Beavs' unfocused future has a solution

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Anyone know where Gonzaga is, as in what town?

Sure, it’s in Spokane, Wash.

And, how does the public know this? The sporting public knows this basically for one reason - the men’s basketball team, coached by Mark Few.

With the loss of football coach Jonathan Smith this weekend, maybe it’s time for Oregon State to put some substantial focus on the men’s and women’s basketball teams it supports, especially with the uncertain economic future ahead for the athletic department.

It takes a lot less money to run a basketball program than one for football. A lot less. And, yet, the benefit for the school can be similar if it’s run well, just like Gonzaga, which played for the Div. I title in 2021 and 2017.

So, if winning the NCAA title in men’s and women’s basketball becomes a top focus instead of winning the College Football Playoffs, finding a way into the Mountain West Conference becomes less of a let down, and more of a gateway so let’s make that happen, folks, in Corvallis.

Gonzaga, which plays in the West Coast Conference and does not have a football team, has recently been ranked as high as No. 1 in men’s basketball, and is an annual contender for the NCAA Div. I title under Few, a former high school coach in Oregon who’s been at his job now for 24 seasons.

Few would be one of the most sought-after coaches in the country if there was a hint he wanted to leave. At a reported $1.8 million in salary, he’s ranked No. 62 from among the 351 Div. I schools - that’s almost three times the number of Football Bowl System teams chasing the CFP title.

Apparently, Few can survive on $1.8 million rather than get much more at a larger school.

Football gets tons more attention and brings in tons more money than basketball. Oregon State’s athletic budget has relied on football for 70 percent of its revenue. The school recently put in $162 million to renovate Reser Stadium so as to bring in more money. Basketball, though, can get tons of attention, and bring in plenty of money, too, if it’s successful and fills its arena with fans.

Oregon State is not going to bring in anywhere near the money it has in the past through football because of the demise of the Pac-12 Conference and it’s media contract - that’s reality. And, losing coach Jonathan Smith this weekend further pushed forward that reality. But, what of basketball?

Anyone know where Butler University is located? Pennsylvania? Kentucky? Indiana? Louisiana?

Butler is in Indiana. I bring this up because the school played for the Div. I men’s basketball national title - the actual title game - twice in the past 15 years, showcasing that getting to the top of basketball is a lot more readily available to any school in America than it is in football. Butler has a football team that plays at the FCS level, where there’s 122 schools. They play in the Pioneer Football League, which includes the University of San Diego, and they aren’t very good. But, that’s football. In basketball, they’re readily among the schools that can recruit a future NBA stud and get to the title game.

Heck, San Diego State, which plays in the Mountain West Conference, played for the Div. I men’s basketball title last year.

OSU is still fighting to uphold the Pac-12, which is honorable but not revenue generating. The MWC is out there as an option - if it wants the Beavers and their Pac-12 orphan cousin Washington State. So, this is a vote that’s the best option available, from a couch in Portland.

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