Discipline has never been Rick's strong suit, so you are right that he would have not done anything else. Being out fall for grades and 9 games for the NCAA is enough to me though. If the NCAA had said two games, and Rick had upped it to nine, everyone would have been screaming at him for doing that.
Beckham has less chance of putting Bost on the bench than I do. Bost could play one handed and be better than Tranny. That's just fact. I'm not sure Tranny will get big minutes while Bost and the RSS are out. He's just not that good.
Athletes, most of the time, are competitors. They want to win, and they know their best chance of winning is with Bost playing and playing well (thanks Jackie). I don't think chemistry will be shot at all. All of these guys know Bost. They've played with him for two years. They are his teammates, roommates and friends. They all also know that 30+ minutes of playing time is going to disappear as soon as he is eligible. So between Tranny, Benock, Bryant, Steele, Smith and Ravern, some or all are going to lose minutes.
We lose games we should never lose every year, with Bost or without him. Rider, at Western Kentucky, at Auburn, Richmond....heck, we might have even beaten Richmond if Bost had missed the bus to that one last year. Can't blame any early season loss on Bost. That's just bidness as usual at MSU.