Gonzaga is supposedly talking with the Big 12 about joining.

Could Gonzaga join the Big 12 Conference along with BYU?

ESPN’s Pete Thamel said on Wednesday that Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford met with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark last week to discuss the possibility of the Zags joining the Power Five conference.

Dana O’Neil of The Athletic confirmed the report. She also said that the talks are “exploratory” right now, that there is no timetable for a decision, and that Gonzaga would make the change in all sports.

The men’s college basketball landscape would change if the Zags joined the Big 12 because Gonzaga has become a national powerhouse while playing in the West Coast Conference.

BYU has been in the WCC for most of its sports and has been independent in football since 2011. Next year, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and the University of Central Florida will all join the Big 12.

Thamel says that Gonzaga has also talked with the Pac-12 and the Big East, but he needs to know how far those talks have gone.

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated said that Gonzaga and San Diego State may have been in talks with the Pac-12.

USC and UCLA, two of the best teams in the Pac-12, said at the end of July that they would join the Big Ten in 2024.

Thamel wrote, “Adding Gonzaga to the Big 12 would be a huge change because it would keep the Big 12’s reputation as the best in the sport.”

“In 2017 and 2021, Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team played in the national championship game. In four of the last five years, Gonzaga has been the top seed in the NCAA tournament.

Gonzaga sports teams compete in 16 NCAA sports, but no football team exists. The last time the Zags played football was in 1941.

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