What does Gonzaga’s move to the Pac-12 mean for its rivalry with Saint Mary’s? ‘Each of us have to do what’s best’

LAS VEGAS – A cordial conversation unfolded between Mark Few and Randy Bennett on Thursday afternoon on the second floor of Resort World.

The coaches at Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s had a minute to spare during a busy West Coast Conference Media Day that had them hopping between TV spots, interviews and photo shoots.

The media event gives the conference’s longest-tenured coaches a chance to catch up without the usual backdrop and pressure of the regular-season WCC race, and in a longer-form setting than just exchanging pleasantries in the postgame handshake line.

Both the interactions and games between Few and Bennett, and their Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s teams that have built one of the most compelling college basketball rivalries on the West Coast, could cease to exist in two seasons when the Bulldogs join the Pac-12 Conference.

At least four more games are guaranteed – and possibly two more in the WCC Tournament – before the Zags jump to the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 season.

“Not surprised at all, disappointed a little bit,” Bennett said of Gonzaga’s move. “Just because of the competition, the challenge. Those two teams have been going at it for awhile, and it was a good rivalry. That’s what I’m disappointed in.”

The raw numbers back it up.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have met 116 times, with the Zags owning an 82-34 advantage in the all-time series. They’ve matched up 21 times in the WCC Tournament, including 14 in the championship game since 2004. The Zags have won 21 WCC Tournament titles since 1995; the Gaels have won five.

In a rare feat, Saint Mary’s upended Gonzaga in two of the three matchups between the schools last season, winning 64-62 at McCarthey Athletic Center and 69-60 at the WCC Tournament at Orleans Arena. The Zags beat the Gaels 70-57 when the two played at UCU Pavilion, giving Few’s team a quality win that helped their NCAA Tournament resume.

“It’s a little bittersweet, just because of the history we’ve had in the WCC,” Gonzaga senior forward Ben Gregg said.

“We’ve built a lot of great rivalries. I think us and Saint Mary’s are probably one of the better rivalries in college basketball.”

Would there be an appetite in keeping the rivalry alive?

“Yeah, we’d like to keep it going,” Bennett said. “Each of us have to decide what’s best. We’d definitely do it, but not saying it’s on Mark to do it. It’s just got to work out. I would imagine Mark would do something like that. He values that rivalry, too. We lose a game that’s got a lot of cool memories to our fans.

“Anyway, I respect what they did – $10 or $15 million a year, something like that, you’ve got to do it.”

Few was noncommittal when presented with the same question on Thursday, but he seemed relatively interested in keeping Saint Mary’s on the schedule in some form or fashion.

“Well yeah, we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Yeah, we’ll have to look at our conference going forward. We’ll see.”

It’s possible, albeit less likely, that the two schools won’t separate at all.

Multiple reports have indicated Pac-12 officials have spoken with Saint Mary’s to talk about adding the Moraga, California-based school as a nonfootball member. Those discussions have only been preliminary , but Bennett says it’ll be important to keep all options open in a constantly changing college basketball climate.

“I’ll sound like a politician, but as jumpy as things are right now, you’ve got to keep your eyes open to what’s the smartest move,” Bennett said. “Those decisions, that was only a year ago we went from the Pac-12 to the Pac-2. Then that thing won’t come back as that Pac-12, so you’ve got to make smart decisions.

“I love the WCC, I think it’s a great fit for us and this league can still be a really good basketball league, a really good conference.

“So I hope it all works out, I think it will. But I’m not going to lie and say that’s never crossed my mind.”