Conference Affiliation

 
We live in a tumultuous era for Collegiate Athletics. Conferences are in flux as teams jockey for position trying to find that last seat after the music stops. Football seems to be the deciding factor in all this, but what of Basketball only schools? What if The Power conferences secede from the NCAA and form their own league?


Gonzaga has been a member of the West Coast Conference since 1979. During most of this time the conference remained largely unchanged with the only exception the defection of Seattle University in 1980. However with the modern era has drastically changed this. Starting in 2011, Brigham Young University officially joined the conference in all sports but Football. Now in 2013, the University of Pacific will return to the WCC after 42 years in the Big West. This brings the conference to 10 teams, a round number for sure, but is the WCC really done expanding? Lets take a look at two possible additions to the WCC:

Seattle University (Current WAC member)
Many have pined for the return of the Seattle University Redhawks, they would be natural travel partners and regional rivals for the Zags. They are also natural fits in that they are a Catholic Jesuit University, one of only 28 in the nation (4 of which reside in the WCC). They also would open a huge market for the conference in Seattle with a large TV footprint. They have a well known basketball program that thrived during the 50s and 60s, culminating in a 1958 National Title game versus Kentucky. They actually produced more NBA players during the 1960s than any other program in the nation. Granted these things are in the past, and while impressive, mean absolutely nothing to recruits today. However the legacy of the program and the ambition to compete at a high level is not something to take lightly, i would not be surprised to see them ascend back to the NCAA tourney in the not too distant future.

University of Denver (Current WAC Member)
Long rumored to have "eyes" for the WCC, DU is currently a new member of the WAC recently removed from the Sun Belt. Denver began as "The Colorado Seminary" and was established as a Methodist Institution by John Evans (who also established Northwestern University in Chicago). They are ranked 8th in the nation in total national championships with 28 (21 of which are in their remarkable Skiing program). Perhaps their most known athletic program is Hockey. They have won 7 national titles and produced more than 60 NHL players. What about Basketball? Well Denver is not one of the better basketball programs in the nation, however this past season they went to the Sun Belt championship losing to Western Kentucky. The program is good enough that it could provide a decent challenge in the WCC. Denver is also one of the bigger TV markets in the Western US and as such would provide an increased economic footprint for the WCC as well as a natural traveling partner for BYU.

Many fear adding teams like Seattle, Denver and Pacific only further dampens the already weak Strength of schedule and creates too many in conference games to be played. In the event that the WCC were to expand to 12 teams, it is likely the conference would be split into divisions. This would allow for a semi-balanced schedule in that each member of the division would play each other twice, and then play each member of the other division once. Creating 16 Conference games, the same as the current schedule and two less than a 10 team schedule. The new WCC divisions would look something like this (please excuse the working division names):

Mountain Division
Gonzaga
Seattle
Portland
BYU
Denver
Pacific

California Division
Saint Mary's
Santa Clara
San Francisco
Pepperdine
Loyola Marymount
San Diego

Another intriguing possibility is a rumored "Catholic League". Some have speculated that the Big East will eventually dissolve, with its football programs absorbed by other conferences. If this were to happen basketball only teams like Georgetown, Villanova, St. Johns, Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette, DePaul, and Notre Dame (all of which happen to be Private Catholic Universities) would need to find another home for their non football programs. The rumor is they have been discussing the possibility of forming an all Catholic/Private league. While Notre Dame is likely to continue to be courted by the Big Ten, if the other seven members decide to form a league they would need to grab teams from other places to make it work. Some possibilities include Xavier, Saint Josephs, Saint Louis, Dayton, Gonzaga, Creighton, and Saint Marys. Its likely to make a league like this work, it would have to be split into a western and eastern division so as to accommodate at least somewhat of a regional scheduling priority. While this is certainly a long shot, if something like this were to form, the Zags most certainly would be invited.

Personally i feel the best opportunity for the WCC is to continue to expand and try to build on the success of programs like Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. If the Power conferences decide to go away, there isn't much the Zags would be able to do about it. The Zags best chance at continuing growth is continuity, if an offer were to be made to move to a big, powerful basketball only conference, i think the university would listen, but why be like Boise State and move whichever way the wind blows only to fall back to where they started with their tail between their legs. Only move if its for something like what the WCC currently offers, a stable, well run organization that is as healthy as any in the country.