Expanding the WCC to Ten

[CaliforniaZaggin']

Stockton is actually a city on the rise (don't laugh -- I'm being serious). The downtown and waterfront areas have been revamped, and the city is really on the upswing, IMO. Although its not a huge market, Stockton is very close to both Sacramento and the East Bay, which is actually where most of its alumni is located. Furthermore, UOP has quietly put together a number of very competitive teams over the last 10 years. Personally, I think the Tigers would be a great choice if the conference does expand. Whether or not the WCC should be expanding.... well, that's a different question.

Downtown Stockton

[NotoriousZ]

For the first few years, this will hurt the WCC (RPI wise), but in the long run I'm thinking this would turn out to be a great move. I don't know about anything about Denver, other than it would be a great addition to the TV market. But Seatle U and Pacific seem like great choices. Pacific would almost certainly start out as a "second tier" school in the WCC (Gonzaga is the only "first tier" team obviously) and Seattle U would most definitely be at the bottom of the league. But recruiting for Seattle U and Pacific should instantly improve once the announcement is made, and I think both teams would improve enough to make the 10-team WCC a success. Maybe a couple teams will step up and we'll be as competitive as the MWC someday soon.

[Nevtelen]

Has there ever been talk about GU getting out of the WCC to be an unaffiliated school, similar to Notre Dame in football (or are they part of the Big East now?)? I really like the idea...we could schedule who we want and the WCC wouldn't drag our RPI or image down.

Thoughts?

It's called being independent and it NEVER works out well in bball. Who would the team play Jan - March? No decent team is going to schedule them in the middle of the conference season. They'd be screwed, the RPI would tank BIG TIME, the quality of play would be abysmal at the time of year when it needs to be the best, and, if GU even got invited to the Dance (has any independent ever been?), I don't think it'd be pretty. Plus, what about the years when GU has needed to win the WCC tourney to get in the Dance? To put that much pressure on the OOC schedule, where no slip-ups are allowed, is just not a great idea. Think about this past season - if GU played no one of any note after early Jan (save Memphis), what kind of seed would they have gotten after the Port St debacle and the Memphis schelacking? And that was in a better year.

[BobZag]

The Zags' AD told me Gonzaga is always looking to improve its situation. I asked about joining the Pac-10 with no football, ala Marquette in the Big East, and he said if they called, GU would certainly listen. Trouble is, they haven't called...yet.

[CaliforniaZaggin']

But recruiting for Seattle U and Pacific should instantly improve once the announcement is made, and I think both teams would improve enough to make the 10-team WCC a success.

Pacific's recruiting would suddenly become very competitive if it joined the WCC. Just look at the progress UC Davis' sports programs have made in recent years since making the jump to D1 and the Big West. There is an abundance of basketball talent in NorCal, and upgrading its conference would immediately give UOP some additional leverage in the recruiting world.

[229SintoZag]

And another thing

why on earth would Gonzaga do any favors for Cameron Dollar?

[CDC84]

The Zags' AD told me Gonzaga is always looking to improve its situation. I asked about joining the Pac-10 with no football, ala Marquette in the Big East, and he said if they called, GU would certainly listen. Trouble is, they haven't called...yet.

Heck, I would even go for the Mountain West Conference if they called. The MWC is regularly in the RPI top 8, and the league's RPI would rise if Gonzaga was added. Plus by adding a 10th basketball team, they could even out the travelling and scheduling. You could have these travelling partners:

Gonzaga
Wyoming

Utah
BYU

Colorado State
Air Force

Texas Christian
New Mexico

UNLV
San Diego State

[NotoriousZ]

I agree with those who say it's a bad idea overall. I think 229SintoZag hit it on the head - why should GU be forced into 4 more mediocre games on the schedule and jeopardize games like the Memphis match-up in the middle of conference play? Seattle U or Memphis on the schedule - seems like a pretty easy choice to me.

