Shock waves were sent through college athletics on Friday when the latest round of conference realignment moves were made. In case you missed it, the Pac-12 was under fire, with Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah leaving for the Big 12 (following Colorado), while Washington and Oregon are heading to the Big Ten. All of these moves will be effective starting in the 2024-25 season.
Given all the movement, we decided to lay out the conferences (as they will look in 2024-25 – at least as of now) to get a picture of the new landscape. They are ranked below by the number of teams they have ranked in the top 50 of the NET Rating as of the end of last season – but we will also give you the average net as well.
#1 Big Ten – 11 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 54.0
- 5 Indiana
- 6 Iowa
- 11 Maryland
- 16 Ohio St.
- 21 Oregon
- 22 UCLA
- 25 Michigan
- 34 USC
- 41 Nebraska
- 43 Illinois
- 45 Michigan St.
- 50 Purdue
- 63 Washington
- 88 Penn St.
- 102 Minnesota
- 107 Wisconsin
- 127 Northwestern
- 166 Rutgers
#2 SEC – 10 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 44.9
- 1 South Carolina
- 2 LSU
- 12 Texas
- 13 Tennessee
- 19 Ole Miss
- 28 Georgia
- 29 Alabama
- 32 Mississippi St.
- 38 Oklahoma
- 48 Arkansas
- 57 Missouri
- 76 Florida
- 80 Kentucky
- 81 Auburn
- 99 Vanderbilt
- 104 Texas A&M
#3 ACC – 8 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 44.7
- 7 Virginia Tech
- 9 Notre Dame
- 10 Duke
- 17 Louisville
- 18 NC State
- 24 North Carolina
- 26 Florida St.
- 44 Miami (FL)
- 53 Virginia
- 54 Syracuse
- 61 Clemson
- 77 Georgia Tech
- 79 Wake Forest
- 86 Boston College
- 105 Pittsburgh
#4 Big 12 – 7 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 71.06
- 8 Utah
- 15 Iowa St.
- 20 Colorado
- 27 Arizona
- 30 Kansas
- 31 Baylor
- 46 Oklahoma St.
- 58 Kansas St.
- 59 West Virginia
- 73 Houston
- 75 Texas Tech
- 109 BYU
- 113 Arizona St.
- 131 TCU
- 148 UCF
- 194 Cincinnati
#5 Big East – 4 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 77.45
- 3 UConn
- 14 Villanova
- 23 Creighton
- 42 Marquette
- 56 St. John’s (NY)
- 62 DePaul
- 70 Seton Hall
- 108 Georgetown
- 125 Butler
- 129 Providence
- 220 Xavier
#6 Pac-12 – 2 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 44.0
- 4 Stanford
- 35 Washington St.
- 55 Oregon St.
- 82 California
*Note: Clearly the conference will not remain as a 4-team conference in this form. The Big Ten has had interest in Stanford and Cal in the past. The conference has also been involved in rumors to add teams, although the Mountain West buyout is a big roadblock. There is also widespread speculation that there could be a merger looming with the Mountain West.
#7 Ivy League – 2 Top 50 Teams – AVG NET: 160.1
- 40 Princeton
- 47 Columbia
- 71 Harvard
- 121 Penn
- 204 Yale
- 235 Brown
- 252 Cornell
- 311 Dartmouth
#8 AAC – 1 Top 50 Team – AVG NET: 128.6
- 39 South Fla.
- 65 Memphis
- 85 SMU
- 94 East Carolina
- 96 Tulane
- 98 Rice
- 110 Wichita St.
- 111 Tulsa
- 128 Temple
- 165 UTSA
- 193 UAB
- 198 North Texas
- 200 Charlotte
- 218 Fla. Atlantic
#9 WCC – 1 Top 50 Team – AVG NET: 149.44
- 49 Gonzaga
- 83 Portland
- 118 San Diego
- 135 San Francisco
- 138 Santa Clara
- 146 Pacific
- 183 Saint Mary’s (CA)
- 203 Pepperdine
- 290 LMU (CA)
#10 Conference USA – 1 Top 50 Team, AVG NET 153.0
- 33 Middle Tenn.
- 106 Liberty
- 114 UTEP
- 123 Western Ky.
- 126 Louisiana Tech
- 163 New Mexico St.
- 196 Jacksonville St.
- 215 Sam Houston
- 227 FIU
- 228 Kennesaw St.
Honorable Mentions:
- Atlantic 10 – AVG NET: 158.67
- Mountain West – AVG NET: 168.73
- Missouri Valley – AVG NET: 168.92
- MAC – AVG NET: 185.17
