Jay Bilas discusses how conference realignment will impact college basketball

There is a tendency to talk about how conference realignment impacts football first and foremost. However, it isn’t the only sport being affected by realignment, even if it is the driving force behind this. College basketball analyst Jay Bilas explained this and how it will impact college basketball too.

This came up when Jay Bilas was asked if it bothered him that football was the focus in realignment. Meanwhile, basketball had become more of an afterthought during conference realignment.

“Yeah, I don’t have a problem with that because basketball is a multibillion-dollar business,” Jay Bilas said. “The fact that football makes more is not an issue for me.”

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Like the realignment stuff, people — I’m the same way as most fans. Initially, you’re like, this doesn’t — what is this? I’m not used to this. I’m not used to seeing Nebraska in the Big Ten. It’s like seeing the Astros — to me the Astros are a National League team. It’s that kind of analysis,” Jay Bilas said, explaining how the change is hard to adjust to as a fan.

“But after a while, you kind of get used to it. The leagues are bigger now. You don’t have — except in maybe the Big 12, you don’t have the round-robin home-and-home thing where if you take a lump on the road you know that you get them back at your place. That was kind of fun.  But it’s not that way anymore. But the games are still great.”

So, for the most part, Jay Bilas isn’t really bothered by conference realignment. The one big problem that he does see for it in college basketball is the size of the sport. There are 360 Division I basketball teams, and the balance of power is shifting to further put the bottom-of-the-pack teams at a disadvantage.

“I think the only concern I have about basketball generally is the fact that there are 360 Division I teams I think is too many. If you want to have a, quote-unquote, level playing field, which we’re never going to get with 360 teams, it’s harder and harder for the better mid-major teams, if you will, or non-Power Five teams, to get quality non-conference games because there’s so much conference inventory. And then the big shots are having to play each other in intersectional games and multi-team events that really limit how many times they can step out and play some of the really quality mid-majors,” Jay Bilas said.

“So there’s a little bit of a squeeze there, and it makes it a little more difficult for a really good non-Power Five program to get non-conference games that are going to give them the opportunity to be an at-large team if they don’t win their conference tournament.”

Jay Bilas on the difference between football and basketball

Jay Bilas sees important differences between basketball and football. He says the community around each sport is notably different. Football is more closed off, while basketball gives everyone a chance to win a championship.

“But the one thing about basketball that football does not have — like football is a closed community, and with all respect, I mean, I love football, but there’s only a dozen teams every year that have a chance to win it. In basketball, everybody has got a legitimate chance. For those that say it’s not fair for the non-Power Five teams, they don’t have as many opportunities, you always have the chance to win your conference automatic bid to get in the tournament, which football cannot say,” Jay Bilas said.

“I mean, I’ve sort of pointed that out over the years as just an observer of football that really enjoys it, but far from claiming expertise in it. But some of these non-Power Five teams that are really good in a given year, they have to be perfect to even be considered for the CFP, and that’s not the case in basketball.”

Importantly, Jay Bilas does not believe that conference realignment is over. There is more that is going to happen. Exactly what happens remains to be seen. However, it’s clear to him that more will happen.

“Conference realignment is not over. This is not the — USC and UCLA going to the Big Ten is not the end of this. It might not happen all at once, but the idea that this is over, it is not over.”