From the WCC's standpoint, it doesn't seem to make sense either - these would just be 2 more schools to let in on the NCAA revenue the conference gets and two more schools that would drag down other teams' RPI (not as much of an issue for GU as for teams like SMC who really really need a very strong RPI to make a case for the Dance since they can't land high profile OOC games as easily). Pacific could probably come in in bball and be a good, solid upper-middle level WCC team year in year out. Not the worst idea in the world. But Seattle U? They'll be a bottom feeder for years. They'll kill the conference RPI and the RPI of teams who are trying to get an at-large. Denver isn't much better than that.

Ix-nay on xpansion-eay, thank you very much.

This is a good point. However, the two games with Pacific would be nice, and they'd always be true home and home's each year. We could still continue our series with Memphis, although it would probably have to happen before league play. Is there a chance we would start an unbalanced league schedule--with as many or less conference games each year than we have now?

[Bing]

Heck, I would even go for the Mountain West Conference if they called. The MWC is regularly in the RPI top 8, and the league's RPI would rise if Gonzaga was added. Plus by adding a 10th basketball team, they could even out the travelling and scheduling. You could have these travelling partners:

Gonzaga
Wyoming

Utah
BYU

Colorado State
Air Force

Texas Christian
New Mexico

UNLV
San Diego State

I would be in favor of this (or the Pac 10 for that matter). It's time to let
Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy and Bashful fend for themselves.

[BobZag]

Regarding the Pac-10, the Zags would compete well in men's and women's basketball. Baseball would be okay. Crew is good. But everything else would need to be seriously upgraded. And some sports would have to be added. It would be a major undertaking for GU. Not sure about it.

[CDC84]

How would GU season ticket holders like to see this in their envelope:

WYOMING @ GONZAGA
GONZAGA @ BYU
GONZAGA @ UTAH
TEXAS CHRISTIAN @ GONZAGA
NEW MEXICO @ GONZAGA
GONZAGA @ SAN DIEGO STATE
GONZAGA @ UNLV
COLORADO STATE @ GONZAGA
AIR FORCE @ GONZAGA
GONZAGA @ WYOMING
GONZAGA @ NEW MEXICO
GONZAGA @ TEXAS CHRISTIAN
UTAH @ GONZAGA
BYU @ GONZAGA
GONZAGA @ AIR FORCE
GONZAGA @ COLORADO STATE
UNLV @ GONZAGA
SAN DIEGO STATE @ GONZAGA

I know, it's far fetched idea......

[229SintoZag]

Regarding the Pac-10, the Zags would compete well in men's and women's basketball. Baseball would be okay. Crew is good. But everything else would need to be seriously upgraded. And some sports would have to be added. It would be a major undertaking for GU. Not sure about it.

I respectfully suggest we'd compete just fine in both men's and women's soccer as well.

[titopoet]

Hey maybe the PAC 10 should do a Big East. Raid the mountain west of UTAH, BYU, Air force, SDSU, UNLV, take GU and become the PAC-16 super conference.

[cjm720]

Heck, I would even go for the Mountain West Conference if they called. The MWC is regularly in the RPI top 8, and the league's RPI would rise if Gonzaga was added. Plus by adding a 10th basketball team, they could even out the travelling and scheduling. You could have these travelling partners:

Gonzaga
Wyoming

Utah
BYU

Colorado State
Air Force

Texas Christian
New Mexico

UNLV
San Diego State

Way better conference foes. I like it. Seattle U can take our spot in the WCC .

Go Zags!!!

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

The WCC is a respectable conference with above average RPI...

But that will change if the Zags ever leave.

The WCC has been ranked in the Top-10 for RPI several times in recent years, but Gonzaga has always inflated the overall profile of the league - probably more than any other school in any other league in the country. There are years when the MWC has a lower RPI than the WCC and years when the WCC is higher than the MWC. If you move Gonzaga to the MWC, the WCC will never again be a better basketball conference.