It’s no secret the Pac-12 Conference is very weak when it comes to basketball. For a good portion of the season, they didn’t have any teams featured in the AP top-25 ranking. After Washington snuck in for a few weeks towards the end of the regular season, a loss dropped them back out of it. As the conference tournaments get started around the country, there are currently no Pac-12 teams in the top-25. None are even receiving votes. It looks as if just two teams will receive bids to the NCAA Tournament that will start next week (Washington and Arizona State). Historically good programs like UCLA and Arizona are major disappointments and have been for a while now. While there is no quick fix, there is a quick, big step in the right direction. I’m talking about adding Gonzaga to the Pac-12.

Gonzaga basketball has been good for a very long time, but have really come on even more in recent years. In 2017 they finally hushed critics who claimed they couldn’t make a serious run in the NCAA Tournament by going all the way to the championship game, before losing to UNC. They followed that up with a Sweet 16 appearance last season, and currently are ranked #1 in the nation, while expecting to receive the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have just as good of a chance to win the whole thing as any team.

The problem with Gonzaga, however, is they play in the little-known West Coast Conference. While the conference has improved in recent years, they don’t get any recognition. The majority of college basketball fans wouldn’t even be able to name three other teams in the conference. Gonzaga is the big fish in the small pond within the WCC and has been for way too long. They’ve won 16 of the last 20 WCC Tournaments and have won at least a share of 19 conference regular season titles in the same time span. Gonzaga is the kid who is head and shoulders better than everyone else in their little league’s age group…and what do you do with that kid? You move him up to the next age group.

First off, it should be noted that Gonzaga hasn’t fielded a football team since 1941, so a move to the Pac-12 would be for basketball only. But a football-less move shouldn’t be a problem and has been done before. We saw it just two years ago when Wichita State left the MVC and moved to the AAC after recent basketball success. I have a very hard time believing that the Pac-12 would turn away Gonzaga because they don’t bring a football team with them, as some people suggest.

Secondly, this move is a win-win for both sides. With that being said, the Pac-12 needs Gonzaga more than Gonzaga needs the Pac-12. So let’s start with that. I’ve already mentioned how embarrassingly awful the Pac-12 is in basketball. And while they have a really good team every few years or so, overall they are more of an afterthought. What better way for them to bring some excitement to the league than adding one of the best programs in college basketball? Matchups with the Bulldogs would without a doubt generate increased ticket sales and more interest from fans across the country. Gonzaga would instantly become the most watchable team in the Pac-12, and one that would give them a championship contender on a pretty consistent basis.

Put Gonzaga in the Pac 12 already. This is just dumb to watch.
— Zachs Sports Bets (@ZachsBets) March 12, 2019

Can we please move Gonzaga to the PAC-12 already?
— T-Wright (@Tyler_Wright14) March 12, 2019

Gonzaga is basically a blue blood at this point playing in a mid-major conference... not hatin, but I think it would be more interesting if they were in a bigger conference, like PAC-12 maybe.
— Dew (@YoungestBode) March 12, 2019

When is gonzaga going to man up and join the pac-12?
— Daniel Schilde (@djs16331) March 12, 2019

Watching Gonzaga, it might be time to move them to the Pac 12...pretty sure they'll win the WCC for 81st time this year.
— Mike Ditmore (@thadodgaBL) March 12, 2019

Thinking out loud for a second: Gonzaga should seriously consider finding a way into the Pac-12. Thoughts? #ZagsVsSMC
— Zach Burrow (@zburrow14) March 3, 2019

Gonzaga needs to join at least the Pac-12 conference and play some real teams and then see if they'd be a #1 seed in the tournament 🤔
— Josh Kozma (@_JoshKozma) March 11, 2019

Gonzaga doesn’t need the Pac-12 on the scale that the conference needs them, but it would still be beneficial to them. It took a while, because of the lack of competition in the WCC, but the Zags are finally recognized on a national scale as one of the country’s best teams. They are also a pretty profitable program in terms of revenue generated. But you would have to think they would be even more profitable in a major conference such as the Pac-12, playing big-named schools on a nightly basis. Additionally, if I were a Gonzaga fan, I would be much more excited to attend a Gonzaga-UCLA game than a Gonzaga-St. Mary’s game. More credibility would be given to Gonzaga’s success if they played in the Pac-12 as well. It would give them more exposure across the country, which you would have to imagine would only help their athletic recruiting and could potentially increase the overall student body. While Gonzaga is doing just fine right now without the Pac-12, moving the basketball team to the conference would just bring positive results.

While it would be a win for the Pac-12, as well as for the school, I would like to know what Gonzaga basketball fans think. Would they be more interested in remaining the big fish in a small pond or would they welcome better competition? As a college basketball fan in general, I feel like I speak for the vast majority of others like myself when I say I really want to see the move happen. The Pac-13…I could get behind that.

Garett

Should Gonzaga Join the Pac-12?