 50-35, .588 W-L% and 23-21 in the WAC
SU 17-18 to present, 64-55 .538 W-L% and 25-28 in the WAC
DU 17-18 to present 32-80 .285 W-L% and 14-45 in the Summit
GCU 17-18 to present 72-50 .599 W-L% and 36-22 in the WAC
w/ Reg WAC Championship and WAC Tournament Championship 1 NCAA tournament appearance.

Again, the clear choices for the WCC are:

(1) Add no one and stay at nine members.
(2) Go for the strong institutional and cultural fit, and add Seattle
(3) Forget about (2), look solely at men's basketball program strength, and add Grand Canyon

It's extremely unlikely the WCC will do anything other than one of those three options.

You don't think Cal Baptist has a chance?

Private, Religious based school in Southern California that would fill in the map nicely as a travel partner for San Diego

I'm looking at this as if I was betting on the outcome, i.e., what is the best bet or the most likely outcome.

Seattle U is a cultural and institutional fit with the other WCC schools. All of them other than Pacific and Pepperdine are Catholic universities, similar sizes and histories.

My guess is that the WCC presidents would look at Cal Baptist as an institution the same way they look at Grand Canyon. So if they are dead-set on adding one more member, and if they have to eliminate Seattle to please Gonzaga, then Grand Canyon would be the WCC's choice because of their superior athletic department.

Grand Canyon would be my 2nd choice after Seattle. Denver would be my true top choice but that’ll never happen.

GCU is definitely a not until hell freezes over "no" for every President of the WCC. This is never happening. I mean like τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων οὒ οὔ!

Cal Baptists is in California which helps. But it's lack of pedigree institutionally and newness to D1 hurts it. But the school itself is not disqualified for any reason, it just isn't there athletically or institutionally. That is why I say "distant future" possibility. That could be well over a decade or even two or more.

Seattle is an excellent institutional fit, and would work with Portland. But Gonzaga is not allowing any athletic weakling in period. I also think the California schools are ambivalent as trips to Seattle are not cheap and it's hard to justify for a weakling. If Seattle can start attracting more than flies to their games and do something on the court worth noting over the next few years or so, then I think the California schools would come around. Right now it's "show me" and so far they haven't shown anything. Their fate is in their own hands. Produce a couple WAC Championships and get 3,000 fans in the stands, then even Gonzaga will want you.

(09-13-2021 12:36 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:06 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:58 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I know that markets aren't supposed to matter these days but it's hard for me to fathom that a conference with a presence in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Portland would not take advantage of an opportunity to plant the flag in Seattle.

Gonzaga would make the case that Gonzaga plants the flag there.

Fair point. And they are well-covered by the Seattle media.

I guess I’m a little curious what the overall vibe feels like within the WCC. How the other members and conference brass feel about Gonzaga and leveraging the MWC for basketball operation concessions. Is there some/any resentment or other grumblings about how Gonzaga holds itself?

Because part of me knows there’s some support for a Seattle return to the WCC. I got the impression that part of Seattle’s “recovery project” in returning to D1 is also returning to its former conference. There’s stuff out there where Seattle administrators even say they peg themselves to the WCC schools.

Is there enough of a groundswell in WCC against Gonzaga cutting off Seattle proper by way of nixing Seattle U.? Not that the WCC would die on this hill for Seattle, but will die on that hill not letting one member call all of the shots?

Looking at Seattle's OOC schedule, they have played Portland pretty much every year for the past few seasons, but otherwise don't seem to have that many games against WCC teams (The most I saw in a season was 3 -Portland, St Mary's, and Pacific). From 2012 - 2016 they didn't play any WCC schools OOC. I don't know that it means much of anything, but I sorta thought I'd see more WCC teams playing Seattle OOC, if there's some level of support for Seattle to the WCC.

(09-08-2021 01:05 PM)JSchmack Wrote:  I'm assuming no one has been talking about what the WCC does if BYU leaves because the answer is: "Whatever Gonzaga wants."

