Big changes are on the horizon for college basketball this season, with significant shakeups in conference alignments, team rankings, and tournament eligibility. One prominent change is the demise of the Pac-12 conference, which, though still existing on paper, will not be competing this season as it focuses on rebuilding over the next two years. Currently, the Pac-12 only consists of Oregon State and Washington State as its members, while the ten other former members have dispersed to the ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten conferences.

In other conference realignment news, Southern Methodist University (SMU) has finally achieved its long-standing goal of gaining admission to a power conference and will now be a member of the ACC. This move marks an important milestone for the Mustangs' athletic program.

Adding to the changes, Mercyhurst and West Georgia have transitioned from Division II to Division I, marking two new schools in the top-tier division of college basketball. While these schools will count in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), they will not be eligible for the NCAA Tournament until 2029.

Excitingly, four teams will be eligible to participate in this year's NCAA Tournament for the first time. Bellarmine, after winning the ASUN Tournament in 2022 but lacking eligibility for the NCAA Tournament, no longer has to worry about that hindrance. Tarleton State, UC San Diego, and Utah Tech are also first-time eligible programs set to make their mark on college basketball's biggest stage.

With the dissolution of the Pac-12 conference, the number of available automatic bids and at-large spots for the tournament has slightly changed. There are now 31 automatic bids and 37 at-large spots up for grabs. In this bracket, all but one of the at-large bids are expected to go to teams from the major conferences. The sole outlier is Saint Mary's, which, despite their regular presence in the field, is projected to participate in the First Four.

The college basketball landscape has also seen a surge in players transferring to new schools, with teams like Louisville completely rebuilding their rosters through the transfer portal. Louisville's entire roster now consists of 11 players who have transferred in this off-season. However, not all schools have taken the same approach, as Purdue has only added two transfers in the past three seasons.

One challenge for non-major programs is that they often lose their top players to larger schools through the transfer portal. The Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies have facilitated power schools' ability to attract these sought-after talents. A prime example is Louisville, which has attracted three players from the College of Charleston alone.

While the current bracket projection primarily favors major conference teams, it is possible that come tournament time, a few non-major teams may surprise and earn their place in the field. Whether this will influence the committee's decisions remains to be seen, as metrics and rankings are just one piece of information in the subjective selection process.

In a recent announcement, the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee revealed two new rankings to be included in their team sheets. Bart Torvik's well-regarded rankings will replace Jeff Sagarin's margin of victory (MOV)-based rankings. Notably, Torvik's formula incorporates a recency bias, which differs from the selection committee's approach. Additionally, "Wins Against Bubble" (WAB) has been introduced, combining results-oriented data with MOV-based calculations. The bubble teams will be determined based on the NET rankings, with the 40th-ranked team considered the average bubble team.

It is important to note that while metrics and rankings provide valuable information, they do not solely dictate the committee's decisions. The selection process remains subjective, with various elements and considerations coming into play.

As the college basketball season progresses, fans eagerly anticipate witnessing the impact of these changes on the sport and on their favorite teams.