It has been that way for quite awhile. Nike and ESPN have been cultivating the WCC as a late night product ever since GU began its run.
I can remember being in the Zags booster room postgame around 2002 in the old gym. Jay Bilas was not one of their big color guys at the time, and he was standing alone completely unnoticed. I could sense that he was looking down at his situation and wondering how he got stuck in such a backwater.
Oh well, that was then ....