Gonzaga in the Big 12? I can dig it.
The university and conference have continued conversations about the potential of the school becoming a member as soon as 2024 (with the exception of football — the Zags don’t have pigskin), according to The Messenger.
Back in August, the Big 12 publicly shut down discussions involving expansion that would have featured Gonzaga joining the conference. But nearly two months later, commissioner Brett Yormark — who has a desire to build the Big 12 into a super basketball conference — brought up the topic again in Dallas last week by making a pitch to the league’s presidents and athletic directors during separate sessions.
Some of the people present were reportedly surprised by the proposal because the conference just added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah over the summer. But it looks like Yormark got permission to resume talks.
The “best-case scenario” for Yormark is for Gonzaga to become a member of the Big 12 by the beginning of the 2024-25 season, according to The Messenger. The conference would need to work out the logistics with scheduling and format of conference tournaments dealing with 17 schools, as well as the financial impacts by adding BYU, Cincinnati and UCF.
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple sources told @TheMessenger that the Big 12 and Gonzaga have resumed negotiations about the possibility of Gonzaga joining the league, possibly as early as next year. My story: https://t.co/BRAj8ZesIQ pic.twitter.com/QEuNRQbORu
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) October 9, 2023
I’m personally game to see the Zags in the Big 12.
They’ve always been a program with swag with the navy blue, red and white pop (and who doesn’t love the Bulldog?), and they’ve got a certain mystique around them being from Spokane, Washington, plus a winning aura because of their consistent success. Plus, the fact that they’re featured in NBA 2K … I mean, come on, you have to give them their props for being a dripped-out top program.
So to see this program in a Power Five conference? One that could potentially become a super conference? (RELATED: ‘F*ck You’: Amar’e Stoudemire Blasts ‘Cowardly’ Black Lives Matter, Politicians For Silence On Israel Attacks)
Oh yeah, I’m all in for that popcorn content.