We’ll find out in time how this goes down, but I think there are forces pulling in different directions. The current model is in place to help the top of the conference, but, at the very least, the top teams were playing its best members twice and its worst ones once. And that holds up when you have three good teams, one or two okay ones, and the rest junk. But, it’s losing one of its best basketball members.

Standing at its new count still keeps this sense of the bottom of the conference. The top end gets some new blood. But, I could still see Gonzaga getting a little annoyed by the quality drop off when losing BYU.

Even if the WCC doesn’t replace BYU, Gonzaga may hold the conference “accountable” for more rigorous OOC scheduling. That is a big piece of what the WCC is going to miss with BYU leaving: that BYU would at least challenge themselves more than other members in the WCC in the front part of their seasons. The rest of the conference has to add to the overall common pot.