Dorm Report: Positive realignment

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – There have been some seismic shifts to the college basketball landscape in recent years, with teams switching conferences, new leagues being created, and others falling by the wayside.

There was the breaking up of the Big East, with such stalwarts as Syracuse and Pittsburgh bolting for the ACC. That led to the creation of the American Athletic Conference and a new-look Big East, while there have been other schools that have moved into the Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 for football-related reasons.

It finally appears that the drastic changes are beginning to come to an end, allowing a sense of calm to return. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any new additions (or subtractions) for this season.

There are 16 teams that will be playing in new conferences in 2014-15, including such storied programs as Louisville and Maryland. Seeing new rivalries form and unique matchups will pique interest for a while, but the real intrigue lies in which of these teams will make an immediate impact in their new stomping grounds.

It may seem unfair, but the Atlantic Coast Conference has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the conference realignment craze, picking up perennial powers Syracuse and Pittsburgh to add to its already stacked list of stellar basketball programs. Well, the rich will just keep getting richer this season as the league welcomes Louisville just two years removed from winning the national title.

The ACC is not just getting a great program in Louisville, but also adding to its enviable roster of head coaches. The nation got two helpings of Jim Boeheim versus Mike Krzyzewski last season, and now Rick Pitino steps into the ring as well.

Of course, fans tune in for the play on the court and not the pacing on the sidelines. Louisville will bring plenty of excitement in that regard, as the Cardinals have won three straight conference crowns, including back-to-back Big East titles in 2012 and 2013 before ascending to the throne of the newly- minted AAC last season. They have been to eight straight NCAA Tournaments and have only missed the Big Dance twice in Pitino’s 13 years at the helm.

Pitino’s roster took some hits after the national championship run and will again this season with potent scorer Russ Smith now in the NBA. However, with athletic beast Montrezl Harrell (14 ppg, 8.4 rpg) back in the fold, expectations are that Louisville will be an immediate contender in the ACC.

How quickly Maryland adapts to the waters of the Big Ten Conference is another story. The Terps have endured an off-season filled with turmoil, which has been well-documented in this column. Head coach Mark Turgeon’s future in College Park stands on the edge of a knife after some uninspiring campaigns and the less-than-cordial transfers of a number of last year’s best players, including Seth Allen (13.4 ppg) and Nick Faust (9.4 ppg).

The Terps may have escaped the clutches of Duke and North Carolina in the ACC, but they may face even greater challenges in their new conference home. The distance the team will travel will be much greater in the Big Ten, with trips to the middle of the country rather than simply up and down the east coast.

Then there are the teams that make up the league, including 2014 Final Four participant Wisconsin, always dangerous Michigan State, as well as Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State.

Luckily, Maryland is used to facing a difficult conference schedule, although that hasn’t helped in the wins department. The Terps are 59-43 overall in the last three seasons, but they are just 23-29 in league play during that time. With a withered roster, it may be tough sledding for Turgeon and his team this season.

Louisville and Maryland may be the biggest names in the 2014 realignment class, but they are not necessarily the only ones to watch.

The Southern Conference struck gold with the addition of Mercer, which just finished a Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament where it knocked off Duke. The bad news is that all five starters from last season’s team are gone, but head coach Bob Hoffman has shown that he can deliver winning squads on a consistent basis, with the Bears winning 20 games in each of the last three seasons.

The Bears are taking the spot left behind by another NCAA Tournament darling, as Davidson makes the move to the Atlantic 10 this season, leaving behind its SoCon compatriots.

The A-10 was once considered a league just a step behind the power conferences, but it has re-imagined itself as one of, if not the top mid-major leagues in the country. VCU and George Mason, also teams that enjoyed recent NCAA Tournament success, have swelled the ranks in the last two years, and now the Wildcats enter the fray as well.

It is quite an addition for a conference that featured six NCAA Tournament teams in 2014, which tied with the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC for the second-most bids of any conference. Last season, the Wildcats won their third straight SoCon regular season title, finishing 15-1 in league play. They also have been to the NCAA Tournament in five of the last eight seasons, although they missed out in 2014 due to a disappointing overtime loss to Western Carolina in the conference tourney.

With a step up in competition, it is unlikely that Davidson will dominate the A-10 like it did the SoCon, especially with conference player of the year De’Mon Brooks now gone. However, Brian Sullivan (12.9 ppg) and Tyler Kalinoski (11 ppg, 5 rpg, 3.4 apg) give the Wildcats a solid foundation, while head coach Bob McKillop has done a tremendous job building the program in his more than two decades in charge. A few tougher teams on the schedule each season won’t scare him or his Wildcats.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball