‘It legitimizes it.’ Future Pac-12 foes weigh in on Gonzaga’s addition — a ‘massive’ coup for the reformed conference

Oct. 24—LAS VEGAS — Mountain West Media Day, West Coast Conference Media Day or a 24-hour summit for teams headed to the new-look Pac-12 Conference?

At times, last week’s media gathering at Resorts World in Las Vegas could’ve passed as all three.

During a joint MWC/WCC Media Day, it was especially hard to ignore the elephant in the room — what with seven future Pac-12 members filtering in and out of large meeting rooms in Vegas, mingling with one another and finding different ways to answer many of the same questions about their conference affiliation after the 2025-26 season.

The most recent news development in the Pac-12 was naturally the most popular one last week in Vegas. Gonzaga, after years of exploratory conversations and closed-door meetings with conferences like the Mountain West, Big East and Big-12, joined the Pac-12 earlier this month as its eighth official member and first non-football school.

“I just think when you start any conversation with a basketball conference that includes San Diego State and Gonzaga, it’s a good thing,” said San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, whose Aztecs pulled out an 84-74 win over GU in Spokane last year and will host the Zags three weeks from now at Viejas Arena. “You look at West Coast Final Fours over the last 25 years, you’re talking about two of the teams that have been there. And I think UCLA being the third. I think Arizona went in 2001. So you’re talking about West Coast presence, West Coast powerhouses and I think any conference that starts with those two teams is a good thing.”

The Zags bring basketball pedigree into a conference that will feature two original Pac-12 members, Washington State and Oregon State, along with five defectors from the Mountain West: San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Colorado State and Fresno State.

An eighth football member is needed to qualify for FBS status, but that school has yet to be identified.

“It’s massive. It’s kind of even hard to overstate that,” Colorado State coach Niko…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/legitimizes-future-pac-12-foes-020300350.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-10-25 02:03:00

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