Big 12 Basketball: Pros and cons of recent serious expansion candidates

Gonzaga

Just over two decades ago, Gonzaga was a Cinderella team riding the high of an Elite Eight run in 1999. We don’t know what would’ve happened in Spokane had Mark Few not been hired and stayed and built the Bulldogs into a national power, but it’s put the program in an enviable position. Gonzaga has been king of the WCC for years and has remained in that mid-major league despite growing far beyond a mid-major program.

Without a football program, there’s always been something of a limitation as to where the Bulldogs could end up, but the Big 12 makes sense for a number of reasons. The future of the Pac-12 doesn’t look great, and Spokane fits better in this conference than in somewhere like the Big East or SEC. Gonzaga recently faced Baylor in the national title game and would be instantly credible, even in an extremely talented Big 12 basketball conference.

Spokane isn’t exactly in Texas or near the other teams in the conference, and the spike in travel costs would certainly be something to consider, especially for the other athletic programs. There’s also that lack of a football program, meaning this might have to be a basketball-only move. There are also people that will claim that Gonzaga wouldn’t be a true contender in this type of league after decades in a softer WCC, but that’s not an issue at all: Gonzaga is for real.