Pac-12 ‘not ruling out the possibility’ of adding Gonzaga as basketball school

Adding Gonzaga to bolster the Pac-12’s basketball status could be part of the league’s next phase of expansion

While the new-look Pac-12 remains focused on regaining FBS status, the league could look at trying to add basketball-centric schools like Gonzaga in the future, according to a report from The Athletic.

Two days after the Pac-12 revived itself by poaching four Mountain West schools, Oregon State athletic director and Spokane native Scott Barnes made it clear that football is a requirement for future members. In order to be considered an FBS conference and have a chance to earn royalties from the College Football Playoff, the league needs to add at least two more football members by July 1, 2026. Tulane and Memphis from the American Athletic Conference are reportedly among the Pac-12’s top targets, along with UTSA, North Texas, South Florida and Texas State.

Once football is taken care of, the next step for the Pac-12 could be focused on forming a strong basketball conference. According to The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, some people with knowledge of the Pac-12’s thinking are “not ruling out the possibility” that the league would try to add a school like Gonzaga to the mix as part of the conference’s next phase of expansion. 

“There's not a program the Pac-12 could add that would bring them more positive buzz, that would raise more eyebrows, that would bring more goodwill, good press than Gonzaga,” CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander said on a podcast earlier this week. “There isn't a program that exists that is remotely close to Gonzaga in terms of its track record of success over the past 25 years, or if you want to even shrink that down, over the past 10 or so years.”

Amid buzz and speculation over the next wave of realignment, it’s still unclear what the Pac-12 is offering to its newest members. Most of the major TV networks have contracts locked up for the next half-decade. TNT Sports, which picked up sub-licensed College Football Playoff games after losing the NBA, and the CW, which has a partnership with Oregon State and Washington State, appear to be viable broadcast partners. But in terms of actual figures, those remain unknown; Vannini reported people familiar with the league hope to land between $10 and $15 million per school per year.

The Pac-12 also owes the Mountain West an estimated $111 million in exit fees, plus poaching fees, for taking Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State. The AAC schools would also face an exit fee if they made a move. The Pac-12 has an estimated $250 million in resources from the 10 departing schools it can use, though the war chest is certainly not infinite.

While Gonzaga doesn’t offer football, its men’s basketball program has brought the West Coast Conference millions of dollars in NCAA Tournament units over the past 25 years. Under Mark Few, the Bulldogs haven’t missed the postseason and are currently riding a streak of nine straight appearances in the Sweet 16. In that stretch, the Zags have been to two national championship games and earned a No. 1 seed four times.

“This is a school that unquestionably has been operating on a top 10 level nationally for about a decade now, and has one of the most prominent coaches in the game, probably deserves to be a future Hall of Famer in Mark Few,” Norlander said. “And schedules aggressively in the nonconference [that] would uplift your viability as a basketball league instantly; [Gonzaga] becomes the flagship program, instantly.”

Along with San Diego State, the Pac-12 would have two programs that played for a national championship in the past four seasons if the league added Gonzaga. Boise State, led by former Gonzaga assistant coach Leon Rice, and Colorado State earned at-large bids last season. If Memphis were to also be in the mix, then this hypothetical Pac-12 would certainly be respected as the best non-power conference in the country in college basketball. 

But as usual, the next wave of conference realignment won’t be determined by what’s best for college hoops — at least for now.

There’s also no indication Gonzaga wants to join this new-look Pac-12. Given the uncertainty over the league’s media rights and projected revenue distribution, there’s no telling if the school would benefit financially if it decided to leave the WCC. There have been flirtations with other conferences in the past, though at this moment, Gonzaga doesn’t appear in a position to make a move any time soon.