The Mountain West Conference has been in talks with Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth and men's basketball coach Mark Few, about Gonzaga potentially joining the conference as early as next season.

According to Mark Zeigler of The San Diego Union-Tribune, league commissioner Craig Thompson has been in talks with "six university presidents and/or athletic directors" since August, and Gonzaga is among them. It's unclear which other universities have been in discussions to potentially join the league, although BYU, which wasn't explicitly named by Thompson, would reportedly entertain a move back to the MWC if Gonzaga were to join.

"I guess the adjective I'd use is exploratory," Thompson told the Union-Tribune of talks with other universities. "Truthfully, what we're trying to do here is better ourselves and we're trying to understand what are your goals and ambitions, and what are the Mountain West's goals and ambitions. Is there something there? … But obviously, they would enhance our basketball enterprise."

This news may come as a surprise, but it's not the first time another major conference has tried to whisk the Zags away from the WCC. The Big East, too, has kicked Gonzaga's tires about joining the league in year's past, however travel logistics make the potential pairing one that may not be sustainable.

So why would Gonzaga, a team that has dominated in the WCC for years under Mark Few, consider making a conference change? A lot of it has to do with revenue earning. The WCC splits revenue by teams that make the NCAA Tournament among the conference equally according to the Union-Tribune, which means that Gonzaga, which has been the only team in the league to consistently make the Big Dance, is annually forced to share its payout with bottom-feeders within the league.

A move to the Mountain West to join UNLV, San Diego State (which beat Gonzaga this season), Nevada and other schools that carry respected basketball traditions would mean more revenue sharing and an expansion upon an already strong national brand for Gonzaga basketball. One hindrance in any potential deal could be the fact that Gonzaga doesn't have a football program.

Because of Gonzaga's potential basketball-only addition, Gonzaga would likely require a separate slice of TV rights fees as compared to other member programs. It's an added layer to the discussions that Thompson says is being sorted out.

"That's one of the details," he said. "That's one of the issues that's been talked around but not through."