Vegas has magnetic pull on conference tourneys

It’s only going to be a matter of time, I reckon, before every conference in the land holds its postseason college basketball tournament in Las Vegas. When that happens, local hoop-a-holics, cocktail waitresses and parking valets will owe Gonzaga And Those Other Teams a huge fist bump and a giant bro hug.

Gonzaga And Those Other Teams — also known as the West Coast Conference — last year were the first outsiders to move their men’s and women’s shindigs to the neutral environs of the Orleans Arena. Gonzaga still won. No surprise there. The place was packed. No surprise there, either.

But the Moral Minority at NCAA headquarters might be surprised to learn that nobody was condemned to eternal damnation. No landmarks on the mostly Catholic Church-affiliated campuses of the eight schools spontaneously combusted. Nobody was sent on a pilgrimage to Lourdes for not splitting aces and eights because the WCC had the audacity to hold a basketball tournament in a state-of-the-art, midsize arena that just happens to be connected to a hotel-casino by a long … long … long … corridor.

Nobody even called for a second collection at Sunday mass, which is what the parish I grew up in did every time the congregation was feeling guilty about something.

I did a Google search for the Shroud of Turin and the likeness on the linen still looks like Jesus to me. It looks nothing like Adam Morrison or Ronny Turiaf, the former Gonzaga stars.

"I’m excited about the tournament being in Las Vegas," said Pepperdine coach Marty Wilson, whose Waves will open the men’s bracket against Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. Friday. "By having it in Las Vegas we are able to attract people from all areas. No matter how well or how poorly you are doing, people want to come to Las Vegas."

See NASCAR, Las Vegas for additional confirmation.

As for that other stuff, the blasphemy of selling your soul to Sin City in return for a few thousand all-session ticket packages and all that, Loyola Marymount coach Max Good says there will be no pilgrimages to Lourdes or the blackjack tables for his players.

"If they are going to Las Vegas to have a good time, they will do it on their own dollar. I don’t care if they are 21 or 51," said Good, who briefly coached UNLV during the 2000-01 season after Bill Bayno was fired. "I am older than three times 21 and I can assure you I won’t be leaving the premises."

WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said this year’s tournament sold out faster than last year’s. You can still get standing-room tickets by calling the Orleans. Otherwise, you better know the shoemaker at Zappos.com, the Henderson-based online shoe and apparel company that has signed on as title sponsor in yet another boost for the local economy.

The WCC is the second Western-based conference to call Las Vegas its postseason home, but the first with no direct ties to our sometimes fair city. (Remember that aces and eights thing, Santa Clara fans). The old 16-team Western Athletic Conference once held its Frog and Pony show — Texas Christian and Southern Methodist were part of it then — at the Thomas & Mack Center. When the giant WAC split into two leagues, the upstart Mountain West continued to play here, because that’s who UNLV sided with.

But then-Utah coach Rick Majerus — I mean the MWC presidents — decided the Mountain West should be neutral, too. Switzerland was booked that weekend, so somebody made the brilliant decision to move the tournament to Denver, to the ginormous Pepsi Center. It burped, due to lack of interest. So what had been a great event at a partisan location returned to Las Vegas where it again is a great event at a partisan location. Regardless of what New Mexico coach Steve Alford says.

And now the new WAC is returning to Las Vegas, too. Buoyed by the positive experience shared by Gonzaga And Those Other Teams, the WAC will relocate its men’s and women’s tournaments to the Orleans, starting next year.

No word yet from the Big Sky Conference about when Montana And Those Other Teams will be moving their postseason tournament to a temporary facility in the Slots-A-Fun parking lot.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352.