THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Zags' talk turns to possible move to Big 12

You’d think that Gonzaga fans would be buzzing about this year’s team.

Hey, Mark Few unveiled a platoon of new players at Saturday’s Kraziness in the Kennel.

There was also something for Zags junkies to worry over, the fact that highly touted inside scorer Graham Ike didn’t play in the scrimmage — with the staff citing caution over his injured foot.

Remember, Ike missed all of last season at Wyoming with that same injury before moving to Gonzaga, so you have to wonder if he’ll ever be fully fit.

So, plenty of excitement (redshirt freshman Braden Huff looked terrific) and plenty of questions.

Zag Nation should be babbling about this roster.

But.

No.

We’re still in the insane world of school realignment, remember.

Therefore, one report of talks between Gonzaga and the Big 12 Conference became a wildfire in less than 24 hours.

If you care about the Zags, you’ve probably heard this rumor already — that “high-level” talks between Gonzaga and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark have been going on, and the Midwest-based conference would like to add the Zags, possibly as soon as next year.

SO FAR, neither Yormark nor Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford have been willing to comment on the idea.

Of course not.

What we know, or what’s been tossed into the social media universe, came from Seth Davis.

Davis is a “basketball insider,” which means he works (or has worked) for some respected media outlet, and thus has plenty of contacts at various levels in that world.

Seth has not been kind enough to tell us the NAME of his source for this blockbuster story — a tale which implies that Yormark has been given permission to court Gonzaga by his conference presidents, and that they will discuss it next week at their meeting in Dallas.

To be fair, Seth Davis has decent reporting chops.

I’m a wee bit put off by the fact that he broke this story in a news web site called The Messenger, which (apologies) I’d never heard a word about until now.

When I looked up the actual story, it appeared at the same time as a piece about the rapper 50 Cent acquiring a partial sponsorship of a girls under-14 soccer club in Wales.

Huh?

Maybe Seth is freelancing more now, and perhaps The Messenger was will to pay well for a fairly well-known sports reporter to toss them a pretty juicy story.

I’m not saying Seth made this up, or that the story is wrong.

Seth has a pretty good reputation, although if this Gonzaga thing falls in the mud on both ends — school and Big 12 — he won’t look all that much like Woodward or Bernstein.

Little alone both.

If I had to guess, and I’ve gone out on limbs with stories like this myself, Davis is tight with one or more athletic directors in the Big 12 — the hoops connection is just too obvious — and he’s heard from people who should know that Gonzaga is on the agenda for discussion.

WHY NOW?

Yormark said as recently as mid-August that, yes, he spoke with Gonzaga and UConn about basketball-only memberships — but that now that the conference had reached 16 members, they’d achieved their goals.

Also, what’s in this deal for Gonzaga (assuming the Big 12 offers membership, with or without UConn)?

Your first thought is money and, sure, any small private school that plays on the big stage like the Zags can use more cash for its own plane, recruiting trips to Zambia, etc.

I get that, but a basketball-only deal isn’t going to be a pot of gold — even from the Big 12.

The cash is in football.

Former Gonzaga AD Mike Roth once explained the university’s decision to stay in the West Coast Conference (where they get an extra share of revenue) and turn down the Mountain West was very simple.

“Our goal is getting to the Final Four,” Roth said. “We couldn’t see how being in the Mountain West would improve our chances over staying in the WCC.”

Now, how happy the Zags really are in a conference where only Saint Mary’s can routinely even challenge them is matter for discussion.

You can tell by the Zags’ non-conference schedule that Few enjoys playing the biggest and best teams on the hoops landscape.

I think he’d love the brutal nature of the Big 12.

Still.

Zags fans make trips to WCC away games in the thousands, because most are easy flights (or even drives).

That’s part of the Gonzaga experience.

Would the school give that up to go spend each winter in the Midwest?

Maybe.

But I have trouble seeing it.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”