Greedy conference commissioners, television deals and college football’s moneymaking clout sparked such persistent realignment that we need a cheat sheet to identify what teams are in which conference.
Rutgers and Southern Cal soon will be conference brethren, because, you know, Los Angeles and Piscataway, New Jersey, share a lot in common.
The Big 12 spans from Orlando to Provo, Utah, but skips over Missouri. Go figure. Flyover country, right?
What if college football and its riches didn’t fuel realignment? Envision an alignment driven by men’s basketball.
That’s what I set out to do. I’m clearing the slate and creating 12 hoops conferences. I focused on protecting and creating rivalries. Geography mattered in my model. Identity, too. No more super conferences. I limited each league to no more than 10 teams.
Subscribe to SEC Football Unfiltered
iTunes | Google Play | Spotify
Not every Division I team is reflected here, but I tried to include most of the schools you’re most familiar with. What do you think?
Maybe, this still needs work, but I think I’m already laps ahead of Washington and Maryland playing some Big Ten hoops on a weeknight.
My alignment:
Big East
Boston College, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova, Creighton, Marquette
The first seven schools are charter members of the Big East, the O.G. Villanova joined shortly after. Marquette and Creighton are more newbies to the Big East, but they fit the culture perfectly.
Appalachia
Kentucky, Louisville, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, Davidson, VCU
Several existing rivalries are captured here, like Kentucky-Louisville, Kentucky-Tennessee and the Iron Bowl of Basketball. I also think there’s groundwork for new rivalries. Kentucky and West Virginia share a culture. Pittsburgh meets the Pittsburgh of the South (Alabama). VCU and Davidson earn promotion to a grander show.
Tobacco Road-Plus
Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Richmond
The five charter members of the ACC are here, plus some others who were or are part of that league. The four North Carolina schools shouldn’t be split up. Selecting the Virginia schools for this collection is a natural fit. Then, I filled in the edges. I elevated Richmond to the big leagues to reach 10 teams.
Big Eight
Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Colorado
Back from the days of alignments making sense, the Big Eight was a thing of beauty. This conference perfectly aligns culture and identity, and it teems with traditional rivalries, some of which were disrupted by realignment. Missouri and Kansas belong together. Same for Bedlam and Nebraska-Colorado.
Big Ten
Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
This is your daddy’s Big Ten, when the conference’s name and geography made sense – before Penn State turned 10 to 11, and before subsequent rounds of realignment created a conference nearly the size of Europe. Rutgers and Oregon, you aren’t the Big Ten. The Flying Illini, Fab Five and Assembly Hall are.
Pacific Northwest
Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Utah, BYU
I’m salivating at the idea of getting Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s into a more competitive conference, top to bottom. Forget the Pac-12. Washington State and Oregon State align better with Gonzaga and BYU than they do with Southern Cal and Arizona.
Pacific Southwest
Arizona, Arizona State, Southern Cal, UCLA, California, Stanford, UNLV, San Diego State
The conference of champions, Bill Walton might call this – but with a twist. I’m inserting a couple of new faces and making this the conference of John Wooden, Jerry Tarkanian and Lute Olson. This eight-team mashup would offer rivalries on top of rivalries.
Southwest
Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Houston, SMU, TCU, Rice, Arkansas
No need to overthink this. The Southwest Conference scored high on entertainment and competitiveness before it broke apart in the ‘90s. Eight Texas schools plus Arkansas, which likes to nurture its chip on its shoulder and play Texas schools.
Metro
Butler, Xavier, Cincinnati, Memphis, DePaul, UAB, SLU, Tulane
Shades of late ‘90s Conference USA in this collection of urban dwellers. I’ve added Butler to the mix of former C-USA schools because of a shared identity. All hoops, all the time, in this conference.
South
Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Florida Atlantic
This conference otherwise could be known as: How long until football season? For many of these schools, basketball ranks lower on the list of priorities. Earmark their games for ESPNU. Florida, FSU and Miami could tussle for conference supremacy.
TOPPMEYER: What would Pat Summitt think of Iowa star Caitlin Clark? I try to find out
Mountain West
Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Utah State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Wyoming, Fresno State, Hawaii
Schools come and go, but the Mountain West has long been a sneaky-good basketball league. That would continue with this collection. They say Mountain Time is the best time zone – a shame not many people get to enjoy it. But, everyone should take pleasure from this conference.
Missouri Valley
Drake, Bradley, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Evansville, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Tulsa
Maybe I’m showing my Midwest bias, but I loved the Valley in the 2000s. The conference supplied some upsets in the NCAA Tournament, too. I’m willing to sacrifice Creighton to the Big East, but I’m clawing back Wichita State and its passionate fans. I’m welcoming the return of Tulsa, too.
Atlantic
Temple, George Washington, Massachusetts, Duquesne, St. Joseph’s, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Dayton, Rutgers, Penn State
Here, I’ve got four members of what used to be known as the “Eastern 8”: Duquesne, Penn State, G.W., and UMass. That league morphed into the Atlantic-10 and picked up the Bonnies, Rhode Island, Temple and St. Joe. Dayton came later. Rutgers made an A-10 pitstop. Welcome back, Scarlet Knights, and you can forget trips to Washington.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
A digital subscription will allow you access to all of his coverage. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: March Madness: Radical college basketball conference realignment plan
