While we don't know the specifics of what is about to happen in the Big East and what their intentions are, we do know one thing: Gonzaga is being proactive about a possible move. From the New York Daily News:
The seven Catholic schools are likely to invite other like-minded schools to join them in a new conference. Already, Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, Butler and Saint Louis have been discussed informally in the group. One source said that Gonzaga has reached out through back channels about the idea of joining up with the seven.
"No one is really sure how practical that would be because of the travel involved for all teams in all sports," the source said. "But Gonzaga would make the new conference much more attractive to television. Think about Gonzaga playing Georgetown every year or Gonzaga playing in the Garden."
Andy Katz reported similar activity from the Zags yesterday. AD Mike Roth and Head Coach Mark Few have both stated that this is a time when you really need to explore all avenues because Gonzaga is a national brand and if another conference is more viable long term, it needs to be discussed.
While the new conference is being discussed, the best situation would be for the Zags to join as basketball-members only. They could work out a deal with the WCC and keep all other sports there. If the league does turn into a larger conference with 14-16 teams and true East / West groupings, that wouldn't necessarily be an issue.