Realignment Roulette Spins Again

Do you know where your favorite team is going to be playing this season?  The rise of the new Big East plus a bunch of West Coast realignment once again has conferences resembling a Boggle board. We aren’t done yet; even though 49 teams will play in a new conference this season it isn’t enough. The movement keeps coming with 15 more teams finding a new home for the 2014-15 season.

This realignment thing has worked out for some schools (see Creighton and Butler, who must be enjoying their new status amongst the big boys in the Big East) and not so well for others (Connecticut and to a lesser extent New Mexico State are probably wondering what they have to do to get invited to the party). Locally it’s a mixed bag.

It’s obvious that the addition of Boston University and Loyola (MD) improved the Patriot League athletically. Both basketball teams are going to be contenders for the league title this season with BU a popular early favorite. Even though the MAAC lost Loyola, the conference recovered nicely, swiftly adding Quinnipiac and Monmouth. Both schools fit the league’s profile and have facilities that rank right up there with the conference’s elite.

I’m also sure that St. John’s, Seton Hall and the rest of the Big East are excited about the fact that football schools no longer dictate their financial stability. (Though not everyone seems happy about the perception that Georgetown is leading the way.) Still, the new Big East will be one of the nation’s most competitive basketball conferences this season, with at least half the league harboring NCAA tournament aspirations.

A few other conferences have been weakened by this latest spin of the realignment roulette wheel. Perhaps the hardest hit conference is the Colonial Athletic Association. A few seasons ago the CAA had two Final Four participants. Now neither is a part of the league. The Atlantic 10 managed to grab both George Mason and VCU. While the Colonial has made some smart decisions and given Charleston and Elon new homes, those two former Southern Conference schools don’t carry nearly the same cachet. Add in the losses of Old Dominion, Georgia State (not that it matters much in basketball) and it’s been a rough few seasons for the CAA.

The other loser in all of this is the one school that can’t find anywhere to play. New Jersey Institute of Technology (known to most as NJIT) will play this season as the lone independent in college basketball. What’s sad is that while the Highlanders will be young, the team actually has quite a bit of talent. A .500 record (including a few non-Division I games) is in reach. The question is: Will anybody notice?

How did it end up this way for the NJIT? Well, the WAC and Great West went through a merger of convenience this offseason. After suffering its most recent pillaging from the Mountain West marauders, the WAC needed some fresh blood and schools like Utah Valley and Chicago State were happy to oblige in return for a potential NCAA tournament berth. NJIT saw the wisdom in not flying its field hockey team to Moscow, ID for a conference game and instead joined the ranks of the independents once again. Instead Jim Engles’ club will barnstorm around the eastern seaboard, offering fans at America East and NEC schools a potential glimpse at their future competition.

NJIT isn’t the only team in a state of flux. Sure those 15 teams know where they’ll be playing next season, but more change is coming. MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor has said that he’d like to add one more member. (What school is up for all sorts of debate.) A move by the MAAC could trigger another small reshuffling amongst the smaller conferences on the East Coast. To pose a hypothetical, what happens if a CAA school leaves for the MAAC? What bedlam would ensue? (It’s not crazy to ponder.) The dominoes aren’t done falling.

Part of this seems to be because competing right away is a possibility. BU, Loyola and Oakland – which joins the Horizon League – all hope to compete in Year 1. These well established programs take seasons of success with them to their next destination. Though the Greyhounds couldn’t convince Jimmy Patsos to come with them. Other schools, like Loyola (IL) in the Missouri Valley and Monmouth in the MAAC, look to be hopelessly overmatched. The aspiration is that the new conference will help them get the talent needed to compete. (Look how well that’s worked out for Fordham.)

For fans, the only option is to wait. Parse the words of the commissioners and college presidents. Wonder when the beat writer’s next tweet will come and hang on every word. Because more change is coming. Tearing apart little piece of the fabric of our game.