🏀 Gonzaga Joins Pac-12
Rumors of this impending conference switch broke almost a week ago and all the involved parties didn't outright deny it; instead confirming discussions were ongoing. Well, everything came to fruition yesterday as it was officially announced: Gonzaga is leaving the WCC to Join the Pac-12.
25 years ago I never would have guessed this was remotely possible. So many surprising things had to happen along the way besides Gonzaga's miraculous growth and success in athletics. Gonzaga's basketball programs outgrew the WCC a long time ago, but it took football-driven conference-raiding and terrible Pac-12 leadership over the last year to create today's opportunity. They still need at least one more football school in the new Pac-12, but right now it's shaping up to be a very good basketball conference.
A few more links from the Spokesman's coverage:
Of course, despite all the announcement hoopla right now, this won't fully go into effect until the summer of 2026. It's going to be an interesting couple of years wrapping up their stint in the WCC. On paper Gonzaga's men's team looks like a potential title contender again this year; I'm intrigued to see if away games will be even more fired up and hostile than they were before.