The clock on college sports realignment may be running out, and Gonzaga could be one of the programs caught in the final scramble.
A bipartisan bill known as the Protect College Sports Act is close to a vote in the U.S. Senate, and if it passes, it could freeze the landscape in place almost immediately.
The 116-page proposal, written by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), is designed to put guardrails around a system that has been messy since NIL and the transfer portal changed the game. It has also picked up support from the SEC and Big Ten.
One of the biggest pieces of the legislation targets conference movement. The updated language would block conferences that bring in at least $700 million in annual revenue from merging with one another or adding new members. That would effectively shut the door on the power four - the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 - adding schools at all, not just poaching from one another.
The bill also keeps the expansion cap at 19 schools for power leagues. It adds another major hurdle for any school trying to jump from one power conference to another: the moving program would have to operate as an independent for five years. For most schools, that’s a nonstarter.
If the bill becomes law, those rules would kick in right away. So while the realignment world still has a small window to move, that window may not stay open much longer.
That matters for Gonzaga, which just joined the new-look Pac-12 officially on July 1. The Zags are in position now, but the possibility of a Big 12 call would force a real conversation inside the program. A full share of the Big 12’s media rights money would be unrealistic for a non-football school, but even a partial share would likely outpace what Gonzaga is expected to make in the Pac-12.
There’s no guarantee Gonzaga gets pulled into the next wave of movement. But with the Protect College Sports Act close to becoming law, a burst of last-minute deals would not be a shock.
That could mean the ACC looking west, the Big 12 taking a hard look at Gonzaga, or even the Big East reaching out if it loses UConn to the ACC. However it plays out, the realignment carousel may be about to spin hard - and Gonzaga could be right back on it.
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