Dec. 19, 2012

Conference Carousel Shows No Signs of Stopping

Well, it’s been five months since we wrote about changes in conference affiliation. (click here for July 5 story) It was the start of the 2012-13 academic year and the leagues were set with the late additions of Butler and VCU to the Atlantic 10.

At that time, we were looking at 15 programs moving to new homes for the 2014 season. That number has more than doubled, as 32 teams will be in new conferences. That’s more than 10% of the membership, which is an astounding percentage. And there could be more between now and July 1.

Most recently, Monmouth and Quinnipiac announced they were leaving the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic. College of Charleston will exit the Southern Conference for the Colonial and should be an immediate contender for a title.

The WAC picked up Chicago State, Utah Valley and Northern Colorado from the Great West, with Northern Colorado in for baseball only. That ultimately marked the end of the Great West as a baseball conference. Grand Canyon will move up from Division II to join the WAC.

Houston Baptist bolted the Great West for the Southland, while New Orleans leaves the ranks of the independents to join the Southland as well. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word will climb from Division II to Southland membership.

In looking at the remaining Great West programs, New Jersey Tech and New York Tech are expected to be independent for the 2014 season as they look for a regional home. We don’t know yet the landing spots for North Dakota and Texas-Pan American, so we’re putting them as independents for 2014.

Pittsburgh got early dismissal and will head from the Big East to the ACC. Syracuse is tagging along, but doesn’t have baseball.

Dallas Baptist will join the Missouri Valley Conference as an affiliate member for baseball, strengthening an already formidable league.

As of today, here are the 32 programs that will be in different leagues for the 2014 college baseball season.

Here is a link for conference memberships for 2014.

Several moves are scheduled for the 2015 season. Louisville and Notre Dame will exit the Big East for the ACC. Maryland will leave the ACC for the Big Ten, while Rutgers heads from the Big East to the Big Ten. Tulane will depart from Conference USA for the Big East.

And speaking of the Big East, the seven departing non-football schools will have to decide if they will keep the Big East name, form a new conference or join an existing league. Three of the schools (DePaul, Marquette, Providence) do not have baseball programs, so Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova will need a new baseball home. St. John’s has been a regular Big East contender and NCAA regional participant, so it looks to suffer the most from the move.