The Mountain West Conference has talked with six universities about joining the conference, most notably basketball heavyweight Gonzaga, perhaps as early as next season, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
MWC commissioner Craig Thompson confirmed that he has held "exploratory" discussions with university presidents and/or athletic directors, but identified only Gonzaga of the West Coast Conference among them.
According to the report, Gonzaga is increasingly frustrated in the WCC, in a sense subsidizing the rest of the league with the Zags' 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (last year’s Final Four berth alone fetched $8.55 million).
The question: Is Gonzaga just angling for concessions in how its current conference splits its revenue or sincerely exploring a move to the MWC?
While Thompson didn't identify the other potential expansion candidates, he did say Brigham Young University was not among them.
However, the Union-Tribune's report said multiple unidentified sources indicated that BYU — which was a charter member when the MWC formed in 1999 but left in 2011 — would consider a return, at least in basketball, if Gonzaga joins. BYU currently is an independent in football that competes in the WCC in most other sports.
It's all part of a larger discussion driven by, of course, TV rights. The MWC's deal with CBS and ESPN expires after the 2019-20 basketball season. BYU’s eight-year deal with ESPN to carry its home football games is up after the 2018 season. And ESPN is the primary rights-holder for WCC basketball.