The Gonzaga Bulldogs have consistently been among the best programs in college basketball for over a decade, a testament to the hard work of Mark Few and the Zag coaching staff.

For so long, the narrative around Gonzaga was the plucky underdog, a school without a football program, that doesn't compete in a high major conference and rarely gets 5-star recruits, that still managed to make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament on an annual basis, while twice appearing in the national championship game.

While the Pac-12 isn't quite on the level of the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, or even Big East, Gonzaga is no longer fighting just to level the playing field against the biggest brands in the sport - they are squarely in that conversation.

Playing with the big spenders

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports conducted months-long research to determine who the biggest NIL spenders are in college basketball, getting estimates on every high major program - plus Gonzaga - and dividing them into seven tiers.

The Zags land in Tier 3, with an estimated NIL budget between $15.1 and $17.5 million dollars for the 2026-27 season.

The other teams in this tier include Arizona, Houston, Michigan State, Miami, LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and USC.

Norlander goes on to say that Gonzaga - along with Ole Miss and Oklahoma - has a lot of its money tied up in the five-for-five market, which is hardly a surprise considering three of the team's 15 players, Xaivian Lee, Javon Bennett, and Chauncey Wiggins, are all fighting the NCAA for eligibility this season, and certainly all commanded a hefty payday for 2026-27.

The Pac-12 advantage

Gonzaga certainly has a smaller enrollment and much smaller alumni base than basically every power conference school, but they have an advantage many of them do not - they are earning a full media rights share from the Pac-12, despite not having a football team.

While the exact dollar figures from the Pac-12 media rights deal are unknown, it is estimated to be between $7-10M annually - and Gonzaga is expected to allocate the vast majority of that on the men's basketball program.

That, combined with a few high dollar donors, gets Gonzaga into a very competitive spot financially.

Putting the money to work

Coach Few rarely, if ever, loses a player in the transfer portal that he really wanted to keep. If Few wants you around, he'll find a way to keep you around - and there's no way it was cheap to keep Braden Huff and Davis Fogle this upcoming season.

Additionally, Massamba Diop was arguably a top-three center in the transfer portal - and it's believed he commanded roughly $5 million on his own.

For Gonzaga to keep Huff and Fogle, secure Diop, and still have money to land Lee, Bennett, and Wiggins, requires a significant investment - so it's not a surprise to see them in the $15-17.5M range.

The rest of the Pac-12 was not included in Norlander's research, although it is very safe to say Gonzaga outspends everyone else in the conference by a large amount.

Gonzaga also outspends many of their high-major non-conference opponents, including UCLA, Creighton, and Oregon ($12-15M), Purdue ($7-10M), and Kansas State ($5-7M).

Arkansas, which Gonzaga will face in an exhibition game on Saturday at 1:00 PM PT, is in Tier 2 at just under $20 million, while Duke is one of 11 teams estimated to have spent over $20 million dollars on this year's roster.