On Friday, August 2, 2024, the “Power Five” conferences, the most prominent and influential groupings of NCAA Division I universities, were consolidated into four. All the anticipated shifts were finalized and the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC mushroomed into ever more powerful entities, while the Pac-12 became poised for extinction.
The changes had been in the works for several years, as colleges seeking more lucrative broadcast contracts began to look beyond their regional borders for alignments. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and Central Florida joined the Big 12 at the start of the 2023-24 season. In June, Oklahoma and Texas became official members of the SEC and SMU joined the ACC. All the rest of the changes were formalized on Friday.
Ten of the 12 schools in the Pac-12 Conference defected, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State behind. It is rumored that these two schools will join the Big 12, but for the moment, they will compete against Mountain West Conference schools in football and against West Coast Conference teams in basketball in 2024-25.
The Big Ten has grown to 18 member schools, making it the largest athletic conference in the NCAA. The ACC is now comprised of 17 schools, while the Big 12 and the SEC have 16 schools each.
Summary of recent changes:
| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Arizona | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Arizona State | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| California | Pac-12 | ACC |
| Chicago State | Independent | NEC |
| Colorado | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| Kennesaw State | ASUN | CUSA |
| Mercyhurst | PSAC (D–II) | NEC |
| Merrimack | NEC | MAAC |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | SEC |
| Oregon | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| Sacred Heart | NEC | MAAC |
| SMU | AAC | ACC |
| Stanford | Pac-12 | ACC |
| Stephen F. Austin | WAC | Southland |
| Texas | Big 12 | SEC |
| UCLA | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| USC | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| Utah | Pac-12 | Big 12 |
| UTRGV | WAC | Southland |
| Washington | Pac-12 | Big Ten |
| West Georgia | Gulf South (D–II) | ASUN |
Power Five as of August 2, 2024:
| ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | PAC 12 | SEC |
| Boston College | Illinois | Arizona | Oregon State | Alabama |
| California | Indiana | Arizona State | Washington State | Arkansas |
| Clemson | Iowa | Baylor | Auburn | |
| Duke | Maryland | BYU | Florida | |
| Florida State | Michigan | Cincinnati | Georgia | |
| Georgia Tech | Michigan State | Colorado | Kentucky | |
| Louisville | Minnesota | Houston | LSU | |
| Miami (FL) | Nebraska | Iowa State | Ole Miss | |
| North Carolina | Northwestern | Kansas | Mississippi State | |
| NC State | Ohio State | Kansas State | Missouri | |
| Pittsburgh | Oregon | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma | |
| SMU | Penn State | TCU | South Carolina | |
| Stanford | Purdue | Texas Tech | Tennessee | |
| Syracuse | Rutgers | UCF | Texas | |
| Virginia | UCLA | Utah | Texas A&M | |
| Virginia Tech | USC | West Virginia | Vanderbilt | |
| Wake Forest | Washington | |||
| Wisconsin |