One thing that could influence it, is the travel/schedule. When BYU joined, the WCC told Pacific "Nah, we're good" (for like the 40th time). But then they started booking their basketball road trips and realized "This is insane, why can't we have good travel partners?" And the answer was because you're playing two games a weekend in a league with three trios: Bay Area, SoCal, and Pac NW/BYU. And that's when they called Pacific.


The good news for the WCC though, is that there's a new candidate that wasn't available for them last time, and it's really the only candidate that makes any sense.

So.... when does the WCC add Cal Baptist? After a year of 9 teams and bad travel, or after Gonzaga leaves?

Would it make sense for WCC to add both Seattle (assuming Gonzaga's approval and them playing in Climate Pledge Arena unless they get a better on campus facility)? - 11 members allows for a 20 game double round-robin conference schedule

We’ll join! Seriously, we’ll take just about any lifeboat off our sinking ship

(09-14-2021 08:25 AM)Cruhawk Wrote:  

(09-08-2021 01:05 PM)JSchmack Wrote:  I'm assuming no one has been talking about what the WCC does if BYU leaves because the answer is: "Whatever Gonzaga wants."

One thing that could influence it, is the travel/schedule. When BYU joined, the WCC told Pacific "Nah, we're good" (for like the 40th time). But then they started booking their basketball road trips and realized "This is insane, why can't we have good travel partners?" And the answer was because you're playing two games a weekend in a league with three trios: Bay Area, SoCal, and Pac NW/BYU. And that's when they called Pacific.


The good news for the WCC though, is that there's a new candidate that wasn't available for them last time, and it's really the only candidate that makes any sense.

So.... when does the WCC add Cal Baptist? After a year of 9 teams and bad travel, or after Gonzaga leaves?

Would it make sense for WCC to add both Seattle (assuming Gonzaga's approval and them playing in Climate Pledge Arena unless they get a better on campus facility)? - 11 members allows for a 20 game double round-robin conference schedule

Gonzaga wants fewer conference games to play better OOC matchups.

My money is on the WCC remaining at 9 schools for now. I don't think they replace just to replace. They would want to enhance the conference. Neither GCU, Seattle, Denver, nor Cal Baptist would really add to the strength of schedule or the TV deal. But, definitely programs to monitor.

WCC hasn't scheduled for travel partners for years. Gonzaga and BYU often get nice road trips, like back-to-back road games against a couple of the Bay Area schools or the SoCal schools together...

But, the argument for Cal Baptist as a travel partner for San Diego because they're *only* 100 miles away isn't persuasive.

(09-13-2021 02:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:36 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:06 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:58 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I know that markets aren't supposed to matter these days but it's hard for me to fathom that a conference with a presence in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Portland would not take advantage of an opportunity to plant the flag in Seattle.

Gonzaga would make the case that Gonzaga plants the flag there.

Fair point. And they are well-covered by the Seattle media.

Seattle is the best choice if they are interested in one school. Seattle checks every box accept the Gonzaga box. I think Gonzaga does not want to elevate the Seattle program. Seattle will be moving back into the renovated Climate Pledge Arena this fall, an NBA ready arena. In a city with two D1 schools and no NBA team, they could really take-off as a basketball program. There is a lot of basketball talent in the Seattle area. I think they should move to 12 and add Seattle, CBU, and GCU. All three have a lot of upside and that is what the WCC should be focused on. Not what they are at this moment in time, what they can be.

This argument gets a lot of play, not only with WCC expansion/backfill but almost any time a school is rumored to be moving to a higher-level conference. But how much does being associated with Gonzaga actually build up the other conference members?

I think the only school you can make a case for being elevated by Gonzaga's rise is St. Mary's. And even then you can argue that they would have lifted themselves with their Aussie pipeline. BYU is the same program in the WCC as they were in the MWC and probably will be in the B12. Everyone else gets the automatic sellout when the Zags come to town and the "you can play Gonzaga" card to drop on recruits, but otherwise, they keep on going down their mid-major/low-mid major path. Pepperdine, Santa Clara and LMU aren't suddenly regular at-large contenders or MWC expansion candidates. The WCC may have a nice conference NET but the mean is going to be a lot higher than the median.

