Gonzaga finally headed to Pac-12? Reports are conflicting
Sep 23, 2024, 1:09 PM | Updated: 1:52 pm
The Gonzaga Bulldogs react during a 2024 NCAA Tournament game against Kansas. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
For years, college basketball fans have dreamed about the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Pac-12 matching up.
For a few minutes on Monday, it seemed like it was finally happening – and then the conflicting reports started flooding in.
Pac-12 to add four schools from the Mountain West in 2026
Brett McMurphy of The Action Network reported Monday that Gonzaga would become the fifth school to agree this month to join the Pac-12, and the details he shared made it sound like the conference sees it as a very notable addition. Even though Gonzaga does not have a football program, the basketball power would receive a full conference revenue share, according to McMurphy.
McMurphy’s report wasn’t out there long before multiple college sports insiders refuted that Gonzaga to the Pac-12 is a done deal.
Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports said that according to multiple sources, Gonzaga has not yet agreed to leave the West Coast Conference for the Pac-12, though the two sides are continuing to have “serious conversations.”
Ben Portnoy of the Sports Business Journal said the same on social media, adding that while “the fit certainly makes sense on a lot of levels … no deal is in place and an announcement isn’t pending at the moment.”
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Kyle Bonagura of ESPN, Chris Vannini of The Athletic and Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports have all also said that Gonzaga has not agreed to join the Pac-12.
The most forceful rebuttal, however, comes from Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford, according to Jim Meehan of The Spokesman-Review: “That is not accurate reporting.”
“That is not accurate reporting.”
Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford on Brett McMurphy’s report on X that GU is leaving the WCC for the Pac-12.— Jim Meehan (@SRJimm) September 23, 2024
If there’s one takeaway to this, though, it’s that just about every college sports insider agrees that Gonzaga and the Pac-12 are talking.
Looking into Gonzaga and the Pac-12
The Pac-12 announced earlier this month that it will add four teams from the Mountain West beginning in 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State.
Which schools could Pac-12 target next? Insider weighs in
The inclusion of San Diego State could make moving from the basketball-focused WCC to the Pac-12 enticing to the Zags. San Diego State made the men’s NCAA Tournament championship game in 2023, followed up this year with a trip to the Sweet 16, and has made the NCAA Tournament in four straight seasons and 11 times since 2010.
Despite playing in a mid-major conference, Gonzaga has grown into one of the biggest powers in men’s college basketball basketball during its current run of 25 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Zags are rarely unranked and have reached the Sweet 16 round in each of the past nine tournaments.
Gonzaga women’s basketball has also turned into a marquee program, making the NCAA Tournament in all but two seasons since 2007.
The Pac-12 isn’t the only conference that has been tied to Gonzaga since college sports underwent dramatic realignment in recent years, with the Big 12 having also come up as a rumored landing spot for the Zags.
Though Gonzaga would boost the Pac-12’s standing in the basketball world, it wouldn’t help the conference when it comes to football, where it still needs two more member schools. The conference is currently made up of just WSU and Oregon State, but is operating under a two-year grace period. The Pac-12 needs eight members for football by 2026 to be considered a conference by the NCAA.
