With the mess of realignment that has been going on, here is a helpful guide to the changes for each conference for the 2012-13 season. Of course, there is going to be a ton of additional changes for 2013-14, but this is the list for next season.
America East:
No Changes
Atlantic Coast:
No Changes
Atlantic Sun:
ADDITIONS: Northern Kentucky (from Division II)
DELETIONS: Belmont (to Ohio Valley)
Atlantic Ten:
ADDITIONS: Butler (from Horizon), VCU (from Colonial)
Big East:
DELETIONS: West Virginia (to Big Twelve)
Big Sky:
ADDITIONS: North Dakota (from Great West), Southern Utah (from Summit)
Big South:
ADDITIONS: Longwood (from Independents)
Big Ten:
No Changes
Big Twelve:
ADDITIONS: TCU (from Moutain West), West Virginia (from Big East)
DELETIONS: Missouri (to SEC), Texas A&M (to SEC)
Big West:
ADDITIONS: Hawai’i (from WAC)
Colonial:
DELETIONS: VCU (to Atlantic Ten)
Conference USA:
No Changes
Great West:
DELETIONS: North Dakota (to Big Sky)
Horizon:
DELETIONS: Butler (to Atlantic Ten)
Ivy League:
No Changes
Metro Atlantic:
No Changes
Mid-American:
No Changes
Mid-Eastern Athletic:
No Changes
Missouri Valley:
No Changes
Mountain West:
ADDITIONS: Fresno State (from WAC), Nevada (from WAC)
DELETIONS: TCU (to Big Twelve)
Northeast:
No Changes
Ohio Valley:
ADDITIONS: Belmont (from Atlantic Sun)
Pac-12:
No Changes
Patriot League:
No Changes
Southeastern:
ADDITIONS: Missouri (from Big Twelve), Texas A&M (from Big Twelve)
Southern:
No Changes
Southland:
ADDITIONS: Oral Roberts (from Summit)
DELETIONS: Texas State (to WAC), Texas-Arlington (to WAC), Texas-San Antonio (to WAC)
Southwestern Athletic:
No Changes
Sun Belt:
DELETIONS: Denver (to WAC)
Summit:
ADDITIONS: Nebraska-Omaha (from Division II)
DELETIONS: Southern Utah (to Big Sky), Oral Roberts (to Southland)
West Coast:
No Changes
Western Athletic:
ADDITIONS: Denver (from Sun Belt), Seattle (from Independents), Texas State (from Southland), Texas-Arlington (from Southland), Texas-San Antonio (from Southland)
DELETIONS: Hawai’i (to Big West), Fresno State (to Mountain West), Nevada (to Mountain West)
Independents:
ADDITIONS: New Orleans (from some sort of purgatory that wasn’t quite Division I, II or III)
DELETIONS: Longwood (to Big South), Seattle (to WAC)
I believe New Orleans’s was technically classified as division III transitional. Otherwise they would not be able to reenter div1 as an Independent. I do not believe they have to repeat the transitional phase, which makes them eligible for the NCAA Tournament right away. In other news, I am eligible to win the lottery. Odds-makers are debating which is more likely to happen.
UNO first announced they were dropping to D3. Then, before last season they changed their minds and decided to go to D2 instead. Therefore, they were a transitional team from D1 down to D2. This means they competed at the D2 level while still being a D1 team technically (much like teams transitioning up from D2 to D1 will play D1 schedules for 3-4 years but “technically” remain a D2 team until their transition is complete). Now that UNO has decided to remain at D1, they simply cancel their transition and return to what I believe will be full D1 status. While I am not certain yet, I believe they will even be eligible for the NCAA tournament next season.
One more note on UNO: they are now even talking about putting in a football team if the Southland accepts them. It is good to see that the school has decided to make a solid commitment to athletics going forward. I just hope they can afford the financial commitment it will take.