The Great Conference Migration Continues

With schools switching conferences left and right, it's becoming harder and harder to keep track of who's in what league.  The Great Conference Migration of 2012 started with Texas A&M deciding it didn't want to be Texas' little brother anymore.  But that was just the start of it.  One can easily be forgiven for having trouble keeping track of who's going where.  Here's my attempt at making sense of everything that's happened so far:

Big 12: In-TCU, West Virginia; Out-Texas A&M, Missouri
As we all know, Texas A&M is to blame for all of this.  Their penis envy of University of Texas resulted in their bolting to the SEC.  A few weeks later, Missouri decided to come along for the ride.  Since when I think of the Southeast, Missouri and Texas are the first two states that come to mind.  The Big 12 quickly replaced Texas A&M with TCU, a rival of all the Texas schools dating back to the old Southwest Conference.  And I give TCU credit for actually making a decision that makes sense for the school.  They went to a conference where they're not going to have ridiculous travel and they're actually reviving rivalries, unlike the two schools that are leaving the conference.  (I love it that Texas and Kansas no longer have any interest in playing Texas A&M and Missouri in anything.)  When Missouri bolted, they needed a 10th school, so the State of West Virginia is being relocated to the Midwest.  A move that makes complete sense since West Virginia is near the other Big 12 schools and everything.  BYU wouldn't have made more sense.

SEC: In-Texas A&M, Missouri
Texas A&M came to the SEC begging to join, and the league would've been stupid to say no.  Talk about the rich getting richer.  The best overall league in the country now has a conference member located in the recruiting hotbed of Texas.  The SEC knew that 13 schools wasn't going to work, so they let Missouri come, too.

ACC: In-Pitt, Syracuse
I'm not sure if this was the ACC poaching the Big East like last time or simply Pitt and Syracuse looking for greener pastures that aren't necessarily greener.  Either way, I'm done with Pitt and Syracuse.  I'm done with West Virginia, too, for that matter.  If you don't want to be in the Big East, the hell with you.  These schools being in the ACC make about as much sense as Boston College being in the ACC, but the Eagles are probably happy.  Syracuse and Pittsburgh are at least in the same geographical part of the country as Boston.  The ACC reportedly wants to go to 16 teams and split into two eight-team divisions.  You know what they call those?  Conferences.

Big East: In-SMU, Houston, Central Florida, Temple, Memphis, Boise State (football), San Diego State (football), Navy (football); Out-Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, TCU
Leave it to the Big East to do it again.  The last time this happened, they created the 16-team superconference that landed 11 teams in the NCAA Tournament two years ago.  This time it was a little harder, because three of the league's cornerstone members (including founding member Syracuse, the school most associated with the Big East) have peaced out, but the Big East did it again.  They realized all of this was because of football, so why not improve/expand the football conference?  No matter that San Diego is practically in the Pacific Ocean.  And Boise State football has developed one of the biggest cult followings of any team in the country, so bringing them in was a stroke of genius.  And to make up for the loss of four full members, they added five.  They lost Texas when TCU decided to leave before ever actually joining.  Now they've got Texas back with SMU and Houston.  And another Florida school to make going down there to play Central Florida a little more worthwhile.  The best part is that the basketball coaches got what they wanted.  I've been saying for years that Temple should be in the Big East.  It's a marquee basketball program and a natural rival of Villanova.  Memphis got left behind when Louisville, Cincinnati, et. al. left Conference USA for the Big East a few years ago.  Now the Tigers are back with their former conference rivals in a league that's actually going to be competitive.  They've been too good for Conference USA for the last couple years.  I hope they bring all 18 teams to the Garden.  That'll make the Big East Tournament even more fun.

Atlantic 10: In-Butler; Out-Temple, Charlotte
Realignment in the Atlantic 10 might not necessarily be over yet.  CAA members George Mason and VCU (or both) are rumored to be on the A-10's radar to replace Charlotte, which is moving back to Conference USA.  The A-10 obviously took a tremendous hit when it lost flagship program Temple to the Big East.  But Butler's a great addition.  They've been arguably the best mid-major program in the country in recent years, going to back-to-back National Championship Games.  Now they've got Indianapolis to go with the other Midwestern schools Dayton, Xavier (Cincinnati) and Saint Louis.  Plus, Butler plays in the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Conference USA: In-Charlotte, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, UTSA; Out-Memphis, Houston, SMU, Central Florida
It's really hard to keep track of what schools are in Conference USA.  This league's membership seems to change by the day.  As it is, they're bringing in five to replace the four that are leaving for the Big East (once everybody switches conferences, nine of the Big East's 18 members will be former Conference USA members), with an invitation to Old Dominion pending.  They're bringing in a couple Texas schools to keep UTEP, Rice and Tulsa company, and after years of being stuck in the WAC, Louisiana Tech finally gets to move to a conference with schools that are actually near it.  Most importantly, they're finally in the same league as Tulane.

Mountain West: In-Fresno State, Nevada, San Jose State, Utah State, Hawaii (football); Out-Boise State, San Diego State, TCU
The Mountain West and Conference USA were discussing a merger for a little while, but it doesn't look like that's going happen now.  So it looks like the Mountain West is going to settle for basically absorbing the WAC, which is where all of its original members came from in the first place.  Fresno State and Nevada had already announced they were joining the Mountain West next season (to replace BYU and Utah), and San Jose State and Utah State announced the other day that they'll be joining them in the Mountain West.  Hawaii wants to be in the California-based Big West to make its travel a little more feasible, but their football team will play in the much more competitive Mountain West, which will help soften the blow of Boise State and TCU leaving.

WAC: In-Denver, Seattle, Texas-Arlington, Boise State (everything but football); Out-Fresno State, Nevada, San Jose State, Utah State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Texas State
The WAC is on life support.  They brought in six schools to replace the ones that are leaving or have already, and two of them--Texas State and UTSA--will play only one season in the WAC before leaving themselves.  And Denver, Seattle and Texas-Arlington don't have football teams!  That leaves the WAC with just two football-playing members--New Mexico State and Idaho, and six in every other sport.  I can easily see New Mexico State joining New Mexico in the Mountain West, leaving Idaho to fend for itself.  They're talking about bringing in even more new members, but the WAC's days are numbered.

Believe it or not, that was actually a BRIEF overview of the conference movement that's going on across Division I.  And it's probably not over yet.  So, if you don't know what league your favorite team is in, I don't blame you.  They're probably not going to be in that conference that long anyway.