The Big 12 and Gonzaga have re-engaged talks over the possibility of bringing aboard the Bulldogs in the league, sources confirmed to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd and Matt Norlander. If it happened — sources indicated there is still resistance to the idea — it would be a move that would further bolster the league’s reputation for excellent basketball. Longtime staples of the West Coast Conference, the Zags are one of the premier basketball brands outside the sport’s evolving major conference structure.
Gonzaga and the Big 12 flirted previously, but those talks cooled when the conference picked up new members Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12 — additions that will take effect ahead of the 2024-25 athletic season. However, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is leading a renewed push to land the Bulldogs, sources told Dodd. CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis first reported on the development for The Messenger.
Yormark would like to have Gonzaga join the Big 12 — along with the four Pac-12 acquisitions — in time for the 2024-25 academic year.
“It’s a thing. It’s still kind of … we’ll see,” a Big 12 source told CBS Sports. Yormark was not immediately available for comment.
Sources told Norlander that there is pushback and caution from some Big 12 athletic directors and presidents. Gonzaga does not have football, the move would bring the Big 12 an odd number of 17 programs, and there are still myriad financial situations being figured out by the league as it prepares to go to 16 teams next year with the recent approved additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
In order for Gonzaga to be approved, 75% of Big 12 presidents would have to vote in favor. Yormark does not have the votes at this point, sources told Norlander. If it was brought to a vote before July 1, 2024, when the Four Corner schools from the Pac-12 officially join, there would have to be at least…
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