Big 12, Gonzaga Expressing ‘Growing Mutual Interest’: Report
There is reportedly “growing mutual interest” between the Big 12 Conference and Gonzaga, according to Action Network‘s Brett McMurphy.
McMurphy shared the report on his Twitter page on Wednesday night, saying the two sides met earlier today in Austin as Gonzaga and Texas played each other in men’s basketball.
This follows a report from Pete Thamel two weeks ago that said Gonzaga and the Big 12 had initially met about potential expansion.
According to Thamel, adding Gonzaga was something that the Big 12 brought up in its talks ahead of reaching its new television deal, although the potential addition had nothing to do with the Big 12’s final deal.
“It was hinted at,” a familiar source told Thamel. “It came up in a quiet manner. It’s a positive, but it’s not a financial game-changer.”
Adding Gonzaga would certainly be an eye-opening move for the conference and one that could greatly impact things moving forward, and here is why we thought it was a good idea back in July.
As our own Pete Mundo wrote last week, there are reasons Gonzaga to the Big 12 does not make much sense, however, clearly the intrigue continues to be enough from new commissioner Brett Yormark to continue to explore the conversations with the Zags.
Yormark has remain steadfast about wanting to be in all four time zones, and the Pacific time zone is the only one the Big 12 will not have a team in after BYU joins the league next season.
