Gonzaga is in talks with the Big 12 about possibly joining the conference, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Gonzaga’s athletic director Chris Standiford met in person with Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark last week to discuss the program joining the Big 12, according to Thamel’s report.
The two met at the Hyatt in Frisco, Texas, while Gonzaga was in the Dallas area to play Tennessee in a scrimmage, according to the report.
Gonzaga has reportedly been exploring its options about joining a more prominent conference. The private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, with a total undergraduate enrollment of around 5,000, currently competes in the mid-major West Coast Conference (WCC).
Gonzaga has dominated the WCC, winning at least a share of the regular season conference title 21 times since the 2000-01 season. Gonzaga has been the WCC tournament champion 18 times since the 2000-01 season.
The Pac-12 and Big East conferences have also engaged with Gonzaga, but how serious those discussions have been are uncertain. The school has reportedly made the WCC aware of its exploration of other conferences.
The discussions with the Big 12 back up Yormark’s previous promise that the conference would be aggressive and “open for business.” If the move does happen, it would be a seismic shift to the college basketball landscape.
Adding Gonzaga to the Big 12 would only bolster what many consider the best Division I basketball conference. The Big 12 is home to the last two men’s basketball national champions — Kansas and Baylor — and were an overtime loss by Texas Tech in the 2019 title game from having three consecutive NCAA champions.
Next summer, the conference is adding national quarterfinalist from last season Houston, which is ranked No.3 in this season’s preseason AP Poll.
Gonzaga’s men’s basketball program has been a powerhouse, reaching the national championship game in 2017 and losing the title game to Baylor in 2021. Gonzaga has been a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament for four of the past five years.
Yormark has been open about the league’s desire to expand and add a fourth time zone.
The Big 12 is already adding BYU next summer, whose basketball program currently competes against Gonzaga in the WCC. Located in Provo, Utah, BYU will be the first Big 12 team from the mountain time zone.
The conference discussed the possibility of Gonzaga joining the Big 12 in its negotiations to finalize a six-year, $2.28 billion media rights contract extension with ESPN and Fox.
But the potential addition of Gonzaga had nothing to do with the Big 12’s final deal, according to Thamel’s report.
“It was hinted at,” a person familiar with the Big 12 deal told Thamel. “It came up in a quiet manner. It’s a positive, but it’s not a financial game-changer.”
