The Gonzaga Thread... with Poll...

[NJRedman]

I've been arguing this the past 4 years. Yes they should absolutely be included.

Aside from Nova and possibly Butler, Gonzaga has had more success than any other Big East school during the past 2 decades.

We need another headlining school. Why do we need to go into every year with a couple teams in the top 25 and 1 team in the top 10 preseason? Why can't we just take a top 10 non-football school and solve this problem?

Sadly, it doesn't appear to be happening next year. I only think it'd happen if we have a down year or two.

1. How well would have most of the schools on our conference do playing a WCC schedule? I bet most of us would constantly be at the top of that conference.

2. You are thinking short term bump. 20 years from now say they are a bottom feeder. Then what? An albatross 3000 miles away from half the conference.

[Bill Marsh]

I've been arguing this the past 4 years. Yes they should absolutely be included.

Aside from Nova and possibly Butler, Gonzaga has had more success than any other Big East school during the past 2 decades.

We need another headlining school. Why do we need to go into every year with a couple teams in the top 25 and 1 team in the top 10 preseason? Why can't we just take a top 10 non-football school and solve this problem?

Sadly, it doesn't appear to be happening next year. I only think it'd happen if we have a down year or two.

1. How well would have most of the schools on our conference do playing a WCC schedule? I bet most of us would constantly be at the top of that conference.

2. You are thinking short term bump. 20 years from now say they are a bottom feeder. Then what? An albatross 3000 miles away from half the conference.

It's more like 2000, and the issue is travel time, not travel distance. 2000 miles is like 200 miles was in the days of bus trips.

[Bill Marsh]

http://www.courant.com/sports/basketball/hc-wichita-state-aac-0408-20170407-story.html

Bill,

Gonzaga is not joining the AAC.

Also, I never suggested the BE become a hybrid conference again.

What's the rush to expand today?

Thanks for the link.

If no hybrid, how does the BE add schools left over from the next wave of realignment? Those will all be football schools.

Not necessarily.

Yes, necessarily.

[NJRedman]

I've been arguing this the past 4 years. Yes they should absolutely be included.

Aside from Nova and possibly Butler, Gonzaga has had more success than any other Big East school during the past 2 decades.

We need another headlining school. Why do we need to go into every year with a couple teams in the top 25 and 1 team in the top 10 preseason? Why can't we just take a top 10 non-football school and solve this problem?

Sadly, it doesn't appear to be happening next year. I only think it'd happen if we have a down year or two.

1. How well would have most of the schools on our conference do playing a WCC schedule? I bet most of us would constantly be at the top of that conference.

2. You are thinking short term bump. 20 years from now say they are a bottom feeder. Then what? An albatross 3000 miles away from half the conference.

It's more like 2000, and the issue is travel time, not travel distance. 2000 miles is like 200 miles was in the days of bus trips.

Are we going to have this stupid argument all over again for 8 more pages? 2000 miles across 3 times zones is not the same as a 200 mile bus trip.

[Bill Marsh]

You might want to consider posting this question on the Gonzaga message board since it's Gonzaga who has expressed the interest. It's a question for them to answer. They were very open about their desire to be included back in 2012/13 and Mark Few again expressed interest within the past year.

Everything I've read indicates Gonzaga would want to bring other schools, or even worse, create a western division. Get that outta here

You're high on Gonzaga and I respect them, but we don't need to bend over backwards. When we get to the point of looking at schools to add, Gonzaga with so many strings attached is honestly below A10 schools IMO.

Yes, I've seen hints of the western division thing, and I agree that would be a problem. I'd offer to take BYU along with them as a compromise.

I've also read they desperately want out of the WCC. Who wouldn't? They bring tournament money into that conference every single year, only to see it split up 10 ways while almost no one else brings anything. I think they'd like to be in a league in which they see see a few other teams contributing to the pot.

[Bill Marsh]

1. How well would have most of the schools on our conference do playing a WCC schedule? I bet most of us would constantly be at the top of that conference.

2. You are thinking short term bump. 20 years from now say they are a bottom feeder. Then what? An albatross 3000 miles away from half the conference.

It's more like 2000, and the issue is travel time, not travel distance. 2000 miles is like 200 miles was in the days of bus trips.

Are we going to have this stupid argument all over again for 8 more pages? 2000 miles across 3 times zones is not the same as a 200 mile bus trip.

Only if you keep posting about it.

[_lh]

Things change Bill. Schools that didn't have DI football get DI and those that have it might decide not to keep it for various reason mostly out of their control, so not necessarily.

[Bill Marsh]

Things change Bill. Schools that didn't have DI football get DI and those that have it might decide not to keep it for various reason mostly out of their control, so not necessarily.

Who's dropping football? Dropping roping from D1 doesn't help all that much either if cost is the issue. What does a school save? 20 scholarships? But they also lose revenue - specifically the bowl sharing revenue that they won't get as either an independent or as a non-D1.

I think that anyone hoping that a top basketball program will fall into our laps with the fall out from realignment is banking on the longest of long shots. The league most likely to fall apart is the Big XII. Football is part of the culture of those schools. They'll never drop football in my life time.

[_lh]

Things change Bill. Schools that didn't have DI football get DI and those that have it might decide not to keep it for various reason mostly out of their control, so not necessarily.

Who's dropping football? Dropping roping from D1 doesn't help all that much either if cost is the issue. What does a school save? 20 scholarships? But they also lose revenue - specifically the bowl sharing revenue that they won't get as either an independent or as a non-D1.

I think that anyone hoping that a top basketball program will fall into our laps with the fall out from realignment is banking on the longest of long shots. The league most likely to fall apart is the Big XII. Football is part of the culture of those schools. They'll never drop football in my life time.

Things are a changing Bill. Pay attention. The BE does not need to expand anytime soon so they certainly can play the long game and take on a top program that decides football is too expensive for playing in a non P5 or P4 league. Since the BE does not need to expand, they can wait for those kinds of expansion candidates ONLY. If they never happen, fine.

[Bill Marsh]

Things change Bill. Schools that didn't have DI football get DI and those that have it might decide not to keep it for various reason mostly out of their control, so not necessarily.

Who's dropping football? Dropping roping from D1 doesn't help all that much either if cost is the issue. What does a school save? 20 scholarships? But they also lose revenue - specifically the bowl sharing revenue that they won't get as either an independent or as a non-D1.

I think that anyone hoping that a top basketball program will fall into our laps with the fall out from realignment is banking on the longest of long shots. The league most likely to fall apart is the Big XII. Football is part of the culture of those schools. They'll never drop football in my life time.

Things are a changing Bill. Pay attention. The BE does not need to expand anytime soon so they certainly can play the long game and take on a top program that decides football is too expensive for playing in a non P5 or P4 league. Since the BE does not need to expand, they can wait for those kinds of expansion candidates ONLY. If they never happen, fine.

No argument with your point that things are changing, that the BE does not NEED to expand, and that the BE can afford to wait. All good points.

As certain as you are of your opinions, I'm equally certain that football schools are not going to stop being football schools. Hundreds of schools play football and find the money to pay for it and new schools are moving up to F1 every year. They can't all compete at the highest levels, but that doesn't mean they're going to drop the sport entirely - especially the schools that have been competing at the highest levels for a century. Kansas, for example, is not suddenly going to drop football. It's not happening. If you're waiting for schools like that, you might as well be waiting for godot.