Hoops powerhouse Gonzaga to join Pac-12 in '26
Gonzaga is set to join the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 season, the conference announced Tuesday.
Assume St Mary’s will follow them?
Zags Expected to Join PAC for Hoops
- Thread starter rebswin2
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Assume St Mary’s will follow them?
So basketball theyre basically the WCC- Gonzaga replaces St. Marys with SDSU.... but they get a full share of the media rights.. Idk, I guess its cool to get beat down by Gonzaga
We were basically dead last in a good football conference for 23 of 25 years in the MWC.
Not sure that applies.. Gonzaga dominated the WCC despite having foes like BYU and SMU for years... and not many other programs in the WCC elevated their play
I don't get why they would turn down the MW a few years ago only to join the MW now. I wonder how much different the deals were?
I was a big proponent of UNLV staying in the MW but this stings.
I was a big proponent of UNLV staying in the MW but this stings.
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Ouch. No other way around it. But we’ve made a choice between FB & MBB. Our future is tied to our FB program and the one shot at P4. Nothing else matters (generally speaking).
It's nice but PAC still sucks.
It's all Football, money money
With ACC having issues with FSU/Clemson, if I am PAC, see if Stanford/Cal/SMU interested to comeback, still not great league, but it be 6th behind ACC/Big 12 in football.
How much money can PAC get?
UNLV in MWC is not long term solution, taking cash now, is nice, but long term it's B12.
It's all Football, money money
With ACC having issues with FSU/Clemson, if I am PAC, see if Stanford/Cal/SMU interested to comeback, still not great league, but it be 6th behind ACC/Big 12 in football.
How much money can PAC get?
UNLV in MWC is not long term solution, taking cash now, is nice, but long term it's B12.
This broke my brain a bit. Saint Mary's is a college (SMC), SMU is Southern Methodist University (SMU). I think that's what you meant because while Jerryl Sasser did own us at SMU in the WAC they were never in the WCC!
Oregon State and Wazzu calling the shots and blowing all the money.
I cannot believe how super regional the PAC has become. It’s literally a PAC northwest conference with Fresno and SD on an island.
I cannot believe how super regional the PAC has become. It’s literally a PAC northwest conference with Fresno and SD on an island.
This is why it's silly for us to crow about their 'failures'
And while football is the driver here.
That is a significantly better basketball conference.
Yep the MWC is temporary for UNLV. If FB can remain a top 25 program and score some huge wins, maybe schedule a made for TV home game against a Bama or other perennial top-5 team and near sell out Allegiant we’ll be well positioned for P4. And if we never get that invite our fallback will likely be the PAC which at some point will want us when one of their top schools gets a P4 invite. No permanent enemies.
Gonna be that much harder for CKK to recruit against SDSU and other former MWC programs. Sure would love to see a little more fire form him. Just get the impression that going along to get along is sufficient.
The PAC is paying a steep price to add Gonzaga, IMO. Full share? It’s obvious that Wazzu and OSU panicked and gave Gonzaga what they wanted. Remember that the defectors don’t have a say.
Their focus should be on poaching the AAC but they can’t get there.
We'll know in a few years.
Nobody should be claiming any type of victory at this point. Saying UNLV 100% made the right or wrong call.
Way to early..
They keep saying Memphis still in play. I'm not convinced. (They being message boards).
If PAC were able to grab Memphis I do not want to hear anymore nonsense about the PAC and MWC being equal.
There is still some smoke here. Everyone has a price. The interest was mutual; but the price to get it going is going to be hard for the pac to swallow. I don’t think it happens. Its a bad play long term for all parties.
Memphis I think is a step above us in preparedness to move to a P4 conference, and their geographic location gives them a chance in either the ACC or B12. The addition of the Zags make it stronger conference, but not having any travel partners for Memphis means you're forcing them, in addition to paying exit fees and forgoing several years of full media share in the AAC, to also bear the brunt of travel expenses currently and that's especially brutal for the olympic sports.
