Last week, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that the Gonzaga Bulldogs were set to leave the West Coast Conference to join the Pac-12 in 2026.
“Gonzaga leaving West Coast Conference to join Pac-12, source told @ActionNetworkHQ,” McMurphy said on Twitter. “Pac-12 still needs minimum of two football members by 2026, but Gonzaga, even w/out a football team, will receive a full conference revenue share in Pac-12, source said.”
Well, as it turned out, McMurphy was right. The Bulldogs announced on Tuesday that they will indeed leave the WCC to join the Pac-12, and will do so in 2026. However, it appears that McMurphy — while correct — was way out ahead of it on this report.
McMurphy’s report came eight days before Gonzaga made its official announcement — and the Zags’ athletic director was not happy about it.
According to Theo Lawson, a Gonzaga insider for The Spokesman-Review, Gonzaga AD Chris Standiford was “super frustrated” with McMurphy’s tweet and had this to say when asked how close the deal was to being done when the report came out.
“Not even close,” Standiford said. “It was a super frustrating tweet. It ends up being accurate, right? Good for him, he stood by it.
“He knew a helluva lot more than I did, because not only did I not know fully where the Pac-12 was in the process, but I didn’t know where we were. So, apparently he’s Nostradamus.”
McMurphy’s report also appears to have gotten him in hot water with others in his line of business, as it appears to have rekindled a beef with Nicole Auerbach.
Nonetheless, Gonzaga is headed to the Pac-12, and McMurphy was the first to break the news. However, it appears his reputation might’ve suffered because of it.
