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Post by boxcariii on May 10, 2024 14:15:42 GMT -5
Curious move by the WCC. I'm surprised by the edition of either Seattle or Grand Canyon, much less both. I would have favored Cal Baptist and/or Denver instead. The WCC also will be at 11 schools, which is an interesting number. It almost makes me think this was done in case Gonzaga leaves at some point. I hate to agree with bbg but I think that is a valid point. I still think GU will bolt for the Big 12. Unfortunately they are terrible in vb!!! I really mean terrible! It's offseason, some one with more initiative than me needs to start the Conference Realignment Draft, Volleyball perspective edition. (every team is drafted based on volleyball perception, while ignoring foobow money). It's an offseason topic, (and therefore, stupid in actual reality, but still fun!).
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 10, 2024 14:16:58 GMT -5
Curious move by the WCC. I'm surprised by the addition of either Seattle or Grand Canyon, much less both. I would have favored Cal Baptist and/or Denver instead. The WCC also will be at 11 schools, which is an interesting number. It almost makes me think this was done in case Gonzaga leaves at some point. The specter of their departure will always be there. They would have been in the Big East ten years ago if the travel wasn't such an issue. I see GCU as sort of up and coming - but, I don't really see the upside with Seattle U. At least... WCC Softball lives on! Except, Seattle U is and has always been a perfect fit for the WCC. They were already members before they dropped down a division way back int he day. This is just WCC reinforcing what it is.
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2024 14:19:48 GMT -5
Seattle is not a "perfect fit" for the WCC with Gonzaga still there. It only makes sense if/when Gonzaga leaves.
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 10, 2024 14:22:17 GMT -5
Seattle U is a Jesuit school in a major city on the Pacific Ocean. It IS a perfect fit.
We've had this discussion before, and apparently you're still doubling down even after it happens. LOL.
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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2024 14:24:17 GMT -5
Seattle is like the platonic ideal of a WCC school.
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2024 14:27:14 GMT -5
Seattle is like the platonic ideal of a WCC school. Maybe in 1994. But even then, Grand Canyon sure isn't. This move only makes sense if they think Gonzaga wants to leave, which they almost surely do. Edit: if Seattle was such a "perfect fit" and the "platonic ideal," why were they passed over for Pacific? Because they are neither of those things.
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Post by vbnerd on May 10, 2024 14:31:14 GMT -5
Seattle U is a Jesuit school in a major city on the Pacific Ocean. It IS a perfect fit. We've had this discussion before, and apparently you're still doubling down even after it happens. LOL. I actually thought they were already in the WCC. I checked with a coworker who follows soccer, and they thought Seattle was in the WCC.
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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2024 14:31:39 GMT -5
Seattle is like the platonic ideal of a WCC school. Maybe in 1994. But even then, Grand Canyon sure isn't. This move only makes sense if they think Gonzaga wants to leave, which they almost surely do. Pretty sure it still is in 2024.
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Post by badgerguru on May 10, 2024 14:41:28 GMT -5
Grand Canyon has some really great athletic programs. Their softball team currently is dominating the WAC, same with men’s track & men’s basketball. Honestly all of their sports are now consistently competing for WAC championships. Winning the WAC commissioners cup for the last 5 years I read somewhere.
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 10, 2024 14:49:27 GMT -5
Seattle is like the platonic ideal of a WCC school. Maybe in 1994. But even then, Grand Canyon sure isn't. This move only makes sense if they think Gonzaga wants to leave, which they almost surely do. Edit: if Seattle was such a "perfect fit" and the "platonic ideal," why were they passed over for Pacific? Because they are neither of those things. The last time the WCC expanded, Seattle U had literally just moved back to D-I and was not supporting programs at a D-I level, had facilities other WCC programs didn't want to play road games in, etc. They just finished renovating their arena in the pandemic and have made a lot of other upgrades. For all of this reddit-talk about Gonzaga blocking them, you can literally find quotes from Gonzaga AD saying they'd support adding them once they established themselves in D-I.
