12 reasons Gonzaga fans should be excited about the Pac-12

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are officially members of the Pac-12 conference, a massive shift for a program that was in the WCC for nearly half a century.

While the WCC was kind to Gonzaga, the new Pac-12 provides plenty of substantial benefits that the West Coast Conference could not – including more financial security, brand exposure across linear TV stations, and a deeper, stronger group of athletic programs in multiple sports.

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With Gonzaga’s move to the Pac-12 becoming official on Wednesday, we look at 12 reasons fans should be excited about the Zags new conference affiliation:

1. Increased revenue for NIL

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Davis Fogle. | Photo by Lane Mathews

While the exact figures are unknown, it is undeniable that Gonzaga is getting a bigger annual payout from the Pac-12 media deal than they were in the WCC. Estimates range from $7-11M annually, and because Gonzaga is a full-share member, they will get the same payout from the media rights deal as everyone else in the league.

That, plus any income from NCAA Tournament units, will give Gonzaga a healthy war chest of finances to spend on NIL – and gives them a sizable advantage over the rest of the Pac-12 schools, who will spend most of that money on their football programs.

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2. Deeper basketball conference (with fewer bottom feeders)

The Pac-12 has just nine basketball-playing members, but the top 3-4 teams annually will almost certainly finish higher than where the top 3-4 WCC teams finished regularly.

Last year, the fourth-highest rated team in the WCC at KenPom, Pacific, finished 112th, while the fourth highest among Pac-12 schools, Boise State, finished 59th.

Beyond that, the WCC frequently has 2-3 teams outside KenPom’s top 250 every year, which creates trap games and matchups that do nothing to help the NCAA Tournament resume. Texas State was No. 246 at KenPom last year, but the next lowest team in the new Pac-12 was Washington State at No. 140. If the Bobcats can improve, this league will have no…

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Publish date : 2026-07-02 19:30:00

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