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In Part One of this doubleheader, I took a look at all of the conference changes on tap for the 2011-12 season. There are even more on the horizon for 2012-13, though the Horizon League isn't affected.
Part Two begins after the jump with a look at another change in a BCS conference.
Like the Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12, the Big East also added a member, primarily to increase the conference's position on the gridiron. TCU makes the move from the Mountain West to give the conference nine football schools and 17 basketball schools. The move is a definite win for the gridiron lineup, but the Horned Frogs look destined to be in the 16 vs. 17 game in the Big East Tournament for the foreseeable future. While TCU has a 5-7 record in the NCAA Tournament, the Frogs' last appearance came in 1998, with their last win coming 11 years earlier.
And yes, it's likely that all 17 teams will play at Madison Square Garden next year. Expect the 18-game conference slate to stick, with teams playing a pair of opponents home-and-away instead of three.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Cincinnati |
Cincinnati |
Connecticut |
Connecticut |
DePaul |
DePaul |
Georgetown |
Georgetown |
Louisville |
Louisville |
Marquette |
Marquette |
Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh |
Providence |
Providence |
Rutgers |
Rutgers |
St. John's |
St. John's |
Seton Hall |
Seton Hall |
USF |
USF |
Syracuse |
Syracuse |
Villanova |
TCU (from the Mountain West) |
West Virginia |
Villanova |
West Virginia |
TCU's departure and the arrival of two teams from the WAC mean the Mountain West will look very much like a division from the old 16-team WAC. Fresno State and Nevada, two basketball programs who are in the midst of a down cycle, join the MWC to bring its membership back up to nine. The Bulldogs haven't made the NCAA Tournament since making consecutive trips under Jerry Tarkanian in 2000 and 2001, while the Wolf Pack were a regular fixture in the mid-2000s, but haven't returned since a Second Round loss to Memphis in 2007.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Air Force |
Air Force |
Boise State |
Boise State |
Colorado State |
Colorado State |
UNLV |
Fresno State (from the WAC) |
New Mexico | Nevada (from the WAC) |
San Diego State |
UNLV |
TCU |
New Mexico |
Wyoming | San Diego State |
Wyoming |
While the Mountain West resembles a blast from the Western Athletic Conference's past, the new, cobbled-together WAC features two schools who don't sponsor football and two others who will jump from FCS to FBS to make the move. Of the incoming quartet, Texas-San Antonio earned the Southland's 2011 tournament bid (their fourth overall), Texas State hasn't contended in awhile in that same league (two bids, both in the mid-90s), Denver is a decent Sun Belt school better known for hockey, and Seattle is looking to make an impact after transitioning back into Division I.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Fresno State |
Denver (from the Sun Belt) |
Hawai'i | Idaho |
Idaho | Louisiana Tech |
Louisiana Tech | New Mexico State |
Nevada | San Jose State |
New Mexico State |
Seattle (from the Independents) |
San Jose State |
Texas-San Antonio (from the Southland) |
Utah State |
Texas State (from the Southland) |
Utah State |
Denver's departure reduces the Sun Belt from 12 teams, divided into two divisions, to 11, likely grouped in a single table.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
East Division |
Arkansas-Little Rock |
Florida Atlantic |
Arkansas State |
Florida International |
Florida Atlantic |
Middle Tennessee |
Florida International |
South Alabama |
Louisiana-Lafayette |
Troy |
Louisiana-Monroe |
Western Kentucky |
Middle Tennessee |
West Division |
North Texas |
Arkansas-Little Rock |
South Alabama |
Arkansas State |
Troy |
Denver |
Western Kentucky |
Louisiana-Lafayette |
|
Louisiana-Monroe |
|
North Texas |
The Southland will also likely do away with divisions, as the departure of UTSA and Texas State leaves it with just 10 members, ideal for an 18-game, double round-robin schedule.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
East Division |
Central Arkansas |
Central Arkansas | Lamar |
Lamar |
McNeese State |
McNeese State |
Nicholls State |
Nicholls State | Northwestern State |
Northwestern State |
Sam Houston State |
Southeastern Louisiana |
Southeastern Louisiana |
West Division |
Stephen F, Austin |
Sam Houston State |
Texas-Arlington |
Stephen F. Austin |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Texas-Arlington |
|
Texas-San Antonio |
|
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | |
Texas State |
Hawai'i is also among the teams fleeing the WAC. While the football Warriors will join Fresno State and Nevada in the Mountain West, the majority of the school's other teams will join the Big West. Hawai'i will be the first non-California school to participate in that conference since Idaho and Utah State left in 2005.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
UC Davis |
UC Davis |
UC Irvine |
UC Irvine |
UC Riverside |
UC Riverside |
UC Santa Barbara |
UC Santa Barbara |
Cal Poly |
Cal Poly |
Cal State Fullerton | Cal State Fullerton |