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Post by n00b on May 10, 2024 15:39:35 GMT -5
Maybe in 1994. But even then, Grand Canyon sure isn't. This move only makes sense if they think Gonzaga wants to leave, which they almost surely do. Edit: if Seattle was such a "perfect fit" and the "platonic ideal," why were they passed over for Pacific? Because they are neither of those things. The last time the WCC expanded, Seattle U had literally just moved back to D-I and was not supporting programs at a D-I level, had facilities other WCC programs didn't want to play road games in, etc. They just finished renovating their arena in the pandemic and have made a lot of other upgrades. For all of this reddit-talk about Gonzaga blocking them, you can literally find quotes from Gonzaga AD saying they'd support adding them once they established themselves in D-I. Gonzaga will literally never lose a basketball recruit to Seattle. And now they get to play a game there once per year that will probably feel like a home game for the Zags. Seems like a positive addition for them.
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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2024 15:50:41 GMT -5
People have a hard time understanding there are things that matter more to non-football schools/conferences than just maximizing revenue. Having a stable league to play in with schools that mostly resemble yours is important, especially when you have no interest in chasing football dollars.
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2024 16:07:46 GMT -5
The last time the WCC expanded, Seattle U had literally just moved back to D-I and was not supporting programs at a D-I level, had facilities other WCC programs didn't want to play road games in, etc. They just finished renovating their arena in the pandemic and have made a lot of other upgrades. For all of this reddit-talk about Gonzaga blocking them, you can literally find quotes from Gonzaga AD saying they'd support adding them once they established themselves in D-I. Gonzaga will literally never lose a basketball recruit to Seattle. And now they get to play a game there once per year that will probably feel like a home game for the Zags. Seems like a positive addition for them. Gonzaga can play in Seattle anyway if they want to. Gonzaga didn't want Seattle before. It's possible that has changed, though I don't see why it would. Edit: just to be clear, I don't think Gonzaga cares that much about Seattle because of any recruiting competition. I don't think Gonzaga wants to add anyone who won't be a clear positive in men's basketball. They already forced the WCC to play fewer conference games and let them keep more of their NCAA tournament revenue when it looked like they might depart for the Mountain West a while back. Seattle does nothing for men's basketball.
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2024 16:08:12 GMT -5
Also, I wouldn't expect an AD to publicly say that they oppose another school's entry, lol. Even A&M voted to accept Texas once the die was cast.
Edit: You probably thought the "alliance" was real too, huh? I seem to recall you being very confident that USC would never leave the Pac-12 when anyone with half a brain could see that they were unhappy and that it was only a matter of time before they got sick of subsidizing the rest of the Pac-12.
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Post by slxpress on May 10, 2024 16:13:09 GMT -5
People have a hard time understanding there are things that matter more to non-football schools/conferences than just maximizing revenue. Having a stable league to play in with schools that mostly resemble yours is important, especially when you have no interest in chasing football dollars. While I agree with you mostly, I also think many of the schools chasing football dollars have some of those same motivations also. Texas didn’t go to the SEC for more money. The leadership was in a conference with many smaller budget athletic departments. The goals were not aligned. A huge part of the move to the SEC was a desire to be in a conference where the conference commissioner could unequivocally advocate for schools with big budget athletic departments. Yes, this was possible because of the TV deal signed with ESPN, but the dollars themselves were not the draw as much as a desire to align themselves with where they saw the future of college athletics going and their place in it. Honestly this has been a long journey complicated by the state legislature and their control over the Permanent University Fund. Finally Texas found a way to be free of athletic department associations with Baylor, Texas Tech, and TCU, along with the other Big 12 schools. OU left because they saw their healthiest future as an athletic department tied to the Univesity of Texas. It’s been an institutional acknowledgement for at least 20 years now. USC and UCLA chases the TV dollars. But at least a small part of the move was about USC feeling like they were carrying the conference a bit financially while being taken for granted. UCLA saw a one time opportunity tied to USC’s exit that if they didn’t grab, might not be extended in the future. For Washington and Oregon is was less a chase for TV dollars and more an existential crisis about being left without a chair when the music stopped. That’s why they’re giving up over $200 million in compensation compared to the rest of the Big 10 - including fellow former PAC 12 compadres USC and UCLA - simply to be part of the club. Stanford, California, and SMU are moving to the ACC as much for relevancies sake as TV dolllars. Again, look at the compensation they’re willing to forgo simply to be part of the club. In the end the big TV dollars precipitate these moves, but there’s more of the same rationale for even the big moves than you’re implying. “Having a stable league to play in with schools that mostly resemble yours is important....”
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