Realignment Conferences 7 Through 1

These are your major conference teams in college basketball. The realignment process makes for some strange bedfellows, but also some of the best possible basketball you could ever imagine.

The National Basketball Conference (NBC)

School	Former Conference
Gonzaga	West Coast
Temple	American
VCU	Atlantic 10
Tulsa	American
Southern Methodist	American
Dayton	Atlantic 10
Cincinnati	American
Richmond	Atlantic 10
Wichita State	American
St. John’s	Big East
Saint Louis	Atlantic 10
New Mexico	Mountain West
DePaul	Big East
Seton Hall	Big East
Xavier	Big East

The naming rights for this conference might be tricky, but this would be the premiere conference with a plethora of basketball-only institutions. The VCU, Richmond and St. John’s, Seton Hall rivalries add some good rivalry juice. It’s no surprise that this team is ranked seventh nationally, since that’s exactly where the American finished in KenPom and those teams make up the backbone of this conference.

The Ocean and Plains Conference (OPC)

School	Former Conference
Iowa	Big Ten
Minnesota	Big Ten
BYU	West Coast
Illinois	Big Ten
Nebraska	Big Ten
North Carolina State	ACC
Iowa State	Big 12
Virginia	ACC
Maryland	Big Ten

This feels a bit like a conference with teams who are not quite as good as their reputation. There are some great rivalries. Putting Iowa and Iowa State in the same conference could make things much more interesting in the Hawkeye state. BYU, with its independent football program, spends quite a bit on athletics and thus is popped all the way up to this conference.

The South Central Conference (SCC)

School	Former Conference
West Virginia	Big 12
Memphis	American
Mississippi	SEC
Oklahoma State	Big 12
San Diego State	Mountain West
Kansas State	Big 12
Texas Tech	Big 12
Mississippi State	SEC
Utah	Pac-12

This nine-team conference is centered around an excellent base in central part of the American south. The Memphis, Mississippi, Mississippi State trifecta would make for some excellent basketball (and football). West Virginia is a big of an outlier, but the Mountaineers already travel to schools like Oklahoma State and Texas Tech during the regular season, so it’s not that unreasonable. I was most surprised by San Diego State’s inclusion in this conference. The Aztecs are not as strong a spender as some of these other clubs, but have strong basketball attendance and academics that fit in with the rest of these schools.

Football Powers Conference (FPC)

School	Former Conference
Florida State	ACC
Virginia Tech	ACC
Southern California	Pac-12
Notre Dame	ACC
Auburn	SEC
Penn State	Big Ten
Miami (FL)	ACC
TCU	Big 12
Stanford	Pac-12
Georgia	SEC
Clemson	ACC
UCLA	Pac-12
Texas A&M	Big 12
Baylor	Big 12

What if I told you this would only be the second best football conference in the country? (I’m not kidding.) Most of these schools are joined together by their love of football and strong academics (Auburn is a bit below the standard in the second one). All of these schools (with the exception of UCLA) seem to like football a little more than basketball, which is how they end up getting grouped together. But not even the Bruins can compete with the attendance that the schools in the next conference receive.

The Cash Conference

School	Former Conference
LSU	SEC
Florida	SEC
Wisconsin	Big Ten
Ohio State	Big Ten
Texas	Big 12
Alabama	SEC
Oklahoma	Big 12
South Carolina	SEC
Tennessee	SEC
Michigan	Big Ten

Alright, the name probably wouldn’t fly, but that’s why these schools are grouped together. These are the schools that spend most aggressively in college athletics, but maybe not quite as much on men’s basketball. For instance, Texas is the biggest spending athletic department in the country according to the Equities in Athletics data, but the Longhorns only spent 54% of what Kentucky spent on men’s basketball in 2015-16. This would obviously be an amazing football conference. So I think the fans would deal.

The Basketball Way Conference

School	Former Conference
Northwestern	Big Ten
Marquette	Big East
Vanderbilt	SEC
Villanova	Big East
Providence	Big East
Georgia Tech	ACC
Georgetown	Big East
Purdue	Big Ten
Connecticut	American
Wake Forest	ACC
Duke	ACC
Creighton	Big East
Pittsburgh	ACC
California	Pac-12

Elite academics along with a strong focus on basketball programs epitomize this conference, the second best in college basketball. Yes, the second best conference in college basketball in this realignment scenario includes Northwestern. (I can’t believe I typed those words.) For most of these schools not making the NCAA Tournament is a season worthy of kickstarting a rebuild. It would be extremely competitive. These schools possess five of the past 10 national title winners.

The Blue Bloods Conference

School	Former Conference
Kansas	Big 12
North Carolina	ACC
Kentucky	SEC
Michigan State	Big Ten
Indiana	Big Ten
Arkansas	SEC
Arizona	Pac-12
Louisville	ACC
Syracuse	ACC

This is the creme de la creme of college basketball (except what happened to Duke?). If you were making the ideal college basketball conference this would be it. These schools have won the other five of the past 10 national titles. Can every team in a conference earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament? That might be the biggest issue with the conference ever coming to pass. Because it would truly be something to behold.