As the new conference begins, a look back at the interconnections between most of the schools - it’s not as disjointed as some suggest.
The outliers: Quite frankly, WVU and UCF have no real connection with the rest of the conference.
The connections - 3 conferences in one.
The oldest: The Missouri Valley/ Big6-8
The “OG” members: ISU, KSU, and KU
OkSt joined after leaving the SWC but stayed with the Valley after the Big6 split off. Later, Colo joined and Okst rejoined to create the Big8.
Houston and Cinci were in the Valley part of the split in the 50’s and Cincy stayed into the 60’s
Next oldest: The Southwest Conference
The “OG” members are Baylor and TCU (even OkSt started in the SWC). Later, Texas Tech and Houston joined before its demise.
The “newbie”: The WAC.
The “OG” members were the Az and Utah schools. Interestingly, the WAC was formed from the Border conference (which had at one time included the AZ schools, as well as Texas Tech) and the Skyline conference (which had included the Utah schools and Colorado). Of course, TCU joined when the SWC dissolved.
