Something like this happened in Pac-12 basketball in January 2013, when USC fired its coach the day after the Trojans beat Utah by 17 points in Salt Lake City. Washington State dismissed its baseball coach this week, not long after the Cougars beat Utah 8-4 at Smith’s Ballpark.
The move immediately affects the Utes in this sense: They need WSU to lose one of three home games vs. Arizona this week, enabling them to stay above last place in the 11-team conference. WSU is 3-23-1 in Pac-12 play; Utah finished 6-24, after taking two of three games in a series with the Cougars.