Let The College Hoops Mayhem Begin - Gonzaga/BYU Are Reportedly Debating If They Should Opt Out Of Their Conference Tournament

And just like that we're about to get complete mayhem in a couple of weeks. Gonzaga and BYU talking about opting out of the conference tournament is HUGE news. Remember, the NCAA put out a statement that conferences have to decide by February 26 if they are going to give the regular season champ or tournament champ the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. The debate has been does it help mid-major conferences to send a for sure best team or risk some Cinderella run and like the 6 seed in your conference going instead. 

So back to this specific situation. I actually disagree that 'nothing in it for either program.' Yes, Gonzaga will be a 1 seed but there is an important thing to remember here. It appears we're getting closer and closer to 3 Big 10 teams being ranked 3, 4 and 5 on the S-Curve. Why does that matter? Bracketing principles. Let's say it stays the same as the bracket reveal with Michigan and Ohio State as 1 seeds and Illinois as the top 2 seed. The top 3 teams from each conference have to go in different regions. So that means Illinois would go to the 2nd overall seed region instead of the 4th overall seed. That's where it matters for Gonzaga. They could get passed by Baylor as the No. 1 overall seed if they don't play and Baylor does. For BYU, they are currently an 8 seed in BracketMatrix. You don't think they'll drop if they don't play? 

As for the WCC Tournament - they are still apparently going on as if nothing is being talked about. They actually paired with KenPom to come up with a new idea for the seeding: 

All I know is if this actually happens, it's going to be mayhem in the sport and not in a great way. You're going to get a bid stealer from the WCC since these are the two for sure tournament teams. You're looking at Pepperdine or St. Mary's getting the autobid then. It also opens up the worms for a team like Houston - the team most talked about skipping its conference tournament. The AAC currently is a 1-bid league, so there goes another bid. Remember the NCAA Tournament committee put out 'that if a conference tournament happens, they expect full participation.' 

Now, it's worth noting that BYU's head coach Mark Pope came out and spoke how his intent is to go play. So who knows, this is the shit we're going to end up dealing with until that February 26 deadline and potentially after.