Today is July 1 -- the exact midpoint of the year for the rest of the world, but New Year's Day in college athletics. The calendar doesn't just flip on July 1; July 1 is the day the schedule keepers and bean counters break out all new calendars.
Which means that today is the day Lindenwood University's move from the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference and into the D1 Ohio Valley Conference becomes official.
You didn't hear about that one? Because Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC, the Ohio Valley needed to add a member, and they dipped down to D2 to grab the GLVC champion Lions.
Lindenwood's move isn't the only one that becomes official today. James Madison, Old Dominion and Southern Miss officially join the Sun Belt today. Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook join the CAA today.
All in all, two dozen universities changed conferences, hundreds of schools were touched, and countless lives were impacted, all because the SEC grew from 14 to 16.
SEC
Lost: No one
Added: Oklahoma, Texas
Big 12
Lost: Oklahoma, Texas
Added: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF
American
Lost: Cincinnati, Houston, UCF
Added: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTSA
Conference USA
Lost: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Rice, UAB, UTSA
Added: Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston
Sun Belt
Lost: No one
Added: James Madison, Old Dominion, Southern Miss
CAA
Lost: James Madison
Added: Hampton, Monmouth
Big South
Lost: Hampton, Monmouth
Added: Bryant
NEC
Lost: Bryant
Added: Stonehill College (Mass.)
NE-10
Lost: Stonehill College (Mass.)
Added: No one
ASUN
Lost: Jacksonville State, Liberty (non-football)
Added: Austin Peay
Ohio Valley
Lost: Austin Peay
Added: Lindenwood (Mo.)
Great Lakes Valley
Lost: Lindenwood (Mo.)
Added: No one
Those are all direct responses to the SEC's move. Yesterday, we got an indirect response whose impact can only be measured on the Richter scale.
Big Ten
Lost: No one
Added: UCLA, USC
Pac-12
Lost: UCLA, USC
Added: ???
When you add in the impact of UCLA and USC to the B1G, and all the aftershocks to that earthquake, we'll be left with a college sports landscape totally different than the one before it, which itself was a response to the early 2010s moves of Nebraska, Texas A&M, Missouri and Colorado leaving the Big 12, which was a response to.....
Here's the ironic thing: All the moves listed above will be complete by July 1, 2024 except the one that started it all. As far as anyone in a position of power says, that one won't be complete until 2025.
July 1, 2025.