Next round of conference realignment takes effect July 1: Louisville to ACC, Rutgers to Big Ten

As the landscape of college athletics continues to shift, the next round of conference realignment will go into effect on July 1st for most of the major movers, including the two biggest swimming & diving programs making a conference transition.

The changes aren’t nearly as drastic as they’ve been during the past several seasons of major upheaval, but there will still be a noticeable effect on a few major swimming conferences. Rising national power Louisville moves to the already-stiff ACC, while Rutgers will also leave The American for the Big Ten.

Louisville won the inaugural conference titles in The American Athletic Conference this past season in both genders. But they’ll jump ship after just one season, following former Big East foes to the ever-expanding Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). That further muddies what was one of the nation’s more competitive conferences in 2014, but should be an exciting prospect for swimming fans who will get to see Cardinals like free/fly speed demon Kelsi Worrell, Finish do-it-all stud Tanja Kylliainen and rising sprinter Carlyle Blondell compete with some of the best in the conference rounds.

Also leaving the AAC is Rutgers, which will bring it’s women’s-only program into the Big Ten. The other major Big Ten addition is Maryland, which cut both of its swimming & diving programs in 2012. Rutgers took third in the AAC this season, and return conference backstroking champ Joanna Wu and strong IMer Morgan Pfaff as they enter the much-tougher Big Ten.

Here’s a full listing of the swimming & diving programs changing conference homes for this upcoming season:

And here’s an updated look at what the changed conferences (swimming and diving programs only) will look like for the 2014-2015 season (new additions in italics):

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Boston College
Clemson (women only)
Duke
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami (FL) – (women’s swim & dive, men’s diving only)
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Big Ten
Illinois (women only)
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska (women only)
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers (women only)
Wisconsin

American Athletic Conference (AAC)
Cincinnati
Connecticut
East Carolina
Houston (women only)
SMU
Tulane (women only)

Atlantic-10
Duquesne (women only)
Davidson
Fordham
George Mason
George Washington
La Salle
Massachussets
Rhode Island (women only)
Richmond (women only)
Saint Louis
St. Bonaventure

And here’s a look at the unchanged rosters for the remainder of conferences in Division I:

Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Georgia
Texas A&M
Florida
Auburn
Tennessee
Arkansas (women only)
LSU
Alabama
Missouri
Kentucky
South Carolina
Vanderbilt (women only)

Pacific-12 (Pac-12)
Cal
Stanford
USC
UCLA (women only)
Arizona
Utah
Arizona State
Washington State (women only)
Oregon State (women only)
UC-Santa Barbara (men only)
Cal Poly (men only)

Mountain West Conference (MWC) – (women’s-only conference)
Boise State
San Diego State
Nevada
Wyoming
New Mexico
Air Force
UNLV
San Jose State
Fresno State
Colorado State

Ivy League
Princeton
Penn
Dartmouth
Yale
Cornell
Brown
Columbia
Harvard

Big 12
Texas
Kansas (women only)
Iowa State (women only)
TCU
West Virginia

America East (women’s-only conference)
Binghamton
Maine
UMBC
New Hampshire
Vermont

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
Canisius
Bryant (men’s only)
Fairfield
Iona
Manhattan
Marist
Niagra
Rider
St. Peter’s
Siena (women’s only)

Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) – (women’s-only)
Illinois State
Missouri State
Southern Illinois
Evansville
Northern Iowa
Arkansas – Little Rock

Coastal Collegiate Swimming Conference (CCSA)
Liberty (women only)
Florida Gulf Coast (women only)
Georgia Southern (women only)
Incarnate Word
Gardner-Webb
Campbell (women only)
North Florida (women only)
Radford (women only)
UNC-Asheville (women only)
Howard
Virginia Military Institute
North Carolina A&T (women only)
UMBC (men only)
New Jersey Institute of Technology (men only)

Big East
Villanova
Georgetown
Xavier
Seton Hall
Providence
Butler (women only)

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF)
Hawaii
Pacific
BYU
Cal Poly (women only)
UC-Davis (women only)
UC-Santa Barbara (women only)
Loyola Marymount (women only)
San Diego (women only)

Northeast Conference (NEC) – (women’s only conference)
Bryant
Central Connecticut
Mount St. Mary’s
Sacred Heart
St. Francis Brooklyn
Saint Francis U
Wagner

Patriot League
Navy
Bucknell
Boston
Army
Lehigh
Colgate
Loyola
American
Lafayette
Holy Cross

Colonial Athletic Association
Towson
James Madison (women only)
William and Mary
UNC-Wilmington
Delaware
Northeastern (women only)
Charleston
Drexel

Conference USA (C-USA)
Rice (women only)
Florida International (women only)
Western Kentucky
North Texas (women only)
Florida Atlantic
Old Dominion
Marshall (women only)

Horizon League
Oakland
Milwaukee
Green Bay
Cleveland State
Illinois-Chicago
Youngstown State (women only)
Wright State
Valparaiso

Western Athletic Conference (WAC)
UNLV (men only)
Wyoming (men only)
Air Force (men only)
Grand Canyon
North Dakota
Seattle U
Idaho (women only)
Cal State Bakersfield (women only)
New Mexico State (women only)
Northern Arizona (women only)
Northern Colorado (women only)

Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Akron (women only)
Miami (OH)
Bowling Green (women only)
Eastern Michigan
Buffalo
Ohio (women only)
Toledo (women only)
Ball State
Missouri State (men only)
Southern Illinois (men only)
Evansville (men only)

Summit League
Denver
South Dakota State
IUPUI
South Dakota
Nebraska-Omaha (women only)
Eastern Illinois
Western Illinois