Vegas bubble could be among options for West Coast Conference basketball games

Oct. 26, 2020 Updated Mon., Oct. 26, 2020 at 6:02 p.m.

By Jim Meehan The Spokesman-Review

The West Coast Conference recently announced its 16-game conference schedule featuring eight home and eight road games. That’s obviously still on the table, but reports surfaced in the last few days that the conference is also considering a bubble-type atmosphere in Las Vegas.

The idea is bringing teams to Vegas and possibly playing eight games over a period of two-plus weeks. Teams would return home for a week or two while women’s teams would converge on Las Vegas for conference games.

“To me, the where is not as important as the concept itself and how it would work, putting it together and the costs associated with it,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. “I know there will be a lot of naysayers out there, ‘What are we doing here?,’ but college students are taking all these classes online and they’re not allowed to hang out in big groups. In some ways, there might be less distractions academically because the only people down the hall are going to be your teammates.”

Roth said the concept has “significant support but I wouldn’t say overwhelming support.” He added that the idea hasn’t been presented to WCC presidents.

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