It’s like losing the Los Angeles Lakers and adding the New Orleans Pelicans.

It’s like losing the New York Yankees and adding the Pittsburgh Pirates.

West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson is well aware the upcoming loss of Gonzaga and addition of Denver and UC San Diego this summer are not exactly an even swap.

In the years following the breakup of the Pac-12, one conference has stepped in to fill the void at the top of the college basketball world on the Western half of the United States: the WCC.

But the Pac-12 will be back next season and with Gonzaga as its basketball headliner. The likes of Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West add to the intrigue of the new-look Pac-12, but can the WCC maintain its status as the premier hoops league in the West?

“I believe it can, but it’s not gonna be without a challenge,” Jackson said in a visit to Denver. “We recognize Gonzaga leaving our conference (is) a loss for us. It’s a loss in terms of our brand, it’s a loss competitively. I don’t know that there’s another institution that has ever or ever will be a mid-major school like Gonzaga (and) perform at the level they did (and do). I don’t think it’ll ever happen again. We wish them well. They’ve been great for our conference. We’re left with the question, what do we do now to maintain (ourselves) as a multi-bid conference?”

It’s a fair question by Jackson.

It starts with reasonable expectations. As Jackson said, there will never be another Gonzaga. The Mark Few era in Spokane, Wash., has produced a level of dominance we’ve never seen from a team inside a mid-major conference. So much so that diehard college hoops fans no longer consider the Zags a mid-major.

But the WCC can help the 11 programs going forward, including newcomer DU.

“Continue to support them,” Jackson said. “Whether that is in our external efforts, helping them recruit and retain student-athletes, we’re gonna do that. Certainly, we’re going to give them every data point we can to help them maintain a level of investment that’s consistent with conferences like ours and even conferences bigger than ours, so they have a north star to achieve because we know what works and what doesn’t work.

“Bottom line, you gotta get game.”

Oh, the WCC has had game for a long time. While Gonzaga has run the league for the entire 21st century, the WCC has long had a rich basketball history that’s worth celebrating, preserving and building on. 

You can go to San Francisco and see the Dons, who have produced NBA champions, including one of the greatest to ever play the game in Bill Russell.

You can go to Saint Mary’s, which has challenged Gonzaga better than anyone in recent years and has a pair of NBA champions in Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills.

You can go to Santa Clara, which produced two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and, more recently, Thunder star Jalen Williams.

You can go to San Diego, where the Toreros have produced five current or former NBA head coaches, most notably current Knicks coach Mike Brown and former Nuggets coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

You can go to Loyola Marymount or Portland, which has produced the likes of Rick Adelman and Erik Spoelstra, respectively.

On the flip side, that’s daunting company for newcomer DU. The Pioneers are currently fourth (out of 10 teams) in the Summit League in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings. Among the 11 teams that are set to be in the WCC next season, DU (No. 259) would rank 10th — ahead of only Pepperdine. 

That’s a long way away from Gonzaga, currently No. 7 in KenPom and with aspirations for a third Final Four appearance in the last decade. But that doesn’t mean the Pios weren’t exactly what the WCC needed as it tries to achieve a decades-long quest for success on the basketball court. 

“I think it is the perfect fit. I’m learning stuff here at DU, but I do understand when I talk to people that have been here for a long time (that) they really wanted this (move) to happen for decades,” Pios coach Tim Bergstraser said. “It’s exciting. The more digging that I’ve done, you understand how many good players and how many good coaches there are and I think there are similarities to all of them where they play really, really hard and really disciplined basketball. I want my programs to be like that.”

The list: Top 5 programs in new-look WCC

1. Saint Mary’s

The Gaels are the one team that WCC can’t afford to lose in the wake of Gonzaga’s exit. It would be smart for the new-look Pac-12 to try and sway the Gaels to join the conference and solidify its standing as a hoops conference. But for now Saint Mary’s figures to be the class of the WCC. Randy Bennett is in his 25th season as the coach and has delivered three straight regular-season titles and could get another this year.

2. Santa Clara

Still yet to make the tournament since 1996, the Broncos have risen in stature thanks to their multiple first-round NBA draft picks (Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski). Santa Clara might have its best shot to reach March Madness this year, though, as Herb Sendek’s team is top 50 in KenPom in his 10th season and on the NCAA Tournament bubble in late January.

3. San Francisco

The Dons got back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 behind coach Todd Golden, who last year led Florida to the national championship. They’re now in year four under Chris Gerlufsen, who was Golden’s lead assistant during his time in The Bay. USF has the richest history in the conference with Russell’s No. 6 hanging in the rafters and feels right on the edge of a run as a program.

4. UC San Diego

The Tritons were the darlings of the college basketball season last year, making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and winning over the crowd in Denver during a near-upset of Michigan. Even without coach Eric Olen, who was hired at New Mexico, and the majority of last year’s roster, USCD is still competing near the top of the Big West with ex-assistant Clint Allard taking over. 

5. Seattle

Now in their first season in the WCC over a decade in the WAC, the Redhawks have acquitted themselves well with a 14-7 record under coach Chris Victor, who has won over 60% of his games in five seasons in Seattle. SU might also have the second-most famous alumnus among WCC programs in Lakers legend Elgin Baylor. 

Mid-major minute

The Summit League runs through Fargo. North Dakota State came to Hamilton Gymnasium and held on for a big 82-77 win over DU to improve to 7-0 in conference and 17-5 overall. The Bison are after a fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 seasons under David Richman, who is already the winningest coach in his alma mater’s history. NDSU plays at Oral Roberts on Saturday.

Upset of the Week

UCLA 69, No. 4 Purdue 67

Mick Cronin’s latest complaints about travel in the Big Ten may have stolen the headlines after the game, but that should take nothing away from UCLA’s biggest win of the season on Tuesday night against No. 4 Purdue. After Tyler Bilodeau’s game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds, the Bruins are now 5-3 in Big Ten play, despite having to play five of their first seven conference games on the road, like Cronin mentioned. It helps that prized New Mexico transfer Donovan Dent (team-high 23 points vs. the Boilermakers) is starting to play some of his best basketball of the season. 

Going Overseas

Sticking with the WCC theme for today, let’s spotlight former San Francisco star and Seattle native Khalil Shabazz, who helped the Dons to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and the next year score over 18 points per game as a senior. Now, the 6-foot-1 point guard is in his third professional season and second in Iceland’s top league. He is currently averaging 24 points per game this season for Grindavik.