It seemed like most of the pre-merge activity in the Bass was from the two couples. Most of the Gopher's was with Heather. I personally thought the Bass were getting along pretty well, and most of the Gophers' losses were when Heather was being a pain.

Also, the six people in the Gopher's team that were left were kind of needed for the plot; Gwen, Trent, Heather, LeShawna, Lindsay, and Owen. All of them have a key roll in the conflict with Heather. The Bass? They were spending their time with the two couples. Face it; Heather was the main antagonist. She needed to make it to the end, and in order to give it lots of drama, they needed people to fight with/against her. She needs to constantly have things happening to her.

Not that I don't like the Bass. My two favorite characters are on that team. But, this is a planned show. Frankly, it would get a little boring if the Heather conflict ran out of fuel.