The PAC has boxes themselves into a corner. It is way too regional, and if they think Gonzaga is a full share member sans football then Memphis just upped their price significantly. Along with everyone else in the AAC.
The defectors can’t be too happy, they jumped in with two feet while everyone else has been negotiating their value. The pecking order is Pac2 then Zags then the 4 defectors then Utah State Diddlers.
To me, there’s too many individual deals and I don’t think the PAC will be a stable conference. Won’t be long before SDSU and Boise start complaining.
We’re not equal now. PAC is clearly a better FB and MBB conference just in terms of the programs themselves. No question about it in my mind. For UNLV specifically, the deal we cut was the best temporary path forward (see numerous other posts on why that’s the case).
Right now, PAC wins.
If UNLV parlays their dealings into something bigger/better and permanent, UNLV will “win”. If UNLV remains stuck in the MWC, UNLV loses big time.
Now, I ask you …. Do you have confidence in the UNLV admin?
I know there’s a long play on UNLV’s part …. I just don’t trust the school.
My trust in the current administration is actually at an all-time high. If anything, we waited 5-6 years too long to get an adult in the room. I don't think the president is great, but when I compare him to past presidents it also seems like he's the best we've had in a long, long time.
Still, there's some truth in the best indicator for future performance is past performance--and if that's the metric we're going to be screwed either way, right?
Someone did some math and it’s a 60 million dollar difference + voting rights to make a move to the PAC. Not to mention it kills any shot at a p4 invitation,
I don’t think it’s necessary to pay to play in the PAC 2.0. It’s not a great conference. I’d pay to join the Big12 or ACC.
The cash injection allows Harper some flexibility in infrastructure and retaining coaches. We’re just not in a place to cut 10 million checks every so often.
As it stands today without Memphis the PAC is a much better football and basketball conference. It’s not close.
I agree. I don't understand how people look at it and say same same..
It's really a 50/50 scenario in terms of risk.
Does it make sense to pay to join another G5 conference? Probably not.
Does it make sense to not pay and remain in a lesser G5 conference that might see fewer teams get bowl invites or fewer make the NCAA tournament? Weaker conference schedule making at large basketball bids tougher. Or even getting into the CFP playoff.
I don't know.
This wasn't UNLV's doing but I said before I don't think you get the Mendenhall Center and a 30 million dollar Football facility envisioning being the flagship program of the WAC 2.0.
Whether UNLV made the right choice we won't know for at least 3-5 years.
in 3-5 years if we are not in the BIG 12 it wont matter. IMO. The landscape has changed TOO MUCH. I think we see a sharp decline in our ability to stay relevant.
I hate to pop the balloon of the season we are in. But this is a senior heavy team. I'm not saying Odom is leaving or not.
But just assuming we can hire another name coach and he can keep things rolling is pretty presumptuous.
Odom leaves there will be graduations and a fair share of portal defections.
Better hope and pray that influx of money is enough to keep him.
This season is lightning in a bottle. We should see this as an exception, and not the normal. Appreciate everything while we can and live in the moment. For us, this is football’s equivalent of the 90-91 title run.
Current students now, in 20 years will be talking about Odom’s historical run in 24, and living off the limelight of the glory days.
I think what Odom has done is sustainable in this current conference.
I'm not sure it's as sustainable in a lesser version of it.
It definitely is in this conference (or a lesser one), if you can hold on to Odom. That's a big IF though.
Oh C'mon. WSU went to the Rose Bowl in '97 and '02, (both losses) then beat #5 Texas in the Holiday Bowl in '03. Do you think we still look back fondly on those days as our glory days?
Oh wait - we do......
Actually the defectors voted on Gonzaga and it was unanimous. I hate f-ing Gonzaga. When they quit scheduling WSU their coach said "we don't play bottom feeders".
Bull - according to my Board (not me of course), UNLV is stupid. But then so am I over there!
