Who’s in, who’s out? Keep it locked on Boardroom for the most important conference expansion moves revolutionizing the landscape of college sports.
We already knew that as it relates to amateur athletics, college football is king. Once Texas and Oklahoma shocked the world in announcing it would bail on the Big 12 and transform the SEC into a true, first-of-its-kind super-conference, however, an unprecedented era was upon us.
And have you gotten a load of the last several months? Folks, the Pac-12 might be dead. Like, no vital signs, rigor mortis, no longer fogging up handmirrors. Fully peaced-out.
That’s simply how fascinating and outrageous the ever-shifting landscape of NCAA athletics has become. The insanity out on the left coast isn’t the only remarkable thing taking place in the world of college football conference expansion, however.
So, with so much happening so fast, what are the moves and moments to know as we try (and probably fail) to catch our collective breaths?
From the Big Ten and Big 12 to the SEC, ACC, and beyond, check out Boardroom’s conference realignment tracker below, keeping tabs on all the latest arrivals and departures from coast to coast.
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Conference Realignment in College Football 2023-24
Big Ten Expansion: The Bicoastal Super-conference
Schools joining Big Ten in 2024 via Pac-12
- Oregon
- Washington
- USC
- UCLA
Big Ten realignment notes
- Starting with the 2024 football season, the Big Ten will no longer be split into East and West divisions.
- Each football program will play a nine-game conference schedule.
- The top two teams in the overall 18-team Big Ten standings at the end of the regular season will play one another in the conference championship game.
- Click here to learn more about the pros and cons behind the scenes of UCLA’s big move.
Big 12 Expansion: Keeping Up With the Big Boys
Schools that joined Big 12 in 2023
- BYU (via Mountain West)
- Cincinnati (via AAC)
- Houston (via AAC)
- UCF (via AAC)
Schools joining Big 12 in 2024 via Pac-12
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Colorado
- Utah
Big 12 realignment notes
- Colorado will re-join the Big 12 in 2024-25 after previously departing the conference for the Pac-12 in 2011.
SEC Expansion: The Once and Future King
Schools joining SEC in 2024 via Big 12
- Oklahoma
- Texas
SEC realignment notes
- The Sooners and Longhorns originally agreed to depart the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025. They subsequently agreed to increased buyouts with the conference in order to fast-track their big leaps to 2024.
Pac-12 Realignment: The End is Nigh
Remaining Pac-12 member schools
- Cal
- Oregon State
- Stanford
- Washington State
Pac-12 realignment/expansion notes
- The major exodus from the Pac-12 was exacerbated by a media rights deal focused on Apple TV that fell apart in late July.
- Various recent reports note future possibilities including a merger with the Mountain West, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) picking off at least one remaining Pac-12 school, or engaging in some manner of an alliance with the ACC.
ACC Realignment: Fork in the (Tobacco) Road
- ACC expansion has not taken place as of this writing, nor have any members departed.
- In May 2023, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech reportedly looked into legal routes toward potentially breaking their “grant of rights” agreement with the conference that gives the ACC sole broadcast privileges over each school’s home games.
- So, what does that mean in plain English? Click here for the full rundown from Boardroom’s Russell Steinberg.
Other conference expansion and realignment moves
- Six schools joined the AAC from Conference USA in 2023: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UT-San Antonio.
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