Big East commissioner: 'There's no better fit for Gonzaga than the Big East'

Commissioner Val Ackerman said the league stays in touch with Gonzaga despite no imminent plans for expansion

Conference realignment rumors are still prevalent with the college basketball season less than two weeks away. 

Football and TV money controlled the wave of movement over the summer, but lately, the Gonzaga men's basketball program has been the hot commodity. The Bulldogs have been in talks with the Big 12 throughout the last year, and just as momentum picked up in their favor, they've apparently been in contact with another conference as well.

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said that there's "no better fit for Gonzaga than the Big East" and that the two sides "stay in touch." Ackerman made the comments during Big East Media Day while adding that the conference's presidents have decided to stay at 11 members "for now," according to Front Office Sports.

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman: “There’s no better fit for Gonzaga than the Big East, if you look at the kind of school they are, basketball focus, their enrollment, their budget, it’s totally on point." Said they stay in touch with them.

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) October 24, 2023

FOS also reported that the league has received inquiries from a number of schools interested in joining, but expansion is unlikely to occur before the Big East's media deal ends in 2025. The conference is hopeful to get increased rights fees in a new deal with Fox. Currently, Fox and CBS pay out less than $6 million per school.

While the basketball-centric conference is in many ways a fit for Gonzaga, geography could play a role in a potential expansion move. The closest school to Spokane is Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, located over 1,300 miles away, with Providence being the farthest at over 2,700 miles away. 

The Bulldogs have won eight of its last 10 matchups against Big East foes since the 2014-15 season, including a win over Xavier in the PK Legacy tournament and the loss to UConn in last season's West Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.

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