If Gonzaga is blocking Seattle because of that, then it is what it is, but even if they were accepted with arms wide open, they'd be a lot more likely to be another Portland or at best San Francisco than anything in Gonzaga's galaxy.

(09-14-2021 10:34 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 02:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:36 PM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 12:06 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 11:58 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  I know that markets aren't supposed to matter these days but it's hard for me to fathom that a conference with a presence in San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, the Bay Area and Portland would not take advantage of an opportunity to plant the flag in Seattle.

Gonzaga would make the case that Gonzaga plants the flag there.

Fair point. And they are well-covered by the Seattle media.

Seattle is the best choice if they are interested in one school. Seattle checks every box accept the Gonzaga box. I think Gonzaga does not want to elevate the Seattle program. Seattle will be moving back into the renovated Climate Pledge Arena this fall, an NBA ready arena. In a city with two D1 schools and no NBA team, they could really take-off as a basketball program. There is a lot of basketball talent in the Seattle area. I think they should move to 12 and add Seattle, CBU, and GCU. All three have a lot of upside and that is what the WCC should be focused on. Not what they are at this moment in time, what they can be.

This argument gets a lot of play, not only with WCC expansion/backfill but almost any time a school is rumored to be moving to a higher-level conference. But how much does being associated with Gonzaga actually build up the other conference members?

I think the only school you can make a case for being elevated by Gonzaga's rise is St. Mary's. And even then you can argue that they would have lifted themselves with their Aussie pipeline. BYU is the same program in the WCC as they were in the MWC and probably will be in the B12. Everyone else gets the automatic sellout when the Zags come to town and the "you can play Gonzaga" card to drop on recruits, but otherwise, they keep on going down their mid-major/low-mid major path. Pepperdine, Santa Clara and LMU aren't suddenly regular at-large contenders or MWC expansion candidates. The WCC may have a nice conference NET but the mean is going to be a lot higher than the median.

If Gonzaga is blocking Seattle because of that, then it is what it is, but even if they were accepted with arms wide open, they'd be a lot more likely to be another Portland or at best San Francisco than anything in Gonzaga's galaxy.

Gonzaga shouldn’t care. Seattle is a great fit for the WCC and vice versa. Gonzaga is essentially a glorified independent with a minimal conference schedule.

(09-13-2021 04:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  GCU is definitely a not until hell freezes over "no" for every President of the WCC. This is never happening. I mean like τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων οὒ οὔ!

Cal Baptists is in California which helps. But it's lack of pedigree institutionally and newness to D1 hurts it. But the school itself is not disqualified for any reason, it just isn't there athletically or institutionally. That is why I say "distant future" possibility. That could be well over a decade or even two or more.

Seattle is an excellent institutional fit, and would work with Portland. But Gonzaga is not allowing any athletic weakling in period. I also think the California schools are ambivalent as trips to Seattle are not cheap and it's hard to justify for a weakling. If Seattle can start attracting more than flies to their games and do something on the court worth noting over the next few years or so, then I think the California schools would come around. Right now it's "show me" and so far they haven't shown anything. Their fate is in their own hands. Produce a couple WAC Championships and get 3,000 fans in the stands, then even Gonzaga will want you.

The issue for GCU is their current status of being for-profit. Otherwise, they have everything else you need. Facilities, money, fan support, market. They are all top notch.
Rick Pitino in 2016 after his Louisville team won at GCU- “In college basketball, my 40-plus years, (that) was the toughest crowd I’ve ever faced,” Pitino said. “Awesome. You got something special here, really special. When you have this type of enthusiasm, it made us a much better team tonight. Whether we go to Duke, Kentucky, nothing was as tough as that environment tonight.”

