Grip on Sports: There is a bottom line involved with Gonzaga’s flirtation with other conferences
A GRIP ON SPORTS • If you have any questions about “big picture” items in college sports these days, remember this one rule: It’s all about money. Money coming in and how that money is spent. Read on.
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• College basketball’s newest scandal? It’s about money. How to treat players? Money. Conference realignment? Money, money and more money.
The bible may tell us the love of money is the root of all evil, but it’s also the root system of college athletics.
No bucks, no Buck Rogers. Or NCAA berths. Or flashy new buildings.
Which is why Gonzaga’s flirtation with the Mountain West Conference – first reported yesterday by the San Diego Union-Tribune – makes so much sense.
The Zags’ longtime conference home, the West Coast Conference, may not be Baltic Avenue, in college athletics’ game of Monopoly, but it’s certainly not further down the road than St. Charles Place.
The Mountain West is a lot closer to Free Parking, thanks to many factors, including football and basketball venues that can hold more than 5,000 people – and often do.
In a perfect world, the Zags would be able to play in a conference with schools whose dominant color is green. Schools like those in the expanded Big East, still a mainly Catholic conference with like-minded feelings about the importance of basketball.
The WCC is made up of mainly Catholic schools – the most recent expansion may have watered that down a bit but they still dominate – but there is little agreement on basketball’s standing.
BYU, despite being the only WCC school with a football team, is on board. The Cougars spend and spend on basketball and they have the resources in place.
Saint Mary’s likes basketball and is pretty good at it. But the Gaels are still playing in a high school gym, part of an athletic department complex out of the 1950s. It’s a wonder Randy Bennett is able to win consistently considering the lack of facilities.
Otherwise, there is lip service – and little else – paid to getting better at the other schools.
Gonzaga makes the NCAA tournament every year. It usually advances into the second weekend. It brings millions in for the conference. And the money seems to disappear into the conference’s coffers. It certainly hasn’t resulted in the rest of the schools improving in basketball, which would make Gonzaga’s life easier come NCAA selection time.
The Mountain West isn’t the Big East. But it is closer to Gonzaga’s backyard. And many MWC schools have made an impact in NCAA tournaments over the years.
UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico, Fresno State, Nevada – over the past 20 years these schools have done damage in the tournament.
There is also depth. Seven different current conference schools (and nine overall) have won the conference tournament this century. In the same time span, only Gonzaga, San Diego and Saint Mary’s have done that in the WCC. The Mountain West just has more “there” there than the WCC.
Most years the Mountain West and the WCC have a like number of awful RPI schools – important in the NCAA selection committee’s equations – but usually the MWC’s upper and middle echelons are, on average, higher – not counting GU.
Throw the Zags and, say, BYU, into the mix and the Mountain West is considerably deeper, harder and much less of an RPI killer.
The conference’s basketball venues range in size from 18,776-seat Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV to the 5,000-seat gym at bottom-feeder San Jose State. Eight of the schools play in arenas that hold more than 10,000, and only two in facilities smaller than Gonzaga’s.
In other words, the conference members have shown a devotion to the church of basketball.
And that’s what the Bulldogs are looking for. Is the Mountain West the best fit? That’s hard to say, not knowing how serious Gonzaga would be about trying something off-the-wall, like joining the Big East only for hoops, or whom the school would try to drag along if it leaves the WCC.
But the MWC has been a better basketball conference in the past and is better suited for success in the future than the West Coast Conference. That seems to be what Gonzaga is chasing. Whether it will be happy if it catches it remains to be answered.
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WSU: Though conference tournaments have begun around the nation, the Pac-12 is still finishing up its regular season. The Cougars host Oregon tonight and Theo Lawson has a preview. He also has video of post-practice interviews with a couple players. … The women are in Seattle for the conference postseason tournament. They open with USC and Jim Allen has a preview. … Our most recent podcast covers a new football assistant coach hire. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Nate Robinson said yesterday a booster offered him $100,000 if he played football for Washington. There were yawns. … Stanford is lacking depth this spring. … In basketball news, the Ducks are wary of how well Washington State has played lately. … Oregon State is also playing better and that should worry the Huskies. … Sean Miller is not at practice and things are getting testy in Tucson for the Wildcats. Stanford comes to town tonight. … Arizona State hopes to turn things around against California, which has suffered through its worst year ever. … Utah and Colorado will finish the regular season against each other. So will USC and UCLA, two teams on the NCAA bubble.
Gonzaga: The news from San Diego yesterday kicked off a round of discussion concerning GU’s place in the West Coast basketball world. John Blanchette, who has been around Gonzaga’s basketball program longer than any reporter, has his thoughts in this column and Jim Meehan covers the nuts-and-bolts in this story, which includes comment from athletic director Mike Roth. … The discussion also includes BYU, so there are stories out of Utah and elsewhere to pass along.
EWU: It may be the final week of Big Sky regular season play, but there is no rest for the Eagles. They need to keep winning to hold on to a top-four spot in the standings and a postseason tournament bye. Jim Allen previews what’s ahead for EWU.
Idaho: The Vandals are in second in the Big Sky basketball standings as they head into the final weekend – of the season and the seniors’ time in Moscow. Peter Harriman has a preview.
Preps: The state basketball tournaments tipped off yesterday in Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane. Dave Nichols was on the wet side of the state and has coverage of Lewis and Clark’s win in 4A boys as well as LC’s overtime loss and University’s win in 4A girls. … He also has stories on Mt. Spokane’s losses in 3A boys and 3A girls play. … The 2A and 1A boys and girls are in action in Yakima. … At the Arena, Greg Lee has coverage of the 2B boys, Steve Christilaw has the 2B girls, Kevin Dudley the 1B girls and Jim Allen the 1B boys.
Mariners: Sure, winning isn’t all that important in spring training. But a few wins are always appreciated, right? … And stories about guys who have a new look or a new attitude.
Seahawks: Would the Hawks think about another retread running back this year, even one with local ties? … The combine is always full of news and intrigue. … The coaching staff changes beget opportunities for those who were shown the door.
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