Nothing fires up college sports fans like a whisper of conference realignment, such as UConn enabled last week with the news it is ditching the American Athletic Conference.
Local questions ran the gamut, to wit:
Does this destabilize the American, and should SMU look for a lifeboat?
Will the Big 12 try to live up to its name?
Does UNT have a shot at replacing UConn in the AAC?
Answers: Not necessarily; good one!; and, unfortunately, no.
Before getting into what it means for the AAC, first, you should know that, at least until all the big media contracts expire in the middle of the next decade, major conference shuffling is probably done.