Now, before we get into this, I know this will never happen. This is just for fun and something I believe would be interesting to see and talk about. I am going to look at the Top 8 basketball conferences(yes, this is just for basketball) plus a few select other teams. Some for good reason, one team because of Payton Manning I guess. The Top 8 conferences will stay in tact outside of an addition or subtraction of teams. Most of this is just fictional fun except for UConn leaving the AAC and moving to the Big East, which will begin in the 2020-2021 season. There would be two brand new conferences created with the new realignment, but what would you name the new conferences?
AAC: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, Wichita State
The AAC will stay as it will in real life. UConn will be leaving and as of now, there are no replacements. It would still be a league with the potential to be a very good mid major conference. Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis and Wichita State have the ability to be auto bids every year, making the AAC a 4+ bid conference.
ACC: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
I took Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse away, but this will still leave a very strong basketball conference with Duke, UNC, Louisville, Virginia and Florida State. It would have a much better chance at being the top conference in the nation and not be watered down like it is now. This past season it was a 4-5 bid league that has 15 members. That is never a good look.
Atlantic-10: Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Richmond, Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure, St. Josephs
The A-10 would lose a couple good programs in Davidson and VCU but for a league that has turned into a 1-2 bid league in recent years, this wouldn't be a big change and would open things up for programs to have more noticeable popup years of success.
Big East: Butler, Connecticut, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. Johns, Villanova, Xavier
The Big East stays the same but adds a sleeping giant in UConn who rejoins the Big East. The conference would continue to be one of the top 3-4 in the nation as well and we get to witness the start of a new Big East era starting in 2020.
Big Ten: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin
The Big Ten gets a big change as one of its flagship(and my favorite school) programs leaves the conference along with Northwestern and Nebraska. The B1G would continue as a powerhouse conference lead by Michigan State, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Big 12: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, West Virginia
There would be a familiar face returning to the conference with the Texas A&M Aggies coming back. Big 12 has become one of the best conferences, though dominated by Kansas, and would add back a potential great program now that Buzz Williams has taken over in College Station.
Pac-12: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Colorado was the only team moved out of the conference. The only reasoning is that they are the furthest team east in the conference. The now Pac-11 still wouldn't be a powerhouse basketball conference, but would still be lead by Oregon, Arizona and a rebuilding UCLA team.
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee
The SEC would lose Texas A&M(back to the Big 12), Missouri and Vandy. This would end up strengthening the conference as teams who are usually bad will be leaving. The conference would still be strongly lead by Kentucky with Florida and Auburn right behind.
The New Conferences
American West Conference: BYU, Colorado, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Omaha, San Diego State, Saint Mary's(CA), UNLV
A mix of the WCC and MWC with the additions of Colorado and Nebraska. This league would be built to challenge the Pac-12 and give the west coast a second good basketball conference that it is missing. Gonzaga would carry the load, but BYU, San Diego State, St. Marys and Colorado have shown the ability to compete on a national level. Add in Nebraska who can only go up with Fred Hoiberg in charge and this conference could become a very good basketball conference that could get 4 bids a season. I added Grand Canyon as they are the only for-profit university in Division-1 basketball and this would be a great chance at more money. As for Omaha, it is all about Peyton Manning right?
American-11 Conference: Boston College, Davidson, Indiana, Missouri, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Massachusetts, Vanderbilt, VCU
This would be a conference strongly built on the history of Indiana, Syracuse and Notre Dame along with the hope that Pittsburgh and VCU would get back to being nationally competitive. Vanderbilt would become an x-factor under Jerry Stackhouse to become an up and coming program that could push this league into being one of the best. Could this help Indiana and Syracuse restore their programs back to the top where they belong on a national level?