It seemed like conference realignment had slowed over the last few years. On July 1, that will all change as 29 teams will officially change places. On top of that, there are conference name changes, headlined by the return of the Pac-12. There are a couple of ways to look at conference realignment. Some may think it is a trickle-down side effect that has become the constant money grab of the power conferences. However, a more positive way to look at it is that all this movement results in some fresh, new conference rivalries. Either way you choose to look at it, here is your guide to the new teams with new homes.
The Pac is Back!
In a change that will make Bill Walton smile down from above, the Conference of Champions is back. After a two-year hiatus, the Pac-12 returns in 2026-27. No conference has been immune to the realignment poaching by the power conferences, but some felt it more than others. In 2021, the Pac-12 began to feel those effects, and by 2024, the once-proud conference was whittled down to two teams: Oregon State and Washington State. As a result, over the last two seasons, the two schools joined a scheduling alliance with the West Coast Conference. Now, the Beavers and Cougars return home to a revitalized Pac-12 conference.
The two teams that have been through many iterations of the conference will be joined by seven new members, including a few with national gravitas in college basketball. The most prominent newcomer is the team that had been the gold standard in the WCC for decades, the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Mark Few brings his 773 wins and 26 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances to the new-look Pac-12. Many conferences (including the Big 12) were competing for the Bulldogs’ services before they landed on the PAC-12, a significant early win for the conference.
Of the seven new teams in the conference, five of them come from the Mountain West (more on them later). Leading that group are three of the more consistently successful teams from the MWC. San Diego State and Utah State join Gonzaga to immediately give the conference a solid foundation, with hopes of returning the Pac-12 to the multi-bid conference it once was. The games between the defensive-minded Aztecs and Few’s fast-paced Bulldogs should feel like a second-weekend NCAA Tournament game. Additionally, it adds a national pedigree alongside the Dawgs with the Aztecs being the 2023 national runner-up and a tournament regular under Brian Dutcher. Despite Ben Jacobsen being the fifth head coach since 2018, the Utah State Aggies have made five NCAA Tournament appearances in that span. That’s the definition of a program that is defined by its culture, rather than a coach. San Diego State and Utah State give the Pac-12 a solid base to go with Gonzaga, while newly-arriving Boise State and Colorado State give the league some nice depth in both football and basketball. Finishing up the exodus from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 are the Fresno State Bulldogs. Fresno will help with the football depth of the conference but will have work to do to be a competitor in this basketball-heavy conference. The final team making up the new 9-team conference of champions is the Texas State Bobcats, who arrive from the Sun Belt after a 19-win campaign that was the second-highest in Terrence Johnson’s tenure. The Bobcats are a team considered to be on an overall positive trajectory in this age of college sports, not just in hoops, but in several sports.
Rebuilding the Mountain
After seeing five members leave, the Mountain West went from a robust 12-team mid-major conference to one with just seven members. The conference still boasts strong basketball schools, New Mexico, UNLV, Nevada, and Grand Canyon. Still, Commissioner Gloria Nevarez had to react or have the conference be swept away by the tidal wave of realignment.
As a result, the rebuilt Mountain West will field 10 teams, two of which come from the Big West. The reigning Big West tournament champion, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, join the Mountain West after winning 24 games and playing Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Also joining Hawaii are the UC Davis Aggies, who are entering their 15th season under head coach Jim Les. The UTEP Miners are making the jump from Conference USA to compete in the Mountain West. Their sixth year under former Abilene Christian coach Joe Golding could be a trying one as the Miners join the Mountain West after 12 players from last year’s team left, including 10 transfers. The Miners don’t have a single returning player on their roster for 2026-27.
Conference Rebranding
In addition to schools changing places, there are a couple of conferences that are undergoing a rebranding. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is downsizing to become the Metro Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference will take over the moniker of the United Athletic Conference. The UAC came about as an alliance for the WAC and Atlantic Sun football teams that will now become a full-membership conference.
Speaking of the Atlantic Sun and the UAC, in addition to the name change, the UAC has added teams as well, and of the six teams they’ve added, five come from the Atlantic Sun, including the two teams who tied for last year’s regular season title. The Austin Peay Governors‘ 22-9 record under Corey Gipson last season was just the second time since 1977 that they ended the year with fewer than 10 losses. A-Sun co-champs Central Arkansas join the Governors in the UAC, as do Eastern Kentucky, the North Alabama Lions, and West Georgia, who had a successful first season in Division I, with seven of their conference losses coming by single digits. Lastly, the Little Rock Trojans make the jump from the Ohio Valley to the UAC.
The Best of the Rest
Of the remaining changes across the college landscape, the Big West Conference will see the most difference with the additions of Cal Baptist, Sacramento State, and Utah Valley to a strong core of UC-Irvine, UC-San Diego, and UC-Santa Barbara. Both Southern Utah and Utah Tech are off to the Big Sky, and Denver heads further west to fill the hole in the WCC left by Gonzaga’s departure to the Pac-12. After four successful seasons under Talvin Hester, Louisiana Tech returns to a place they called home from 1991-2001, the Sun Belt Conference. Tennessee Tech is off to the Southern Conference. Northern Illinois originally joined the Mid-American Conference in 1973 and rejoined in 1997 after an 11-year hiatus. On July 1, the Huskies will move to the Horizon League, a change they hope will boost basketball success for a program that has won more than 20 games only once since 1991. In all the movement that becomes official this week, one school is reclassifying as a Division I program. The West Florida Argonauts make the jump to Division I after 32 years in the Gulf South Conference. Not only are the Argos moving to Division I, but they are also joining the Atlantic Sun, with a new head coach in his first head-coaching job, former Clemson Tiger Tanner Smith. In a sport that has turned into a year-round news cycle, you now have your guide to all the institutional changes that become official this week. From the reemerging Pac-12 to a rebuilt Mountain West and a new Division I program, these changes certainly add excitement and storylines to the upcoming season.
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