Conference realignments:

Could you imagine if there was no NCAA Tournament and no "Big Dance" or "March Madness" for Xavier, or even Butler, a national finalist in each of the past two years? No Final Four appearances for George Mason or Virginia Commonwealth? This could be a reality if "super conferences" are formed with larger and smaller school subdivisions, similar to what you currently see in college football. 

There would be no more "Cinderellas" or "mid-majors." Only the big schools would be involved in their own postseasons, and the smaller schools would have no chance to knock them down like they have been doing lately.

College sports, as we know them, could soon change forever. In June of 2010, Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12 Conference for the PAC-12 and Big Ten respectively, causing a domino effect that is still affecting the landscape of college sports more than a year later. Last month, Texas A&M also left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. Missouri, another member of the Big 12, is rumored to leave for the SEC, as well. Most recently, the conference shakeup continued when Syracuse and Pittsburgh left the Big East last week for the Atlantic Coast Conference. As it stands right now, the Big 12 and Big East are in danger of folding as football conferences.

With two of the eight football schools from the Big East leaving and TCU set to join the league in 2012, the Big East is now down to seven football schools and must add one more to remain a football conference. In basketball and other sports, the Big East has a total of seven additional schools that, like Xavier, do not have Division I football teams. Five of the current seven football schools in the Big East recently met in New York City and agreed to stick together. Absent from that meeting were University of Connecticut and Rutgers, who are rumored to be following Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC. The basketball-only schools had their own meeting as well, discussing what they should do.

Even for those schools that say they are sticking together, it's hard to imagine Cincinnati turning down the Big Ten, West Virginia turning down the SEC, Louisville turning down the Big 12 or all of these schools turning down an opportunity to merge with what's left of the Big 12.

If Cincinnati and Louisville are not pro-active, they could end up back in Conference USA. No school wants to be left behind in the new conference structure that is forming and will ultimately do whatever it needs to do to ensure that it is involved in what is potentially becoming four "super conferences" that will dominate the college sports scene and possibly even become powerful enough to break away from the NCAA and govern themselves.

This would allow schools in the four super conferences to form their own rules and keep their money, instead of sharing it with everyone else and the NCAA.

Xavier should be pro-active in reaching out to schools that share strong basketball traditions and similar budgets, enrollments, and campus sizes. The current Big East schools without football should also be reaching out to Xavier, Butler, Dayton and other non-football bowl subdivision (FBS) schools if they want to remain in an elite basketball conference.

If neither party seeks out the other, then the greed of college football will prevail and the powerful Bowl Championship Series (BCS) football schools will continue to call the shots on the changing landscape of college sports, drawing closer and closer to forming their own organization and keeping their own money while excluding smaller schools from participating at the highest level.

The good news for Xavier is that they do indeed have the opportunity to be a part of one of these "super conferences" that may be forming. If the seven Big East basketball-only schools join forces with other basketball-only powerhouses like Xavier, Butler, Dayton and perhaps other Atlantic 10 schools in the Northeast (who would all fit together quite well geographically) they could create one very powerful basketball league that wouldn't be overlooked by anyone. A ten-team, basketball-only Big East could consist of Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, DePaul, Xavier, Butler and Dayton and could play their conference tournaments under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. Even if the Big East would add Central Florida and East Carolina, or perhaps the military academies that are all rumored to join, the league would survive in football but still have a void to fill on the basketball side.

With Syracuse and Pittsburgh gone, and maybe UConn too, the league will need to add schools known for basketball. The schools already rumored to possibly join the Big East offer them almost nothing other than allowing them to still function as a football conference. Those schools would add very little to the league in regards to basketball.

The Big East should stick to its talents, which is basketball. If they want to remain as a conference known for basketball, they need Xavier and Butler. The Big East probably needs Xavier more than Xavier needs the Big East, but it's an opportunity that Xavier can't afford to ignore. This could all end up being a wonderful thing for Xavier, but the Athletic Department and University administration must recognize this opportunity and seize it.