Big changes are coming to college basketball this season, none bigger than the demise of the Pac-12. While it still exists on paper, with Oregon State and Washington State as its only members, it is not competing this season as it seeks to rebuild over the next two years. The Beavers and Cougars will play in the West Coast Conference for now, while the other ten former members have dispersed to the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten.
That is 12 of the 20 conference membership changes going into this season. One other change involving a power conference is that SMU finally obtained what it has been working toward for years – admission to a power conference. The Mustangs will be a member of the ACC.
There are also two new schools in Division I. Mercyhurst and West Georgia have moved up from Division II this season. They will count in the NET, but are not eligible for the NCAA Tournament until 2029.
Four teams are eligible for this year’s tournament for the first time. Bellarmine, which won the ASUN Tournament in 2022 but was not yet eligible for the NCAA Tournament, no longer has to worry about that. The Knights are joined by Tarleton State, UC San Diego and Utah Tech and first-time eligible programs.
Check out Palm’s bracket and full field of 68 at the Bracketology hub.
One more at-large bid to be awarded
From a bracket perspective, the loss of the Pac-12 means that there are only 31 automatic bids and 37 at-large spots available.
In this bracket, all but one of those 37 at-large bids is targeted for one of the teams in the bloated major conferences. That belongs to Saint Mary’s,a regular in the field, but in the First Four here. Some schools are rebuilding entirely through the transfer portal. Louisville is a good example of that. The entire Cardinals roster consists of players that have transferred in – 11 of them in this off-season. On the other end, Purdue has taken just two transfers total…
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