They wanted no part of it until they had to. Gonzaga credits will help short term, as they hare paying a huge part of these buy ins from future revenues.

Maximizing media market is all that matters, and while that is splitting hairs between Big West and WCC, they have a better media deal, and more known institutions.

The last non Gonzaga/SM team to win the regular season was a split in 01-02 for Pepperdine and 07-08 for San Diego winning the tournament.

The private schools have to work harder. Donations, foundations, and larger tuition run their organizations, not the tax payers. Zero of their money for athletics or academics comes directly from the state (we can leave grants out of the discussion at this point), and their discretionary budgets are highly scrutinized.

This puts the emphasis on relationship building and career success within the schools network at a premier, which develops deeper connections to the institution, and hence giving. I've pushed forever to develop a specific foundation to athletics for this reason, even if it returns nothing in the first ten years.

There was a time that LB was pushing to raise it's profile, when Maxson and then King had me feeling good about that direction. California politics and resulting economics make having an independent foundation even more important, but we have always struggled on that front.

The UC's have pivoted to try to survive and invigorated some dedicated donors. So has LB, but not as much. Need more in today's world.