WCC Conference in the New Decade

[ZagsObserver]

Looking forward, what are your thoughts on the following:

1.) Does BYU exit during this decade?

2.) Aside from GU, SMC and BYU, does another WCC foe (or brethren) emerge as a semi consistent challenger?

3.) Does GU flirt with moving or do we stay chill?

[StatZag19]

1. Always a possibility, but don't think they'll find a better situation than a growing WCC.

2. Pepperdine is probably best candidate here since Romar can recruit higher quality players than most other teams save GU or St. Mary's. USF a toss up, depends on if their new staff can keep the momentum going that Kyle Smith had before he bolted for Wazzu. Other schools like Pacific & Santa Clara have a ways to go.

3. I'm sure we'll consider other situations if/when they come up. We have it pretty good right now and if the WCC continues to improve overall, no reason to leave. It'd have to be a King's Ransom type situation for us to leave.

[Larryzag]

1. Depends on their football situation. I can see them wanting to end the independent status. The WCC so far hasn't been a success for their basketball team.

2. I agree with Pepperdine as long as Romar stays.

3. The quality of the coaches in the WCC are pretty good right now. If most of them stay long term then the WCC will improve enough so GU won't benefit from leaving. I was wondering about the AAC with Memphis, Houston and Wichita State but I just don't see it.

[ZagsGoZags]

when Few decided to stay in WCC, was one of his negotiating points that other WCC schools spend more of their revenue earned from St. Mary's and GU in the Dance on their own basketball programs? That they spent that money on swimming, la cross, etc? Have the other WCC schools been beefing up their basketball programs, if so, anybody know if they were influenced by Few's opinions about this?

[DZ]

Agree with a lot on the answers above.

In terms of keeping coaches to keep the conference in good shape, that's going to be where the commitment to basketball and money kicks-in.

Would a person really leave USF if they could match WSU for salary? Yes, better league, but ...not a lot better.

If Pepp got really good and Romar was offered a job at Georgia (or that "type") would he really leave Malibu if the money was basically the same?

Everyone wants more money invested in the BB programs, it seems that coaches themselves is perhaps the biggest priority when a good one comes up.

[MickMick]

This is a numbers game.

First, consider the rate of population growth.
Second, consider the rate at which the number of division one basketball programs are growing.

Conclusion, there will be plenty of very good basketball players to go around and over time, staying local will carry more weight. At some point, the era of super dominance by a short list of about a dozen programs is going to end. Roster churn, senior laden squads, etc., will have increasingly more impact than program reputation. All because the pool of very good basketball players is rapidly growing relative to the number of institutions they can play for.

[Zagger]

This is a numbers game.

First, consider the rate of population growth.
Second, consider the rate at which the number of division one basketball programs are growing.

Conclusion, there will be plenty of very good basketball players to go around and over time, staying local will carry more weight. At some point, the era of super dominance by a short list of about a dozen programs is going to end. Roster churn, senior laden squads, etc., will have increasingly more impact than program reputation. All because the pool of very good basketball players is rapidly growing relative to the number of institutions they can play for.

Interesting take. We certainly will have to consider many factors over a 10 year span. Look at the physical changes in facilities at GU. Other WCC schools are bound to make some considerable investments. SMC & BYU could get replaced by other WCC schools as #2 or #3 behind the Zags. It’ll be interesting to look back on this thread in 2030

1. I give BYU sticking around a 50/50 chance. I feel there will be pressures for them to move - just not enough in the immediate future (say in the next 4-5 years). After 5 years it wouldn’t surprise me if they are in another league.

2.Yes. And it would not surprise me if it was Portland (by 2030). Portland is no small town. I’ll bet there could be a lot of support there to help build a significant Pilots program. In the mean time Pepperdine, Pacific, Santa Clara and San Francisco could give SMC & BYU a go.

3. For the Zags I feel the WCC has been a good fit. The WCC is improving. If that trend should change it would increase the pressure for the Zags to leave. I don’t think that will happen. I’d like to see some ex-Zags become coaches at other WCC schools. It didn’t work out well for San Diego but .... that’s one instance. By ‘ex’ I mean both coaches and players who are, or may, go down the coaching path.

