A recent article in The Athletic mentions UNC as a possibility to jump into the fray of conference realignment. The author says Norte Dame is really a big card that has to be played before the other dominos fall. But UNC could be another huge factor. It seems like Oregon State and Washington State are in a tenuous place kind of like some of the Big 12 schools last year. I personally have little concern for all the conference realignment. It is just the way life is in 2022 with money being pretty much the only factor that has sway. For us, our rivalries have been diminished. K-State is still a rivalry but we suck in football and they suck in basketball so there isn’t much of a rivalry. Mizzou is gone (thankfully). Texas was a budding rivalry but that is gone now. Kentucky is sort of a rivalry but inconsistent and only in basketball. Same for Duke and Michigan St.
It seems to me that things are headed toward 4 big conferences or maybe even three. Not sure how that works with 20¡ schools in a conference. Heck, maybe conferences are soon going to be a thing of the past and some other structure altogether will emerge.
