Canzano: March is Saint Mary's time to shine... for Pac-12?
Gaels will keep options open, per the university president.
LAS VEGAS — I grabbed a high-top table on the promenade level of Aria Resort & Casino and sat down with Saint Mary’s College President Roger Thompson on Saturday.
Thompson sipped iced tea.
I worked on a triple espresso.
Will Saint Mary’s eventually be invited to join the Pac-12 Conference? That’s one of the questions hanging over the basketball games being played in Las Vegas this week. The Pac-12 still needs at least one football school. The next expansion bite could stop there, but league athletic directors tell me there’s an appetite for a 10-member basketball conference.
Saint Mary’s is in a delicate position. The 162-year-old college is a merry member of the West Coast Conference. The Gaels say they’re thrilled to be in Las Vegas for the conference’s basketball tournament. But as Thompson said: “We’re supportive of the WCC and happy to be in a great conference, but we have to keep our options open.
“Anyone in my position would say that.”