Conference realignment recap

Yesterday was July 1st, a day that marks many things. One of them is the celebration that marks the union of the four British North American colonies into one nation on a holiday known as Canada Day. That's not what this article is about.

Yesterday also marks the first day where conference realignments become official. Last year, that day meant the creation of the American Athletic Conference and also meant that nearly 50 teams were on the move. While nothing that dramatic took place this year, it's still important to take note of what did go down in the college football world yesterday.

The conference with the biggest addition was the Big 10. Most notably for Washington State fans, the conference added Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are joined by Maryland as the newest members of the Big 10. With the move, the conference added two major markets, in Baltimore and New York/New Jersey, for their television network and added two consistent performers on the football field.

Another major conference making big moves was the ACC. The conference that has been known for basketball added another powerhouse in the sport in the Louisville Cardinals. While they did lose Maryland to the Big 10, Louisville looks like they will be a great fit to replace them.

Elsewhere, things get a little complicated. The American Athletic Conference loses two teams, in Louisville and Rutgers, but takes three members away from Conference USA in East Carolina, Tulsa and Tulane. Conference USA loses those three teams, but adds two more, one in Old Dominion and one from the Sun Belt conference in Western Kentucky. To replace WKU, the Sun Belt decides to add 4 teams, including our good friends from across the border. They add Idaho and New Mexico State from the ranks of the FBS independents and bring Appalachian State and Georgia Southern from the FCS level.

While the Pac-12 was left unchanged this season, WSU will get to see one of the biggest changes first hand this August. One of the newest members of the Big 10, Rutgers, will play their first game as part of the conference on August 28th to take on Washington State in Century Link Stadium.

I've complied all the changes in a handy, dandy chart below.

Football

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