Saint Mary’s Head Basketball Coach Randy Bennett in 2015 on GCU in the WCC: “They’d be a good fit for our league and a good media market for our league to be in. So I think it’s only a matter of time. They need to fight through these years and then when they are eligible for the post season as far as NIT and NCAA, then I think it’s going to happen.”

CBU is young and they will not be full D1 until July 1, 2022. Like GCU, facilities, money, fan support, market are all very good. They have been winning in conference since they joined the WAC. In their first conference basketball game, they beat NMSU. They have had winning record all three seasons. They are 4-1 against the Big West, including a win over Big West conference champion UCI on their home court. Their woman's basketball team went 26-1 last season, losing only to Rice in the third round of the WNIT. Their baseball teams have won two regular season conference titles and they have won conference titles in other sports. Once they become full D1, they will be able to qualify for NCAA Tournament games and they will take off. In case you are in Southern California in mid-October, I am sure you will want to see Bill Walton speak at the Annual CBU Basketball Tip-Off Dinner on October 15th.

As for Seattle, they need to get back into the old Key Arena, now the Climate Pledge Arena. They are 64-55 over the past four seasons, so I don't think I would call them an "athletic weakling." They can get power conference schools on their home court. They have played Virginia, Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, Washington State, Colorado, and Washington on their home court in the past decade. They have wins over Colorado, Oregon State, Cal and Washington State in the past decade. The Seattle Redhawks have no competiton in the city for basketball other than the WNBA and Wahington, in a city rich with high school basketball talent. It seems like a pretty easy decision if Gonzaga does not oppose it.

(09-14-2021 12:33 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 04:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  GCU is definitely a not until hell freezes over "no" for every President of the WCC. This is never happening. I mean like τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων οὒ οὔ!

Cal Baptists is in California which helps. But it's lack of pedigree institutionally and newness to D1 hurts it. But the school itself is not disqualified for any reason, it just isn't there athletically or institutionally. That is why I say "distant future" possibility. That could be well over a decade or even two or more.

Seattle is an excellent institutional fit, and would work with Portland. But Gonzaga is not allowing any athletic weakling in period. I also think the California schools are ambivalent as trips to Seattle are not cheap and it's hard to justify for a weakling. If Seattle can start attracting more than flies to their games and do something on the court worth noting over the next few years or so, then I think the California schools would come around. Right now it's "show me" and so far they haven't shown anything. Their fate is in their own hands. Produce a couple WAC Championships and get 3,000 fans in the stands, then even Gonzaga will want you.

The issue for GCU is their current status of being for-profit. Otherwise, they have everything else you need. Facilities, money, fan support, market. They are all top notch.
Rick Pitino in 2016 after his Louisville team won at GCU- “In college basketball, my 40-plus years, (that) was the toughest crowd I’ve ever faced,” Pitino said. “Awesome. You got something special here, really special. When you have this type of enthusiasm, it made us a much better team tonight. Whether we go to Duke, Kentucky, nothing was as tough as that environment tonight.”

Saint Mary’s Head Basketball Coach Randy Bennett in 2015 on GCU in the WCC: “They’d be a good fit for our league and a good media market for our league to be in. So I think it’s only a matter of time. They need to fight through these years and then when they are eligible for the post season as far as NIT and NCAA, then I think it’s going to happen.”

CBU is young and they will not be full D1 until July 1, 2022. Like GCU, facilities, money, fan support, market are all very good. They have been winning in conference since they joined the WAC. In their first conference basketball game, they beat NMSU. They have had winning record all three seasons. They are 4-1 against the Big West, including a win over Big West conference champion UCI on their home court. Their woman's basketball team went 26-1 last season, losing only to Rice in the third round of the WNIT. Their baseball teams have won two regular season conference titles and they have won conference titles in other sports. Once they become full D1, they will be able to qualify for NCAA Tournament games and they will take off. In case you are in Southern California in mid-October, I am sure you will want to see Bill Walton speak at the Annual CBU Basketball Tip-Off Dinner on October 15th.

