Report: Pac-12 to add high profile Dallas Baptist program as affiliate member

The Pac-12 is making a Gonzaga-like addition to its ranks, with a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel indicating the conference is adding Dallas Baptist as an affiliate member in baseball starting in 2027.

Dallas Baptist has a total enrollment of just over 4,000 students and is actually Division II in all other sports except baseball, which currently plays in Conference USA.

DBU baseball is exceptional, though, having appeared in 14 NCAA Tournaments and winning two regionals since the move to DI in 2004. Coached by Dan Heefner entering his 19th season, Dallas Baptist is one of just five teams in the country who has made the regionals each of the past 10 seasons.

Heefner has a 66.8% win percentage and is closing in on 700 career wins. The Patriots have produced 81 draft picks during Heefner's tenure, including 31 players picked in the first ten rounds.

The comparison to Gonzaga is apparent - both schools are smaller than their peers, but add instant national relevance and credibility in a key non-football sport. Alongside Oregon State, the Pac-12 has two nationally recognizable baseball brands and programs with recent success, including Fresno State, San Diego State, and Gonzaga.

Additionally, DBU acts as an eighth member in baseball — which gets the conference to its goal number — and operates as a solid travel partner for Texas State over in San Marcos.

Boise State had a baseball team up until the COVID-19 pandemic, while Utah State only competes at the club level and Colorado State dissolved back in 1992. The rest of the schools - Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Washington State, and Texas State - all sponsor baseball and make up a quality conference, especially with DBU coming into the mix.

Gonzaga baseball had a rough start to the 2025 season before going on a torrid 15-2 streak from March 14 through April 17. The young team fizzled after that, and despite earning a 2-seed in the WCC Tournament, Gonzaga got walloped 14-6 by 3-seed Saint Mary's and then 16-7 by 1-seed San Diego the next day to end the season.

Gonzaga has made four NCAA Tournament appearances since coach Mark Machtolf took over in 2004, most recently in 2021 when the Zags beat LSU 3-0 to advance into a matchup against No. 1 seed Oregon. Oregon won, 7-3, and Gonzaga lost to LSU 9-4 in an elimination game.

That same year, Dallas Baptist upset No. 1 seed TCU in their regional before two epic games against Oregon State, including a dramatic 8-5 victory to send the Patriots to a super regional, which they lost 2-1 to Virginia.

The WCC was friendly to Gonzaga in baseball, but with DBU, OSU, Fresno State, and San Diego State, the new look Pac-12 will give this Zag program opportunities to put together regional-worthy resumes year in and year out.

A formal announcement of Dallas Baptist's addition to the conference could come as soon as Thursday, according to multiple reports.

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