Cal State Northridge | Cal State Northridge |
Long Beach State |
Hawai'i (from the WAC) |
Pacific |
Long Beach State |
Pacific |
The Ohio Valley Conference undergoes two changes. First, SIU Edwardsville becomes eligible for the conference title for the first time, a year after playing its first full league schedule. The second change may have more of an impact on the chase for that crown; however, as Atlantic Sun power Belmont joins, a move that reduces that school's travel costs while adding yet another strong hoops program to a conference that already boasts Austin Peay, Morehead State, and Murray State, amongst others.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Austin Peay |
Austin Peay |
Eastern Illinois |
Belmont (from the Atlantic Sun) |
Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Illinois |
Jacksonville State |
Eastern Kentucky |
Morehead State | Jacksonville State |
Murray State | Morehead State |
Southeast Missouri |
Murray State |
SIU Edwardsville (ineligible for title) |
Southeast Missouri |
Tennessee-Martin | SIU Edwardsville (eligible for OVC title) |
Tennessee State | Tennessee-Martin |
Tennessee Tech | Tennessee State |
Tennessee Tech |
The OVC's gain is the Atlantic Sun's loss, as that conference loses a member for the second consecutive year. Remember that Campbell leaves for the Big South in time for the 2011-12 campaign.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Belmont | East Tennessee State |
East Tennessee State | Florida Gulf Coast |
Florida Gulf Coast | Jacksonville |
Jacksonville | Kennesaw State |
Kennesaw State | Lipscomb |
Lipscomb | Mercer |
Mercer |
North Florida |
North Florida | USC Upstate |
USC Upstate | Stetson |
Stetson |
Big Sky schools, like Montana and Montana State, were among the targets for WAC expansion, but the FCS league held firm, and actually gained a pair of all sports members, along with some football affiliates. North Dakota, the Great West's representative in the 2011 College Insider Tournament, joins along with Southern Utah, a team who will find this loop that's a bit more travel-friendly than its former home, the Summit League.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Eastern Washington | Eastern Washington |
Idaho State | Idaho State |
Montana |
Montana |
Montana State |
Montana State |
Northern Arizona |
North Dakota (from the Great West) |
Northern Colorado |
Northern Arizona |
Portland State |
Northern Colorado |
Sacramento State |
Portland State |
Weber State |
Sacramento State |
Southern Utah (from the Summit League) |
|
Weber State |
While the Summit League loses a geographic outlier, it gains another member from the heart of its territory, as Nebraska-Omaha makes the move up from Division II.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
IPFW | IPFW |
IUPUI | IUPUI |
UMKC | UMKC |
North Dakota State |
Nebraska-Omaha (from Division II, transitional) |
Oakland |
North Dakota State |
Oral Roberts | Oakland |
South Dakota | Oral Roberts |
South Dakota State | South Dakota |
Southern Utah | South Dakota State |
Western Illinois | Western Illinois |
With North Dakota's departure for the Big Sky, the Great West drops from six members to five, meaning its chances at an NCAA automatic bid are nearly done, at least if the original target date of 2020 is to be met. And more moves may be on the way. Houston Baptist is already looking at adding an FCS football program, and is courting the Southland and Summit League in the process. Utah Valley attempted to join the WAC, but was snubbed. If either of those schools are successful in finding another home, the fledgling conference won't be long for the world.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Chicago State | Chicago State |
Houston Baptist | Houston Baptist |
NJIT | NJIT |
North Dakota | Texas-Pan American |
Texas-Pan American | Utah Valley |
Utah Valley |
Much like the Great West, the Independent ranks are shrinking, with the numbers falling to two this season. Cal State Bakersfield suffered double rejection, first at the hands of the Big West, a conference populated by many similar schools, in favor of Hawai'i, then at the hands of the WAC.
Meanwhile, Longwood is still here. The Lancers have yet to find a conference home, even though they've been a full member of Division I since 2007. The Big South would seem to be a decent fit, given the school's location in Central Virginia.
2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Cal State Bakersfield |
Longwood |
Longwood |
Seattle |
Finally, there are minor changes to the Northeast and Big South conferences. Bryant becomes a core member of the NEC in 2012-13, meaning they'll finally be eligible for the conference title and a place in the NCAA Tournament. It only seems like the Bulldogs have been a member of the league forever. They've been an associate member while transitioning to Division I, a process that began in 2008-09. Meanwhile, Presbyterian should be eligible for the Big South's bid, as the school failed to meet its original target of 2011-12.
Once again, I've posted these changes on a separate page, just like the ones for the 2011-12 academic year.
What conference changes do you foresee for future seasons?
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