For the majority of Gonzaga students (or at least what appears to be the majority) being a fan of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team is an assumption rather than a choice or an expression of individuality. The reputation of Gonzaga men’s basketball fandom is so widespread that for many students there is an understanding that you have to be ready to be a fan before ever stepping on to campus.

It is as important to the identity of the university as anything else. It’s what differentiates Gonzaga from other liberal arts schools, emphasizing the potential for the raucous behavior its students and deemphasizing its focus on Catholicism and education. Gonzaga is far from the only Jesuit university to identify as “a basketball school”-Xavier, Marquette, Georgetown and Creighton are similar to GU in that their most distinct traits are “Catholic/Jesuit” and “Basketball”.

On the surface it may seem odd that religious universities would want basketball to be their most common descriptor but Gonzaga’s basketball notoriety is quite functional for both the students and the university itself. The benefit to the university is obvious, with the university making $4,822,651 in profit from the men’s basketball team from June 2014 to May 2015 (more detailed GU athletic expenses and revenues here).

For many students it allows for a slice of the state-school experience of sports without the full time experience of a state-school. It’s a mixed identity-the drinking, drugs, yelling are all there, but so are the sentiments associated with attending a Jesuit, liberal arts university. If you wanted you could take any mix of drugs and alcohol that you want for a Thursday night game and get your picture taken for Friendship Friday the next day.

Getting fucked up and expressing school spirit is second nature to some students but for others it isn’t such a fundamental part of the college experience at Gonzaga. This may be an anomaly on campus but it makes some sense that there would be some people who: don’t care about basketball/sports, don’t buy into the excitement/hype surrounding the team, are dissatisfied with the university in general, or simply like to go against the grain. [1]

In some cases there is total apathy, “complete indifference, I don’t feel anything when either team wins or loses. I slept through the Syracuse game for example”, said Vince Lopez when asked about his fandom, or lack thereof.

“I’m just indifferent about basketball in general”, said Kent Uyehara. “I honestly can’t really care about a sports team unless I’m playing in it. I mean I’m sure I could but I don’t want to…It seems like a lot of investment for something that doesn’t really affect you”.

The mania surrounding the team is difficulty to understand for some students and leads to a mix of genuine curiosity and mild frustration. “The level of competition during the season is pretty low”, said Kai Phillips.

“People get (so) excited about it…people act like the team is so great because we’re beating (bad) teams. Whenever we play good teams we usually lose”. Gonzaga is renowned as a mid-major team that often plays and looks different than other big-time basketball teams.

hey remember that shaggy haired white boy who played for gonzaga what's that kid's name — ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk) March 26, 2016

It can be amusing for some students when the team disappoints. “Well everyone is always riding them hard cause they think they’re really good, and so I always feel like when they lose it brings everyone back to earth”, said one student.

That same student had an interesting anecdote from an experience at an on campus dining location. “Also Sabonis got his order before me even though I ordered way before him. So fuck that. It wasn’t really his fault though it was the lady who was serving the drink.

“I wasn’t mad about the fact that he got his drink first cause I usually think I’m patient about those things. But the lady serving, once she gave him his drink she looked at me as if I was after him or some shit, and then says ‘Do you need something?’ I was like the fuck? I ordered”.

While that student’s experience was anecdotal and it did not appear that anybody had ill intention, the celebrity status of the players is an odd dynamic that often appears to isolate them from the rest of campus.

There is an easy argument that they deserve far more than quick food service when they’re the main creators of the millions in profit that GU gets from the team each year but there is an unspoken understanding that athletes, but big-time men’s basketball and football athletes, will be treated differently than other students at big sports universities.

It may seem odd that some students don’t feel like rooting for the men’s basketball team, but the better question may be why do we root for the team in the first place? Is our fandom an expression of our pride and satisfaction with the university or is simply a fun way to get drunk with other students?

This isn’t to say that rooting for the basketball team is wrong- far from it. I’ll probably be squished onto a couch with a beer in my hand watching the team next season, screams and moans from every shot erupting all around me. There are many different types of people on campus, and the people who aren’t watching are just as important to the community as the people who are.

[1] The majority of my interviews were male students. I think because of the way both sports and drinking culture are at Gonzaga are typically dominated by male opinion, Gonzaga basketball fandom is characterized by male opinion and behavior. That is not to say that there aren’t plenty of female students who are fans, and there has been some excellent work (although not enough) done in the past on the topic of female sports fandom. I didn’t feel that I had the knowledge to give intelligent thoughts on the subject but I would be extremely interested in thoughts or research on female sports fandom at GU and in general.