Conference realignment has hit the mid-major ranks in a major way this year. The most consequential move of them all is a big-band revival that's got a whole new vibe: The Pac-12 is back and it swiped basically half of the Mountain West on its path to resurrection. The new union out west involves (alphabetically): Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State.
Yes: nine state schools and Gonzaga. But Gonzaga was absolutely necessary to legitimize the Pac-12 in its morphed, new phase. I'm so very intrigued to see how the Pac-12 fares in its first season under new management.
With the NCAA Tournament now (unfortunately) at 76 teams, the conference should have aspirations of getting at least three into the Big Dance on an annual basis. And in 2027, I expect that to be the case. As for the Mountain West, it was able to keep the likes of UNLV, New Mexico and Nevada.
It brought Grand Canyon aboard, which feels consequential for that league's hopes of trying to be a two-bid league in the years to come. But with the likes of UC Davis, San Jose State, Hawaii and Air Force still in the ranks, the conference's best days are almost certainly in the past. More moves to know: The WAC is dead and has been rebranded as the United Athletic Conference (umm, OK?) after infusing some former ASUN programs, which has reduced the ASUN to an eight-school outfit.
There are some other random one-off jettisons that you can catch all the way up on here. Let's take a tour around 27 of the 32 conferences outside the high-major structure and reacquaint you with the players, coaches, programs and trends to know. These aren't necessarily the 10 best players outside of the Power Five leagues, but they are certainly 10 guys you should be following over the next five months.
Some of them will surely be involved in the NCAA tourney. Pretty clearly the best player outside the Power Five. Huff is an efficiency monster who needs to stay healthy the entire season in order to give Gonzaga a shot at a top-three NCAA seed. (Huff played in 18 games last year and was sidelined with a knee injury in January that wound up being more serious than initially disclosed.) The movable 6-10 4-man is surrounded by sturdy reinforcements (returning SF Davis Fogle and center Massamba Diop, by way of Arizona State, could have GU among the best frontcourts in the sport) that could lead to an All-American season in the wake of Graham Ike's departure.
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