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A complete breakdown of conference realignment for 2013-2014

NCAA Men's Final Four - Practice

ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 05: Fans stand next to a giant NCAA logo outside of the stadium on the practice day prior to the NCAA Men’s Final Four at the Georgia Dome on April 5, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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You know all that talk about conference realignment and schools joining new conferences and new conferences appearing out of thin air?

Remember how the Big 12 almost died and the original Big East did die before spawning a pair of shiny new conferences?

Well, quite a bit of that takes effect today, July 1st, 2013.

Since I do this for a living and I can barely keep track of who is changing to what league and when, I’ve decided to put together a breakdown to help those of you that are getting just as confused as I am.

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BIG EAST: The Big East that we were all raised on was put out of its misery as the clock struck midnight on Monday morning, and while Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame are all headed out the door -- with Louisville close on their heels -- college hoopheads still have some exciting basketball to look forward to. The new Big East (can we just call it the Big East now, no ‘new’?) will be comprised of the Catholic 7 -- Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence and DePaul -- and will add Butler and Xavier from the Atlantic 10 and Creighton from the Missouri Valley.

ACC: Despite plenty of rumors to the contrary, the ACC will not actually be losing anyone this offseason. They will, however, be adding Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame this season. Louisville joins the ranks for the 2014-2015 season, when Maryland heads to the Big Ten.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: The AAC will be a hodge-podge of castoffs and programs that no one seems to want. UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida all join from the Big East. Memphis, Central Florida, Houston and SMU arrive from Conference USA. Temple joins from the Atlantic 10. Louisville and Rutgers have a one year layover in the AAC before moving on to the ACC and the Big Ten, respectively, for the 2014-2015 season. To replace them, the AAC will ring in East Carolina, Tulsa and Tulane in 2014.

ATLANTIC 10: The A-10 will undergo some radical changes, especially at the top of the league. Temple is off to the AAC, Butler and Xavier are Big East-bound, Charlotte is headed to Conference USA, and George Mason is joining the conference from the CAA. The A-10 will also be adding Davidson for the 2014-2015 season.

CONFERENCE USA: There’s too much going on here, so we’ll jump to bullet points:


  • Teams remaining: UAB, Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, UTEP
  • Teams joining: Charlotte (A-10), Old Dominion (CAA), Louisiana Tech, UT-San Antonio (WAC), Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Middle Tennessee, North Texas (Sun Belt)
  • Leaving in ’13-'14: Memphis, Houston, SMU, UCF
  • Leaving in ’14-'15: Tulsa, East Carolina, Tulane

Got all that?

MOUNTAIN WEST: The MWC looked like it was going to get raided. TCU had already gotten scooped up by the Big 12 via the Big East, and Boise State and San Diego State both looked like their football programs were going to force their hoops programs out of the conference. But the Big East imploded, so both the Broncos and the Aztecs remain. Plus, the MWC added Utah State -- who has a great basketball program -- and San Jose State from the WAC.

WAC: After Idaho leaves for the Big Sky in 2014-2015, the only two WAC programs left will be New Mexico State and Seattle, and Seattle joined the conference in 2012. They will be filling out a hoops roster, however: Utah Valley, UT-Pan American, Chicago State (Great West), UMKC (Summit), Cal St-Bakersfield (Independents), and Grand Canyon (Division II) all join the league.

SUN BELT: Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas are all headed to Conference USA, but they will be replaced by Georgia State, UT-Arlington and Texas State.

CAA: After losing VCU, the CAA will lose George Mason (A-10), Old Dominion (CUSA) and Georgia State (Sun Belt) this offseason. They do bring in the College of Charleston, however.

HORIZON: The Horizon League loses Loyola-Chicago to the MVC, but replaces them with Oakland from the Summit League.

SUMMIT: The Summit League loses Oakland and UMKC (who is headed to the WAC), but they did bring in a good Denver program from the WAC.

MISSOURI VALLEY: The MVC takes a hit with Creighton leaving for the Big East, but they get replaced by Loyola-Chicago, bringing in the league’s first major metropolitan area.

WCC: The WCC adds Pacific as their 10th member. Pacific comes from the Big West, who tried to replace them with San Diego State.

MAAC: The MAAC will lose Loyola (MD) to the Patriot League, but they somehow managed to hang on to Iona and Siena, arguably the two most desired programs in the league, while adding Quinnipiac and Monmouth from the NEC.

PATRIOT: The Patriot League was one of the big winners in realignment, adding both Boston U. (from the America East) and Loyola (MD) (from the MAAC).

AMERICA EAST: They lose BU to the Patriot, but add UMass-Lowell from the Division II ranks.

SOCON: The only change this season will be that the SoCon is losing the College of Charleston to the CAA, but next year Davidson will be headed out the door and on to the Atlantic 10.

SOUTHLAND: The Southland scooped up a bunch of the low-major leftovers from realignment, adding Houston Baptist from the Great West, New Orleans from the Independents and Division I newcomers Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word.

Here’s a full list of the schools changing leagues this year:


  • Abilene Christian: Division II to the Southland
  • Boston U.: America East to the Patriot League
  • Butler: Atlantic 10 to the Big East
  • Cal St-Bakersfield: Independent to the WAC
  • Central Florida: Conference USA to the AAC
  • Charleston: SoCon to the CAA
  • Charlotte: Atlantic 10 to Conference USA
  • Chicago State: Great West to the WAC
  • Cincinnati: Big East to the AAC
  • UConn: Big East to the AAC
  • Creighton: Missouri Valley to the Big East
  • Denver: WAC to the Summit
  • FAU: Sun Belt to Conference USA
  • FIU: Sun Belt to Conference USA
  • George Mason: CAA to the Atlantic 10
  • Georgia State: CAA to the Sun Belt
  • Grand Canyon: Division II to the WAC
  • Houston: Conference USA to the AAC
  • Houston Baptist: Great West to the Southland
  • Incarnate Word: Division II to the Southland
  • Louisiana Tech: WAC to Conference USA
  • Loyola-Chicago: Horizon to the MVC
  • Loyola (MD): MAAC to the Patriot
  • UMass-Lowell: Division II to the America East
  • Memphis: Conference USA to the AAC
  • MTSU: Sun Belt to Conference USA
  • UMKC: Summit to the WAC
  • Monmouth: NEC to the MAAC
  • NJIT: Great West to Independent
  • New Orleans: Independent to the Southland
  • North Texas: Sun Belt to Conference USA
  • Notre Dame: Big East to the ACC
  • Oakland: Summit to the Horizon
  • Old Dominion: CAA to Conference USA
  • Pacific: Big West to the WCC
  • Pitt: Big East to the ACC
  • Quinnipiac: NEC to the MAAC
  • San Jose State: WAC to the MWC
  • SMU: Conference USA to the AAC
  • South Florida: Big East to the AAC
  • Syracuse: Big East to the ACC
  • Temple: Atlantic 10 to the AAC
  • UT-Arlington: WAC to the Sun Belt
  • UT-Pan American: Great West to the WAC
  • UT-San Antonio: WAC to Conference USA
  • Texas State: WAC to the Sun Belt
  • Utah State: WAC to the MWC
  • Utah Valley: Great West to the WAC
  • Xavier: Atlantic 10 to the Big East