(03-01-2018 12:26 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(03-01-2018 11:51 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  Gonzaga has earned 18 NCAA Tournament units the past six seasons for the WCC or about a total of $28 million over six seasons. Mark Few and the Gonzaga AD have expressed their concerns:

https://www.gonzagabulletin.com/online/a...ea887.html

From another article:

In an interview with the Spokesman-Review in Washington, Few issued a challenge to the rest of the league beyond Saint Mary's, BYU, and Gonzaga.

“Our league needs to really step back and take notice,” Few said. “It’s time for some of these other institutions to start picking it up. They’re really dragging the top three down.”

Few went as far as to wonder whether or not the league should look at how it distributes money made from NCAA Tournament appearances.

“We need to talk long and hard about (NCAA Tournament) money distribution that we’re making for the league,” Few said. “And if they’re not spending it on basketball, we don’t need to be sponsoring swimming at those schools or whatever they’ve got going. They’re not all in.”

This is the issue for Gonzaga. Of the 18 conferences games televised by ESPN this season, 10 involve Gonzaga. All 18 games involve Gonzaga, BYU or St. Mary's. Bottom line, this is a very different conference without Gonzaga. Even with these three schools, the current conference RPI ranking is at #13, just ahead of the WAC at #14. Without Gonzaga, the WCC becomes a one bid conference and there is no school out there that can replace what Gonzaga brings. The WCC needs to address the concerns of Gonzaga before its too late.

In another article it was mentioned that nearly all of the WCC's March Madness money is going to the conference office and very little gets distributed out to the members. So, Few is mistaken if he thinks the other members are getting March Madness cash that they're not spending on basketball.

I doubt the other WCC schools would be too upset about letting Gonzaga keep more of the March Madness money, but I'm sure the ADs at some of these schools chuckle at the idea of spending as much on basketball as Gonzaga. They don't have the donations or ticket revenue that Gonzaga has. Even the schools in the middle of the WCC that are trying to compete might not mind having more of a chance at winning the basketball autobid if, say, Gonzaga is replaced by Seattle.