Gonzaga officials say there are many reasons why they decided to take the plunge and commit the university to join an evolving Pac-12 Conference.
They admitted the university will see financial benefits in jumping from the West Coast Conference, its athletic home since 1979, to the Pac-12. Athletic Director Chris Standiford declined to comment on specifics during a press conference yesterday. But he admitted in general terms that Gonzaga will gain financially.
“It is an opportunity for us to invest more directly in our student-athletes and create a more robust experience for them and potentially for more of them. That’s the changing nature of college athletics and it was a really important part of this decision," he said.
"But the qualitative components of it were just as important. I would say, in some cases, the real part of our discernment to get to an outcome, which is the alignment, values alignment and the commitment to creating terrific experiences for our student-athletes that were consistent with our educational mission.”
President Thayne McCulloh said he was drawn to the new opportunities beyond athletics.
“For our universities as academic communities. The opportunities for our faculty and staff. The opportunities for our students to engage in new and different ways with member institutions in the higher education space," he said.
Gonzaga becomes the eighth partner of the new Pac-12, with holdover institutions Washington State and Oregon State, as well as five universities that have recently announced intentions to leave the Mountain West Conference. They are Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State, football schools all.
Even though Gonzaga is not a football school, President Thayne McCulloh says he was assured that it will be a full partner in determining the direction of an evolving Pac-12.
“One of the issues that we really felt was important to answer is what would Gonzaga’s role be at the table of institutions because, even there are football-related decisions that would not affect the institution, there are also ones that would," he said.
Gonzaga University announced in a statement released Tuesday morning that the university submitted an application to the Pac-12 on Monday. That application was approved by votes of the conference’s board of directors and the presidents of the five universities that will join the league at the same time.
Gonzaga has been a member of the West Coast Conference since 1979. It has participated in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament every year since 1999, twice going to the national championship game. Its women’s program is also strong, making it one of college basketball’s most well-known brands, which made it a target of larger conferences hoping to capitalize on its success.
The Pac-12 still needs one more football-playing member to remain eligible for the College Football Playoff, which determines the national champion. But this strengthens the league in men’s and women’s basketball.
