UConn Said to Be Moving Back to Big East

If you've followed conference realignment over the past decade or so, you'll know that the Big East evolved from a basketball-focused conference, concentrated in the northeastern U.S., to a much larger league taking in football schools further to the south and west. It then split back up into a northeastern, basketball-oriented "Big East" and a catch-all conference of the rest of the teams known as the "American Athletic Conference." Connecticut, with a football program, went with the AAC.  I diagrammed the split in this 2013 posting.

Now comes word that UConn, an original Big East member (dating back to 1979), will exit the AAC to return to the Big East. Both in terms of tradition and geographic proximity, I think this is a good move. The one major challenge will be placing Connecticut's football team in a conference, as the current Big East does not sponsor the sport.

NY Times Analyzes: "Is Your College Football Team in the Wrong League?"

The New York Times looks at major programs such as Arkansas, Nebraska, and Texas A&M to analyze how their moves from one conference to another have affected their won-loss records and finances.

Big 12 Expansion Seems to Be Heating Up

The prospects of the Big 12 conference (currently with 10 schools) expanding seem to run hot and cold. Right now, on the heels of the Big 12's football media days, the temperature is as warm as I can remember it being in a long time.

According to this Dallas Morning News article, "The Big 12's board of directors, comprised of school presidents and chancellors, voted unanimously Tuesday in [Dallas suburb] Irving to have Commissioner Bob Bowlsby contact and evaluate schools that have expressed an interest in joining the conference, then reporting back."

ESPN reports conducting an anonymous poll of Big 12 coaches on their top-two preferences (among non-Power 5 schools) to bring into the league. Here are the results:

Houston and BYU each received five votes. Cincinnati and Memphis tied for third with four votes each, followed by Colorado State and UCF with one vote apiece.

I personally favor bringing in the top-four vote-getters (Houston, BYU, Cincy, and Memphis). Bringing in only UH and BYU would do nothing to relieve West Virginia's travel burden (and in fact trips from Morgantown, West Virginia to Provo, Utah are 1,673 miles in the air).

Five 16-Team Super-Conferences?

ESPN.com writer Ryan McGee shares his "utopian" vision of conference realignment.

Expanding the Big 12 Back to 12 Teams? The Topic That Never Dies

Sports Illustrated/Campus Rush presents a thorough overview article on the topic of Big 12 expansion and the related issue of a conference title game for football (link). I don't know that there's much new in the article, but there are some tidbits such as the implications of the leadership turmoil at the University of Texas and the possibilities for a full-time Big 12 television network. As far as possible schools to add to the current 10, the article focuses on Cincinnati (to combat West Virginia's geographical isolation) and BYU, consistent with conventional wisdom.

Useful College Football Maps

SB Nation/Vox's "25 Maps That Explain College Football" include a few maps (15, 16, and 17) that delve into realignment issues. Map 15 is particular useful, in my view, showing in color-coded fashion the conference memberships of all FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools.

Useful Information on College Basketball Conferences Under Realignment

ESPN.com recently has published some useful resources concerning the new configuration of college basketball conferences. These include a list of changes to conference lineups, a summary of winners and losers from those changes (in the eyes of writer Jason King), and an Andy Katz piece on how realignment has allowed many conferences to arrive at 10 basketball schools, a comfortable number.