As for Seattle, they need to get back into the old Key Arena, now the Climate Pledge Arena. They are 64-55 over the past four seasons, so I don't think I would call them an "athletic weakling." They can get power conference schools on their home court. They have played Virginia, Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, Washington State, Colorado, and Washington on their home court in the past decade. They have wins over Colorado, Oregon State, Cal and Washington State in the past decade. The Seattle Redhawks have no competiton in the city for basketball other than the WNBA and Wahington, in a city rich with high school basketball talent. It seems like a pretty easy decision if Gonzaga does not oppose it.

UC Santa Barbara won the Big West in '20-'21 and did not play Cal Baptist.

(09-14-2021 03:46 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-14-2021 12:33 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(09-13-2021 04:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  GCU is definitely a not until hell freezes over "no" for every President of the WCC. This is never happening. I mean like τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων οὒ οὔ!

Cal Baptists is in California which helps. But it's lack of pedigree institutionally and newness to D1 hurts it. But the school itself is not disqualified for any reason, it just isn't there athletically or institutionally. That is why I say "distant future" possibility. That could be well over a decade or even two or more.

Seattle is an excellent institutional fit, and would work with Portland. But Gonzaga is not allowing any athletic weakling in period. I also think the California schools are ambivalent as trips to Seattle are not cheap and it's hard to justify for a weakling. If Seattle can start attracting more than flies to their games and do something on the court worth noting over the next few years or so, then I think the California schools would come around. Right now it's "show me" and so far they haven't shown anything. Their fate is in their own hands. Produce a couple WAC Championships and get 3,000 fans in the stands, then even Gonzaga will want you.

The issue for GCU is their current status of being for-profit. Otherwise, they have everything else you need. Facilities, money, fan support, market. They are all top notch.
Rick Pitino in 2016 after his Louisville team won at GCU- “In college basketball, my 40-plus years, (that) was the toughest crowd I’ve ever faced,” Pitino said. “Awesome. You got something special here, really special. When you have this type of enthusiasm, it made us a much better team tonight. Whether we go to Duke, Kentucky, nothing was as tough as that environment tonight.”

Saint Mary’s Head Basketball Coach Randy Bennett in 2015 on GCU in the WCC: “They’d be a good fit for our league and a good media market for our league to be in. So I think it’s only a matter of time. They need to fight through these years and then when they are eligible for the post season as far as NIT and NCAA, then I think it’s going to happen.”

CBU is young and they will not be full D1 until July 1, 2022. Like GCU, facilities, money, fan support, market are all very good. They have been winning in conference since they joined the WAC. In their first conference basketball game, they beat NMSU. They have had winning record all three seasons. They are 4-1 against the Big West, including a win over Big West conference champion UCI on their home court. Their woman's basketball team went 26-1 last season, losing only to Rice in the third round of the WNIT. Their baseball teams have won two regular season conference titles and they have won conference titles in other sports. Once they become full D1, they will be able to qualify for NCAA Tournament games and they will take off. In case you are in Southern California in mid-October, I am sure you will want to see Bill Walton speak at the Annual CBU Basketball Tip-Off Dinner on October 15th.

As for Seattle, they need to get back into the old Key Arena, now the Climate Pledge Arena. They are 64-55 over the past four seasons, so I don't think I would call them an "athletic weakling." They can get power conference schools on their home court. They have played Virginia, Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, Washington State, Colorado, and Washington on their home court in the past decade. They have wins over Colorado, Oregon State, Cal and Washington State in the past decade. The Seattle Redhawks have no competiton in the city for basketball other than the WNBA and Wahington, in a city rich with high school basketball talent. It seems like a pretty easy decision if Gonzaga does not oppose it.

UC Santa Barbara won the Big West in '20-'21 and did not play Cal Baptist.

I was referring to the 2019-2020 season. CBU beat UCI 68-60 on December 7, 2019, in the Bren Events Center in Irvine. UCI went on to win the Big West regular season title, but the post-season tournament was canceled due to Covid-19.

If Phoenix had a decent sized Catholic school they’d be a sure fire bet.