Gonzaga is in Spokane, Washington, which is on the eastern border of Washington. Tulane is closer to Chicago than Gonzaga, so even an east division and a west division makes for travel nightmares. Gonzaga is a relatively small school...roughly the enrolment of Seton Hall. Spokane's population is relatively small at 400,000, so the media 'bang' is not there.
Yesterday there was some discussion about Umass. It seems Umass is trying to follow the Uconn formula...growing the Umass brand through their sports program. Football games in Foxboro? Soliciting Umass, seems like it will lead to a another Uconn situation. I also don't see the benefit of having one public university mixed in with a bunch of private/religious schools. I would rather have another school like VCU or another Connecticut or Mass school.