Friday marked one of the most significant days in the history of college athletics. Oregon and Washington both finalized their moves to the Big Ten and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah all made the news official that they would be joining the Big 12 in 2024.
The Big Ten will have four former Pac-12 schools in 2024: Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington and the Big 12 has the “Four Corner” Pac-12 schools. The SEC will also be getting stronger next season when Texas and Oklahoma depart from the Big 12.
While the recent changes in conference realignment were sparked by the increasing value of TV rights for college football, the shuffling will have a huge impact on college basketball.
With just four members after last week’s events, the Pac-12 is on life support and this could very well be the final basketball season in the storied history of the conference. The only Power Five conference to not be impacted (yet) by any realignment news is the ACC and Florida State reportedly could have its eyes on departing the conference.
But for now, we can identify the major moves taking place for the 2024-25 college basketball season.
The Big 12, already considered to be the, will get even stronger by adding traditional power Arizona in addition to Arizona State and Utah — schools who have had sporadic success throughout the years in basketball. Coming on the heels of resurgent Houston joining the league for this upcoming season, the Big 12 is poised to be prepared for the impending loss of Texas and Oklahoma. How good is the new look Big 12? Last season, all 16 league members finished in the top 80 of KemPom and this season will add the Cougars, Cincinnati, BYU and UCF.
The Big Ten’s major moves were known last year when it added USC and basketball powerhouse UCLA, who now will be joining an 18-team league after last week’s moves by Oregon and Washington.
The college basketball landscape…
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