WCC Watches as WAC-Mountain West Feud Unfolds

Grab a seat and some popcorn. This is turning into an old-fashioned Western showdown.

Okay, not really.

The Mountain West is singlehandedly destroying the WAC.

In the past two months, Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada have moved on.

BYU, who is still considering independence from the Mountain West, was set to join the WAC until Fresno State and Nevada split.

Where does this leave the six teams remaining in that conference?

San Jose State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, Idaho, and New Mexico State have been left high and dry. The best option for these schools? Find a new home.

Some of them have already began their search.

Utah State had an apparent invite to join the Mountain West, but declined because of the $5 million buyout the WAC put into place.

According to the Sporting News, Hawaii is looking into football independence and a new home for other sports—that home being the WCC.

All of this will fall into place when BYU makes their decision.

If BYU stays in the Mountain West, the WAC will probably disband.

If they go independent for football and go to the WAC for everything else, it would give the WAC leverage to add a couple more teams.

But if BYU goes with football independence and feels the WAC is not a stable place to be, the best option may be the WCC.

WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich has reached out to BYU about their possible membership but he has not received a response.

If BYU were to join, then the door opens to other expansion possibilities.

The WCC has been looking into Pacific making a return to the conference. Pacific was one of the charter members of the West Coast Athletic Conference, now WCC, in 1952.

Recently returned to NCAA Division I, Seattle University has also expressed interest in joining the WCC.

Another charter member of the conference could also be searching for a home: San Jose State. There has been no mention of interest on either side, but the proximity to WCC headquarters in San Bruno, CA and three other WCC schools could push the issue.

Worse comes to worse for the WAC, Utah State could also be in the hunt for a new home. When you consider travel arrangements, it would make sense to have Utah State if BYU were to fall into the WCC's lap.

Basketball is king in the WCC and the success of these programs has to be taken into account.

Utah State and BYU reach the NCAA Tournament almost perennially.

Pacific also makes frequent visits.

Seattle is still getting its sea legs back after returning to D-I, but has come off of a solid season (17-14).

Hawaii doesn't make much sense due to its lack of basketball prowess. In fact, that might hurt the conference's RPI.

The only thing that helps Hawaii is their exposure on the islands and marketability.

So, who do you take?

Swiping BYU, Utah State, Pacific, and Seattle (they couldn't be any worse than Pepperdine the last few years) would change the entire outlook of the conference.

Twelve teams. Two, six-team divisions?

North and South?

South: San Diego, LMU, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's, San Francisco.

North: Gonzaga, Seattle, Portland, BYU, Utah State, Pacific.

That seems really unbalanced.

Screw it. Twenty-two conference games, two against each opponent.

Travel partners?

Utah State, BYU.

Gonzaga, Seattle.

Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine.

Saint Mary's, Pacific.

San Francisco, Santa Clara.

Portland, San Diego?

Okay, I'll leave this to the experts.

Expansion is a real possibility in the next couple of years and the aftermath of the WAC and Mountain West feud could leave the WCC in a very good position.