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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Kevin Ollie's UConn squad could be the biggest loser in all of conference realignment. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While it appears that the realignment carousel in Division I collegiate athletics has come to a halt -- at least for now -- plenty of college basketball programs will be getting used to new surroundings this season. In all, over 50 schools were affected in the 2013-14 round of realignment, an upheaval that has radically changed the athletic landscape over the past three years. As power conference schools chased the football dollar, the domino effect reverberated throughout the NCAA. Many schools in lower and mid-level leagues changed their associations as the news from president\u2019s and athletic director\u2019s offices cascaded down throughout almost all of the conferences.\u00A0Realignment has been widely panned by college basketball fans and pundits alike who lament the extinction of great, historic rivalries such as Kansas-Missouri and Syracuse-Georgetown. While that is absolutely true, realignment is not all bad. New, interesting rivalries will now be created such as Duke-Syracuse, Memphis-Louisville (an old rivalry resurrected for at least one year) and Xavier-Butler (a continuation from last year's Atlantic 10). Undoubtedly, many more new rivalries will emerge over the long term.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Let\u2019s take a look at the winners and losers of this year\u2019s round of conference realignment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;h2&gt;Winners&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The ACC:\u00A0&lt;/b&gt;When word first leaked that Syracuse and Pittsburgh were discussing an exit from the Big East, some people may have thought it was a joke. Alas, it was real and it happened very quickly. ACC commissioner John Swofford successfully raided the Big East yet again, pulling off a 48-hour coup that effectively drove the final nail into the coffin of what we all knew as the Big East. Now the ACC has effectively become the old Big East, a 15-team behemoth that is absolutely loaded at the top. Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame join legendary programs Duke and North Carolina, along with a collection of schools that have been historically solid. This year\u2019s ACC will be great, but in the long run the battles at the top of this league will be second to none with the powerhouses sure to be involved. What we saw in the Big East over the last decade should become commonplace in the new-look ACC. It will get even better next season when Louisville replaces ACC founding member Maryland, which will depart for the Big Ten.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Big East:\u00A0&lt;/b&gt;While the Big East may not pack the punch at the top that it once did, this 10-team league will be a basketball lover\u2019s dream. It certainly represents a new era, with only four founding Big East members from 1979 now remaining along with Villanova (1980). An 18-game round-robin schedule will make this league as competitive as any other major conference in 2013-14. While Marquette, Georgetown and Creighton are considered by most as the league favorites, none of the three clearly stands out. Additionally, nine of the conference\u2019s 10 teams are ranked at least No. 63 or better in Ken Pomeroy\u2019s preseason ratings and even DePaul (No. 10 in the league) checks within the top 100 at No. 84. The Big East ranks second in overall strength, according to Pomeroy, better than the ACC but behind the Big Ten. When you look at the recruiting success of this conference in the 2014 class, the future looks even brighter. Fourteen ESPN top 100 players have committed to Big East schools and five 2014 recruiting classes already rank in the top 20 (Seton Hall (No. 4), Georgetown (No. 5), Xavier (No. 10), Providence (No. 16) and Marquette (No. 19). Clearly, Big East head coaches are using the basketball-first league and national television exposure (thanks to Fox Sports 1 and its 12-year commitment to the league) as huge selling points in the recruiting process. Financially, it was a no-brainer for this group of schools. With FS1 now on board, most of these Big East schools are taking home more cash than ever before.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Memphis:\u00A0&lt;/b&gt;While the American Athletic Conference may not be the most ideal league for a program that once had its sights set on the old Big East, the AAC is still a significant upgrade from what had become a very weak Conference USA. Now alongside the likes of Louisville (for one season), Connecticut and Cincinnati, the Tigers will be faced with regularly stronger competition that should better prepare the team for the NCAA tournament, even if it loses an extra game or two. Now in his fifth year as head coach, it\u2019s time for Josh Pastner to ensure his program takes the next step in 2013-14. Despite losing Tarik Black and Adonis Thomas from last season's roster, Pastner welcomes the nation\u2019s No. 3 recruiting class, a six-man group headlined by Austin Nichols and Kuran Iverson. With Louisville only in the league for one season and the conference tournament on its home floor, Memphis has the opportunity to do some serious damage not only this year but over the long run in the new American.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Mountain West:\u00A0&lt;/b&gt;2012-13 was a banner year for the Mountain West. The conference put five of its nine teams in the NCAA tournament, despite the disappointing showing that ensued. League membership expands to 11 schools this season as Utah State and San Jose State are welcomed aboard. Utah State is the headliner, a program that has won at least 21 games in each of the last 14 seasons. In that time, the Aggies have made seven NCAA tournament appearances but have only advanced once (2001). It remains to be seen whether Utah State can compete on a nightly basis in a stronger league, but other Mountain West opponents surely aren\u2019t looking forward to traveling to Logan and\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/college-basketball/one-and-one/2013/10/29/winners-and-losers-conference-realignment>