A Grip on Sports: Gonzaga’s upward trajectory took another leap Tuesday with the switch to the new Pac-12
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Tuesday’s announcement Gonzaga is joining the Pac-12 got us thinking. Thinking about the past. Thinking, once again, just how far the little school down by the river has traveled in the past four decades. Who would have thought?
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• Not us, that’s for sure. Certainly not anyone associated with the Bulldog athletic department in 1984, from athletic director – and once and future basketball coach – Dan Fitzgerald on down.
Back then one could walk up to the Kennedy Pavilion a few minutes before a West Coast Athletic Conference game began, buy a ticket and, often, sit wherever one wanted. And see coach Jay Hillock’s Zags win, oh, about half the time. The average home attendance that season? Just 2,182.
Those were not the days, so to speak. In many ways.
Since those modest times, the Bulldogs have ascended college basketball’s mountain top. Mark Few may have yet to plant a national championship flag, but his teams had two chances in his 25-year head-coaching tenure. That’s a couple more in that time than most West Coast schools, including all but one of the schools Gonzaga will be joining in the newly reconstituted Pac-12.
If anything shows more clearly how college athletics has evolved in the past four decades, we’re not sure what it is. And nothing illustrates more clearly what’s behind the change.
Simply put, it’s money.
The seeds were sown in 1984. That’s when the federal courts decided the NCAA could no longer control broadcast rights for all its schools. Limit them. Run the marketplace. Be the conduit for all the money. It was up to each school. That led to conferences taking over, and, as media partners became richer and had more of a need for live programming, entities like ESPN and Fox and others writing huge checks. And with those bags of cash, de facto control of college sports.
Costs have grown too, as more and more folks want a deserved piece of the pie.
Which brings us to yesterday. Gonzaga is at a financial crossroads. In the not-too-decent future the school’s athletic department is going to need millions to meet player compensation and other revenue-sharing mandates. The need has already led to changes within the fanbase, as the McCarthey Athletic Center seating map was redrawn in the offseason to help maximize revenue.
But that is a drop in a half-full bucket. A decent-sized drop, sure, but nowhere near the spigot the conference change will bring. Even though GU does not play football, and that sport drives an estimated 80% of media revenue, the Pac-12 has agreed, according to multiple reports, to give a full, or nearly full, share of whatever media contract it is able to secure starting in 2026. The expected financial bump is, as athletic director Chris Standiford told The Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson, “a better situation for us financially, without question.”
And a better one on the court as well.
The WCC has improved markedly recently. Saint Mary’s, under longtime coach Randy Bennett, has competed for an NCAA berth often – and has won four of the last five meetings with Gonzaga. Other schools, including Santa Clara and USF, have increased their financial commitment to the sport and have reaped benefits. Grand Canyon College, an NCAA participant last season, is also set to join in 2025. But the rest of the conference is still struggling. The conference’s average NET rating last season was 170.78, even with Saint Mary’s and GU in the top 16. The new Pac-12’s eight schools? Despite Fresno State mired at 233, the summit’s strength – six schools in the top 44 – came out to 72.38. Last season it would have been the nation’s fourth-rated conference, just ahead of the ACC.
Will that success propel the new Pac-12 to a better TV deal than it would have received without the Zags? At worst it couldn’t hurt. With TBS out of the NBA realm, a foray into college basketball seems like a perfect fit. And Gonzaga has always been one of ESPN’s prized possessions, meaning the self-proclaimed World-Wide Leader should be a bidder for the conference’s TV product.
Let’s be clear. The Pac-12 won’t be raking in the big bucks, not even the bucks the lower end of the Power 4 – the ACC and Big 12 – rake in. But it will be more than what Gonzaga and the Mountain West Conference imports are used to.
And, after 40 years of a lot of them, it’s just another win for the little school down by the river.
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WSU: How Gonzaga’s addition helps the Pac-12 in 2026, and how the Zags help attract that final football-playing school needed, we turn to Jon Wilner in the Mercury News. … We also have John Canzano’s thoughts on the addition. And others from around the region and the nation. … Around the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Wilner has his weekly bowl projections in the Mercury News. Arizona State is part of that and he delves into the Sun Devils’ chances even more. … The month ahead has some huge games with playoff implications. … Oregon State’s running game is a highlight for the Beavers. But a new donation might even outshine it. … The visit from Michigan has resulted in Washington selling out Husky Stadium. … Oregon is dealing with some practice absences. … There have been some spark-inducing changes to the Colorado offense recently. … Utah’s fans just want to know how Cam Rising is doing. … A USC linebacker is going to redshirt. … Can the UCLA defense be fixed? … How Arizona calls plays is built to help coach the coaches. … In the Mountain West, the conference has added UTEP to its lineup. … There will be more to come, however. … UNLV has been thrust into the national spotlight, and not just because of how well the Rebels are playing. … Hawaii has a mission. Win at San Diego State. … Utah State knows there is one major challenge to stopping Boise State. … New Mexico has improved its running game. … Air Force has its first of two games with another service academy. … We did not know John Amos, who died yesterday, played football at Colorado State.
Gonzaga: As you would expect, the S-R has the news covered in depth, along with commentary in the form of Dave Boling’s column. … We linked above Theo’s story from the Zags’ press conference and do so again here. … Theo also has a timeline of the changes in conferences, leading to Tuesday’s announcement. … Jim Meehan reached out to former Gonzaga players and asked them their thoughts. … It may have been lost in the loud realignment news, but Few was named the recipient of the 2025 John R. Wooden Award’s “Legends of Coaching” Award. Jim has that story as well. … Wilner has a look at how the school leaving will impact the WCC.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana is using its tight ends often. And they have delivered. … The rest of the football schedule will challenge Weber State. … Portland State is next up for UC Davis. … Sacramento State is still dreaming of a Pac-12 spot.
Preps: Yes, we have Dave Nichols’ roundup of Tuesday’s action. It is dominated by a big day in slowpitch softball. Which brings us to Dave’s other story from the day. He delves into the impact former U-Hi athletic director and GSL leader Ken VanSickle had on the sport.
UFC: Charlotte McKinley has this story on a little Hayden, Idaho gym that has made a big impact on Jiu-Jitsu recently.
Sounders: Seattle takes on its neighbors to the north once more.
Seahawks: The loss in Detroit wasn’t all that bad. Considering. … The Hawks have re-signed 42-year-old tackle Jason Peters. … If you have questions, we have some answers to pass along. … One question? Why did the Hawks go for two?
Kraken: There is just one preseason game left. The roster is taking shape.
Storm: The WNBA is struggling with its new-found spotlight, the good and the bad it can bring.
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• We have finished our Wednesday chores. This column felt like one of them today. The number of stories we had to read about the newest member of the Pac-12 was staggering. And some of them were just plain dreck. We did not pass them along. You can thanks us later. Until later …