[bartruff1]

Making predictions is risky business....especially if they are about the future....I am hoping that California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska secede from the Union and form their own associations to address their aspirations ....including sports….

[DZ]

Interesting take. We certainly will have to consider many factors over a 10 year span. Look at the physical changes in facilities at GU. Other WCC schools are bound to make some considerable investments. SMC & BYU could get replaced by other WCC schools as #2 or #3 behind the Zags. It’ll be interesting to look back on this thread in 2030

1. I give BYU sticking around a 50/50 chance. I feel there will be pressures for them to move - just not enough in the immediate future (say in the next 4-5 years). After 5 years it wouldn’t surprise me if they are in another league.

2.Yes. And it would not surprise me if it was Portland (by 2030). Portland is no small town. I’ll bet there could be a lot of support there to help build a significant Pilots program. In the mean time Pepperdine, Pacific, Santa Clara and San Francisco could give SMC & BYU a go.

3. For the Zags I feel the WCC has been a good fit. The WCC is improving. If that trend should change it would increase the pressure for the Zags to leave. I don’t think that will happen. I’d like to see some ex-Zags become coaches at other WCC schools. It didn’t work out well for San Diego but .... that’s one instance. By ‘ex’ I mean both coaches and players who are, or may, go down the coaching path.

I have never been able to figure out why Portland isn't good at everything it does.

As good a city as one will find, plenty of wealthy alumni, good academics.

[ZagsObserver]

I have never been able to figure out why Portland isn't good at everything it does.

As good a city as one will find, plenty of wealthy alumni, good academics.

Agreed. And yet, I think their endowment is the lowest in the conference with the exception of Pacific.

[DZ]

Agreed. And yet, I think their endowment is the lowest in the conference with the exception of Pacific.

Win more.

It used to be us, though that was pre-Pacific.

[ZagsObserver]

Win more.

It used to be us, though that was pre-Pacific.

Just looked it up. I believe Portland is the lowest. Pacific’s endowment is higher than I thought.

[Zagger]

Making predictions is risky business....especially if they are about the future....I am hoping that California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska succeed from the Union and form their own associations to address their aspirations ....including sports….

Throw in BC too
Might as well keep it contiguous.
And, BTW, it’s ‘secede’.
Yeah, OT but .... it’s 1/1/20 - might as well have some fun

[bartruff1]

Throw in BC too
Might as well keep it contiguous.
And, BTW, it’s ‘secede’.
Yeah, OT but .... it’s 1/1/20 - might as well have some fun

Got it....and the Yukon...… that would be ideal.....

[ZagsGoZags]

we all know what happened the last time some states tried to secede

[Birddog]

At Roth's urging, the WCC Commissioner hires a top Silicon Valley firm to make the WCC streaming service the envy of the NCAA.

[RenoZag]

If Gonzaga managed to win a natty, would the WCC leverage that to create a subscription network ? Are the demographics a limiting factor ?

WCC has signed deals for rights to their premiere product (MBB). Without doing the digging, I don't know how long the current agreements last. Once they expire, I would hope GU would have the negotiating position to get it's own TV deal, which would include some sort of subscription offering (likely via the internet) that would allow the far-flung fans of Gonzaga basketball to cough up a bit of cash to assure access to ALL GU games.

I think GU needs to stay in the WCC but they should strive to market their "property" -- Men's & Women's Bsketball == as an independent entity.

As jazz remarked elsewhere in this forum, the "egalitarian" approach has resulted in GU fans & supporters frustrated with the status quo.

In the 2020's the access issue has to be resolved. Fans will pony up the coin if given the opportunity. A la carte programming is the new normal. Gonzaga needs to exploit its brand and grow beyond the traditional means of content delivery.

(Happy New Year, y'all )

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

I suspect that the coming decade will bring traumatic changes to the business of college sports and that mid-major leagues will not benefit from the changes.

