Conference realignment has been a hot topic in college sports over the past few years. One of the biggest shakeups came last year when the Pac-12 dissolved with teams splitting off and joining the Big Ten and the Big 12. The Pac-12 will make a comeback for the 2026-27 season, but in the meantime, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino is in favor of more conference mergers beginning with the Big East and the ACC.
During a recent appearance on ‘The Roommates Show,’ hosted by New York Knicks players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, Pitino explained why an ACC and Big East super conference would be a good thing for college basketball.
“I’m a big proponent of combining the Big East with the ACC. Coach Krzyzewski recommended that. I think it would be great to have a super conference in basketball,” Pitino said. “Because you know, back when I first started coaching, the NBA and the NFL were like this. College football, college basketball were like this. Today, an NBA playoff game vs. Miami of Ohio playing a mid-major in football outdraws an NBA game on TV. Football has taken over television and it’s all because of gambling.”
“So football is dominating, so I would love to see us combine with the ACC and have this super conference to build up the stature of college basketball again,” Pitino continued.
In a hypothetical merger between the ACC and the Big East, that would give the potential super conference a total of 29 teams. That would make it the largest conference in college athletics.
In the meantime, Rick Pitino has certainly brought St. John’s back to national prominence. The Red Storm have started off the 2025-26 season at 2-1 and are ranked at No. 14 in the nation. The Red Storm are coming off a tough loss though to Alabama.
