College basketball has undergone a massive upheaval in a short time. The transfer portal has created what amounts to free agency, with players switching teams like wardrobe changes at a Broadway show and forcing coaches to rebuild their rosters annually. Name, image and likeness compensation deals have changed the game off the court, providing financial opportunities for athletes that weren't there just a few years ago while adding another layer of recruiting and retention headaches to coaching staffs.
Extra eligibility for players because of the pandemic impacted rosters, too. The latest jolt: Conference realignment, which has shifted — consolidated? — power in college hoops. Well, maybe outside of two-time reigning champion UConn.
"I don't know what business anybody has been in where there hasn't been significant changes over time if you've been in the business for three or four decades," said Bill Self, coach at top-ranked Kansas. "We're going through one of those changes now and people probably aren't as comfortable with the change — as I'm not, either — but I do think we'll get through it and it'll balance out, and we'll be at a place that we're much more comfortable in a short amount of time." The latest realignment round, namely a contraction and eventual re-expansion of the Pac-12, started as a slow burn.
Texas and Oklahoma kicked things off by leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, then longtime Pac-12 rivals USC and UCLA bolted to the Big Ten. C.