There will be changes to athlete amateurism rules. The bigger football conferences may not want the same rules as the rest of the NCAA members. I suspect that the biggest college football schools will more or less divorce football from the NCAA over student athlete pay rules. That process will trigger another round of conference musical chairs. Teams may not have the luxury of remaining “independent” in the new regime. I would be surprised if BYU is still in the WCC after the next round of conference realignment and big tv deals.

[Zagger]

we all know what happened the last time some states tried to secede

Things were a bit different then. With the current political climate the Pacific Coast states might get help - at least from the current Prez. On the serious side .... it won’t happen (secession). Too much love for country no matter what our political stripes are. We’ll rise to the occasion and repair divisions - in time. Happy New Year!

[GonzaGAW]

- as too question #3. with current conferences, zags will stay in wcc.
- first wcc is not a bad conference.......after the power 5 and the big east, there are 26 conferences. imo, this past decade the wcc is about 4th or 5th place out of those remaining 26 conferences. some years 3rd best.
- so there is no place to move too. American athletic and conference usa are simply too far away, the closest teams no further west than texas. the mountain west was the siren call a year ago, and I think the wcc is better than the mountain west. but even if it were a push, why leave a good fit for a push?

- the only way I see the zags leaving the wcc in the next decade is if the big 5 try to push all other conference aside. the big east might then try to expand to remain relevant and allowed to remain in the party.

[ZagsObserver]

Given the recent concessions, I don’t see GU leaving in the near-term. One catalyst, however, would be if BYU left. At that point, a Seattle U invite might take place, which Roth and Few were not supportive of about ten years ago. I don’t see a good option to replace BYU, and the WCC has made it known that an odd number of teams is too difficult from a scheduling perspective.

And agreed; Romar isn’t a great in-game coach, but he can recruit. I think He’ll move that team up the ladder.

[bartruff1]

Everything is going to change and no one knows what is going to happen....the whole concept of a Conference may be obsolete...…

The medium is the message and content streaming and pay will have unintended consequences....the whole decade will be defined by disturbance …

Most people assume tomorrow will be the same as today....until it isn't...

[TexasZagFan]

Everything is going to change and no one knows what is gong to happen....the whole concept of a Conference my be obsolete......

I think we're seeing what the end of "one and done" looks like, what with several players opting to play overseas, in addition to the departure of James Wiseman. You're left without a few dominant teams, and is that really a bad thing? March will surely be a mad month.

[Ladyzag12]

Football and geography drives all things conference wise and I don't see that changing much. If anything, the mid majors will continue to keep getting squeezed out because having colleges teams will just keep getting expensive. What will be interesting is how the end of the one and done rule may get counteracted by paying college players. If you start paying guys to play, then staying in college may be a better fit for guys instead of going to the G-League. No other conference will ever work for Gonzaga that would be advantageous other than arranging some sort of deal with the PAC-12 which will never happen. The Big East is too far away. Going independent would be interesting, but the NCAA would (and should) have to get rid of automatic bids.

[kitzbuel]

Football and geography drives all things conference wise and I don't see that changing much. If anything, the mid majors will continue to keep getting squeezed out because having colleges teams will just keep getting expensive. What will be interesting is how the end of the one and done rule may get counteracted by paying college players. If you start paying guys to play, then staying in college may be a better fit for guys instead of going to the G-League. No other conference will ever work for Gonzaga that would be advantageous other than arranging some sort of deal with the PAC-12 which will never happen. The Big East is too far away. Going independent would be interesting, but the NCAA would (and should) have to get rid of automatic bids.

I didn’t think I have seen anything saying that players are going to be compensated for their play by the schools they attend. I think the compensation will be third party payments for permission to monetize players’ likenesses.

I don’t think that is a mechanism that will substantially impact the rising operating costs of college basketball teams. Players with more valuable marketing potential will be able to cash in just as well in the NBA as they can in college.

I guess I can see a shoe company deciding it wants its special University to improve and can pay a player through endorsements to go to that school for a couple of years, but I think the value of a big name NBA player is more than a bump in a college team profile. I dunno.


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