HomeSportsVisualizing the Latest Wave of N.C.A.A. Conference Realignment
Visualizing the Latest Wave of N.C.A.A. Conference Realignment
September 1, 2023
The most recent wave of realignment has effectively ended the Pac-12, with most of its colleges moving to the Big Ten, Big 12 and A.C.C.
Notre Dame, college football’s most popular independent program, joined the A.C.C. for an average of five games per year starting in 2014.
Missouri and Texas A&M were the first teams to join the SEC in 20 years.
Financial benefits and concerns about conference stability lured Boston College to become the A.C.C.’s 12th member in 2005.
Boise State left for the Mountain West in 2010. Three years later, the WAC folded.
A Supreme Court ruling in 1984 let universities and conferences negotiate their own television deals. ESPN aired its first live regular-season game that fall.
Penn State, one of the last major programs to remain independent, became the Big Ten’s 11th member in 1993, setting off a wave of realignment across college football.
The Ivy League joined Div. 1-AA.
The Southern Conference reclassified to Div. 1-AA after the 1981 season.
Arizona and Arizona State made the Pac-8 the Pac-10.
The Missouri Valley Conference stopped sponsoring football after the 1985 season.
Arkansas departed for the SEC in 1991, signaling the beginning of the end for the Southwest Conference, long associated with N.C.A.A. violations.
Formed as a basketball-only conference, the Big East began playing football in part to stay competitive.
