Gonzaga has produced 50 tournament units from '97-'18, while the other WCC schools have combined for 40getty images
Gonzaga is playing in its fifth straight Sweet 16 tomorrow night, and the school has negotiated a new deal with the West Coast Conference to "reap an even bigger share" of NCAA Tournament revenue beginning this year, according to Eddie Pells of the AP. The WCC will divide the "first unit of tournament revenue evenly" among its 10 member teams, but give schools a "larger slice of any additional units they generate by winning games." One tournament unit from this year's event is worth at least $1.68M. Gonzaga has produced 50 units from '97-'18, while the other WCC schools "have combined for 40." Gonzaga AD Mike Roth said, "We all have the same opportunity when the year starts. And we felt that whoever advances should be rewarded more so than they had been in the past." Pells noted the NCAA "suggests that conferences split the money evenly among all members." However, Gonzaga recently was "being courted" by the Mountain West Conference, giving the school a chance to "sweeten the pot for their basketball team in exchange for staying" in the WCC. Roth: "It was a unique situation. We had one conference that wanted us, and one conference that wanted to keep us. So, welcome to America" (AP, 3/26).
LATE-NIGHT LAUGHS: ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel has made Gonzaga a recurring topic during his late-night show since the start of the NCAA Tournament, and he continued it last night by saying the school is a "made up university, and I have seen no proof that it exists.” Kimmel said, “They’re selling shirts now up there (in Spokane) that say ‘Gonzaga Exists.’ They sell shirts that say ‘Jurassic Park,’ too. It doesn’t mean dinosaurs exists.” At this point in his monologue, Gonzaga's mascot, Spike the Bulldog, appeared on-stage, with Kimmel saying Spike is the “generic Bulldog mascot every other college in the United States has” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 3/26).
