Grand Canyon College (GCU) will be a part of the Mountain West Convention (MW) by a minimum of 2026, the college and convention introduced Friday. The choice comes six months after GCU mentioned it might be a part of the West Coast Convention (WCC) in 2025.
Grand Canyon will compete in 17 conference-sponsored sports activities within the Mountain West Convention
“We wish to greatest place ourselves to be nationally aggressive, and we’re excited in regards to the imaginative and prescient and way forward for the Mountain West,” GCU athletic director Jamie Boggs mentioned in a press release.
“We’re becoming a member of a convention that has loved nationwide success, has developed a wealthy custom in its 26 years and has financially positioned us for aggressive success on this altering collegiate panorama. And we’re desirous to compete for championships with our future friends within the Mountain West.”
Moreover, GCU will compete in 17 conference-sponsored sports activities, probably the most notable being males’s basketball. The Antelopes have certified for the previous three NCAA males’s basketball tournaments.
Let’s give Grand Canyon a heat welcome to the West #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/v4J2bwJOK4
— Barstool Mountain West (@MWCBarstool) November 1, 2024
Final season, the Antelopes managed to upset a fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s staff within the first spherical.
“Grand Canyon is an amazing addition to the Mountain West. We’re excited to broaden our footprint into the Metropolis of Phoenix and the State of Arizona,” MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez mentioned in a press release.
“Grand Canyon has been on an upward trajectory each academically and athletically for the previous decade, and its addition to the league will improve the competitors throughout the Mountain West as we attempt to earn NCAA postseason bids and compete for nationwide championships.”
MW started concentrating on GCU for growth after 5 of its members left for the Pac-12
In keeping with ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, the MW started pursuing GCU for growth after 5 of its members — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State — introduced their departures for the Pac-12 earlier this yr.
In response, the WCC mentioned it views GCU’s choice as a “missed alternative” for males’s basketball. The WCC introduced in Could that each GCU and Seattle would be a part of the convention in July 2025.
“We’re upset with its choice to hunt convention membership elsewhere simply months after finishing its membership settlement with the WCC that will have enhanced its nationwide profile,” WCC commissioner Stu Jackson mentioned.
“The WCC views GCU’s choice as a missed alternative to be a part of one of many premier conferences in males’s basketball. [It’s] a perennial multibid league with a wealthy historical past that features a number of nationwide champions, six Last 4 appearances, and numerous deep runs within the NCAA Males’s Basketball Championship.
“The WCC Presidents’ Council will proceed to guage the present panorama of Division I athletics, transfer ahead ambitiously in analyzing growth and alliance alternatives that place the WCC for NCAA success; pursue significant scheduling alternatives for all members; and generate nationwide publicity for the Convention by expansive broadcast visibility to which it has develop into accustomed.”
As a part of the announcement, GCU mentioned it may be a part of the MW as early as “the second quarter of 2025 if permitted underneath the convention’s bylaws.”
Nevertheless, no date has been confirmed but.
