2011-12 Conference Changes/Notes/Eligibility

[SelectionSunday]

In 2010-11 there were 345 D-I basketball programs. That number is now 344 with the decision of Centenary (formerly of the Summit League) to drop to D-III. The following are the basketball conferences affected by the changing landscape in 2011-12.

Atlantic Sun (drops to 10 teams) -- Belmont, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida, South Carolina-Upstate, Stetson.

Notes -- (1) Campbell moves to the Big South. (2) Florida Gulf Coast and South-Carolina Upstate are now eligible for conference tournament and NCAA automatic bid.

Big Sky (remains @ 9 teams) -- see notes.

Notes -- (1) After being ineligible for the conference and NCAA tournaments in 2010-11 due to Academic Progress Rate (APR) shortcomings, Portland State regains its eligibility.

Big South (up to 11 teams) -- Campbell, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Liberty, NC-Asheville, Presbyterian, Radford, VMI, Winthrop.

Notes -- (1) Campbell comes from Atlantic Sun. (2) Presbyterian ineligible for conference tournament and NCAA automatic bid until 2012-13.

B1G (up to 12 teams) -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.

Notes -- (1) Nebraska comes from Big 12.

Big 12 (drops to 10 teams) -- Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Mizzou, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.

Notes -- (1) Colorado moves to the Pac 12 and Nebraska moves to the B1G.

Great West (drops to 6 teams) -- Chicago State, Houston Baptist, NJIT, North Dakota, Texas-Pan American, Utah Valley.

Notes -- (1) South Dakota moves to Summit League. (2) North Dakota ineligible for NCAA bid until 2012-13.

MEAC (up to 13 teams) -- Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Hampton, Howard, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Savannah State, South Carolina State.

Notes -- (1) North Carolina Central and Savannah State join from Independent ranks, but their eligibility for the 2011-12 MEAC Tournament and NCAA automatic bid won't be determined until later this summer.

Mountain West (drops to 8 teams) -- Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Wyoming.

Notes -- (1) Boise State comes from WAC. (2) BYU moves to West Coast and Utah moves to Pac 12.

Northeast (remains @ 12 teams) -- see notes.

Notes -- (1) Bryant ineligible for conference tournament and NCAA automatic bid until 2012-13.

Ohio Valley (up to 11 teams) -- Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, SIU-Edwardsville, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech.

Notes -- (1) SIU-Edwardsville joins from Independent ranks but is ineligible for conference tournament and NCAA automatic bid until 2012-13.

Pac 12 (formerly Pac 10) -- Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Wazzu.

Notes -- (1) Colorado comes from Big 12 and Utah joins from Mountain West.

SWAC (remains @ 10 teams) -- see notes.

Notes -- (1) Grambling and Southern U will be ineligible for the conference and NCAA tournaments due to APR shortcomings.

Summit (1 joins, 1 leaves; still at 10 teams) -- IPFW, IUPUI, North Dakota State, Oakland, Oral Roberts, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, UMKC, Western Illinois.

Notes -- (1) Centenary drops to D-III. (2) South Dakota comes from the Great West but is ineligible for the conference tournament and NCAA automatic bid until 2012-13.

West Coast (up to 9 teams) -- BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine, Portland, St. Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara.

Notes -- (1) BYU comes from Mountain West.

WAC (drops to 8 teams) -- Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State.

Notes -- (1) Boise State moves to the Mountain West.

Independents (drops to 3 teams) -- Cal State-Bakersfield, Longwood, Seattle.

Notes -- (1) North Carolina Central and Savannah State join MEAC. (2) SIU-Edwardsville joins Ohio Valley.

 

[vaporboy]

That is a mess..

half of the conferences are affected, amazing. Now do the coaching changes...JK, thanks for the post. I'll need to read it a few times for it all to sink in.

 

[howeda7]

Thanks SS. Very interesting. When does UND move to the Big Sky?

 

[SelectionSunday]

UND is set for the Big Sky in 2012-13, unless the politically correct Big Sky (read: politically correct NCAA) isn't happy with the end result of Fighting Sioux controversy. Big Sky is threatening to withdraw membership offer if UND doesn't ditch its nickname.