College Basketball Conference Realignment (2026-27)

The following post explores College Basketball Conference Realignment (2026-27).

College basketball’s conference landscape is shifting again heading into the 2026-27 season. While the Power conferences remain mostly stable, a significant wave of realignment is reshaping the mid-major picture.

Read: Why Winning on College Basketball Is Hard

Related: College Football Conference Realignment

The biggest development is the full return of the Pac-12, but several other leagues are also seeing notable membership changes that will influence non-conference scheduling, mid-major races, and bubble conversations.

Here’s what you need to know.

Overview

Division I men’s basketball will once again feature 365 teams. One program is leaving Division I entirely and another is beginning the multi-year climb from Division II, leaving the overall number essentially unchanged.

More than two dozen schools are changing conferences, creating new rivalries and altered paths to automatic NCAA Tournament bids. The shifts are concentrated in the West and South, which should make those regions particularly interesting to follow this season.

Pac-12

The Pac-12 officially relaunches as a full multi-sport conference after two seasons of limited operations. Oregon State and Washington State remain as holdovers and are joined by five former Mountain West programs—Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State—along with Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference and Texas State from the Sun Belt.

This new nine-team group immediately looks like one of the stronger mid-major leagues on paper. Gonzaga brings national brand power and consistent tournament success, while the former Mountain West schools add recent experience and competitive depth. How quickly the league develops identity and depth beyond its top teams will be one of the more interesting storylines of the year.

Mountain West

The Mountain West absorbs the biggest losses from the Pac-12’s rebuild, parting ways with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State. In their place, the conference adds Hawaii and UC Davis from the Big West as well as UTEP from Conference USA.

Losing five solid programs in one cycle is a significant reset. The league will need the new arrivals to step up quickly if it wants to maintain its recent reputation as a reliable source of tournament teams. The geographic stretch also becomes a bit more pronounced with the addition of Hawaii.

United Athletic Conference

The United Athletic Conference represents a rebranded and expanded version of the former WAC. It welcomes a group of former Atlantic Sun schools—Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, and West Georgia—along with Little Rock from the Ohio Valley Conference.

The UAC now carries a stronger Southern and Mid-South identity, which should help with travel and regional rivalries. Whether the league can develop consistent depth and produce multiple competitive teams will determine how much attention it draws outside of its automatic-bid race.

Big West

The Big West loses Hawaii and UC Davis to the Mountain West. To offset those departures, the conference adds California Baptist, Sacramento State, and Utah Valley.

The new mix keeps the league competitive while shifting its balance slightly inland. California Baptist has shown it can contend at this level, so the conference still has a foundation to work with even after losing two longtime members.

West Coast Conference

The West Coast Conference takes a notable hit with the departure of Gonzaga to the Pac-12. The league softens the impact by adding Denver from the Summit League.

Losing Gonzaga removes the conference’s clearest national brand and most consistent tournament threat. Denver provides a solid replacement in terms of competitiveness, but the WCC will need other programs to step forward if it wants to maintain its recent track record of multiple NCAA bids.

Atlantic Sun

The Atlantic Sun experiences significant turnover as five of its football-playing members leave for the UAC. At the same time, the West Florida Argonauts join the conference as it begins its multi-year transition from Division II to Division I.

The league becomes smaller and loses some of its recent competitive depth. West Florida’s arrival adds a new program with a strong Division II résumé, though the Argonauts will not be eligible for the NCAA Tournament during the reclassification process.

Other Conference Moves

A handful of additional shifts round out the realignment picture. Northern Illinois moves from the MAC to the Horizon League, Tennessee Tech leaves the Ohio Valley for the Southern Conference, and Louisiana Tech transfers from Conference USA to the Sun Belt. The Big Sky adds Southern Utah and Utah Tech while losing Sacramento State to the Big West.

These moves are smaller in scale but still reshape several mid-major leagues at the margins. They create new regional matchups and slightly alter the competitive balance in conferences that often produce surprise tournament teams.

Division Status Changes

Two programs are changing their NCAA division status. Saint Francis (PA) is dropping from Division I to Division III and will compete in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference beginning in 2026-27. West Florida, as noted above, is starting its climb into Division I.

Saint Francis’s departure is a reminder of the growing financial and competitive pressures at the lower end of Division I. West Florida’s arrival, meanwhile, continues the steady flow of ambitious programs testing the D-I waters.

These changes create a more dynamic mid-major landscape, particularly in the West. The new Pac-12 should generate interesting storylines and potentially multiple NCAA Tournament teams, while several other leagues will feature fresh rivalries and different paths to automatic bids. Power conference stability means the biggest effects will show up in non-conference scheduling, mid-major races, and bubble discussions throughout the season.