2014 Conference Realignment

Who's moving where next season?

RELATED ARTICLE: NEW 2014 BigTen Divisions

Brett Ciancia
January 21st, 2014

In what is becoming a yearly tradition, the college football landscape will be altered again next fall as Conference Realignment rages on.  5 Conferences (out of 10) are affected, while 12 schools will switch conference affiliation.
Here is what the conference structure looks like for the upcoming 2014 season:

ATLANTIC

BOSTON COLLEGE
CLEMSON
FLORIDA STATE
LOUISVILLE
NC STATE
SYRACUSE
WAKE FOREST

COASTAL

DUKE
GEORGIA TECH
MIAMI
NORTH CAROLINA
PITTSBURGH
VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA TECH

The ACC will lose longtime member Maryland (BigTen) and will add Louisville from the American. Louisville will fill in for Maryland's vacated spot in the Atlantic Division.

*Notre Dame starts its ACC requirement contract this season:
  AT Syracuse
  North Carolina
  AT Florida State
  Louisville

CENTRAL FLORIDA
CINCINNATI
CONNECTICUT
EAST CAROLINA
HOUSTON
MEMPHIS
SMU
SOUTH FLORIDA
TEMPLE
TULANE
TULSA

The American Conference (former Big East) has been hit hardest by Conference Realignment, and seems to have new members or rumors every few months.  For the 2013 season, the Big East was scheduled to have 12 teams, 2 divisions, and a Title game for the first time ever.  Then, Boise State and San Diego State opted out, and chose to remain in the Mountain West (makes geographic sense).  The Big East folded, becoming the American (AAC).
2014: Louisville (ACC) and Rutgers (BigTen) depart. The Conference also loses BCS ties (now called Access Confereces) to the Playoff.

This fall, the American welcomes 3 former Conference USA teams: Eastern Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa

EAST

INDIANA
MARYLAND
MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN STATE
OHIO STATE
PENN STATE
RUTGERS

WEST

ILLINOIS
IOWA
MINNESOTA
NEBRASKA
NORTHWESTERN
PURDUE
WISCONSIN

GONE are the "Legends and Leaders" in the Big Ten.  With the additions of Rutgers and Maryland, completely new divisions will be installed this fall.

More in-depth analysis on the new Big Ten division setup: "2014 Big Ten Divisions"
   (Published before 2013 season)

EAST

FLORIDA ATL.
FLORIDA INT.
MARSHALL
MIDDLE TN ST
OLD DOMINION
WESTERN KENT.

WEST

LOUISIANA TECH
NORTH TEXAS
RICE
SOUTHERN MISS
UAB
UTEP
UTSA

Conference USA loses 3 teams to the American: East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa.


Old Dominion completes its transition to Division-1 and joins the East Division along with Western Kentucky (Sun Belt).

APPALACHIAN STATE
ARKANSAS STATE
GEORGIA SOUTHERN
GEORGIA STATE
IDAHO
NEW MEXICO STATE
SOUTH ALABAMA
TEXAS STATE
TROY
UL - LAFAYETTE
UL - MONROE

Western Kentucky departs to Conference USA.

Meanwhile, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern join Division 1 Football and start in the Sun Belt. Also, previously independent Idaho and New Mexico State join the Sun Belt.

The SBC grows to 11 teams, up from just 8 in 2013.

NOTRE DAME*
BYU
NAVY
ARMY

*Notre Dame now has a loose affiliation with the ACC.

*Navy plans on joining the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in 2015, but that is still in question.

1962 - 2013

The Western Athletic Conference was hit hardest by the latest storm of Conference Realignment, as the league officially folded in 2013.  They had 16 teams in 1996, but now, 50+ years of Western Athletics ... is over.

RELATED ARTICLE: NEW 2014 BigTen Divisions

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