As ridiculous as it is to say, just one day before the national championships, a seismic shift occurred in the world of college basketball, and the chain of events that led to it all began years in advance.
It all started in 2021 when it was reported that Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma were set to join the SEC — a monumental decision that would create chaos and confusion across college athletics as a whole.
See, Texas and Oklahoma are two of the biggest brands in college athletics. Texas football is reportedly worth over one billion dollars on its own.
The decision created immediate shockwaves and led to the Big 12 quickly deciding to add BYU, Cincinnati, Central Florida (UCF) and Houston to the conference. Solid additions, but not quite on the Texas and Oklahoma level.
While the dust seemed to settle for a bit, the foundation of college sports was permanently cracked and fears of a “super conference” were very prominent.
The other four major power conferences — the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC — created a coalition to ensure that none of their members would attempt to poach any schools from the other.
In another world the story ended there, but like a modern day Brutus, the Big Ten unsheathed its dagger and stabbed it into the heart of the Pac-12. Et tu, Brute?
The Big Ten announced, in another colossal decision, that it would add UCLA and USC, two more of the largest brands in college athletics and the biggest schools in Los Angeles.
Geographical sense be damned, this was a crippling blow to the Pac-12, who began scrambling to find replacements for the massive Los Angeles brands.
Unfortunately for west coast fans in favor of watching sports at a normal time, the other members of the Pac-12 saw the writing on the wall. While not liking the future ahead, the only path was the one going forward or, in this case, the one going toward the death of the conference.
Like dominoes, they fell.
Colorado quickly made a deal with the Big 12. Oregon and Washington flocked to the Big Ten with USC and UCLA. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah followed Colorado. Needing a home, Stanford and Cal joined the ACC.
The final two members, Washington State and Oregon state were, for all intents and purposes, screwed. Forced to sign deals with the Mountain West and WCC, both schools are now threatened by the potential, and likely, loss of power status.
Again, things could have ended here but, wanting just a little bit more TV money when it was time for a new deal, the ACC also opted to add Southern Methodist University (SMU).
While this move, along with the snubbing of undefeated Florida State from the 2024 College Football Playoffs nearly threatened the stability of the ACC, and still might with ongoing court cases yet to be settled, for now things are still intact.
All of this led to March 21. Realizing it was about to join one of the best basketball conferences in the country, SMU athletic director Rick Hart made a controversial decision and fired head basketball coach Rob Lanier, who had only been at the school for two seasons.
While harsh, the Mustangs knew the ACC was going to be a lot different than the American (AAC) and, coincidentally, USC head coach Andy Enfield was looking for a new home after feeling uncomfortable with his scorching hot seat in L.A. after his Trojans with Bronny James — son of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time LeBron James — choked a No. 21 preseason ranking and finished 15-18.
With Enfield leaving USC, the Trojans, knowing the Big Ten was also far better than the Pac-12, wanted to take a big swing in the offseason and did just that days ago when it hired Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. See where this is going?
In a tight spot, Arkansas looked at its options. It looked at Ole Miss’ Chris Beard. Kansas State’s Jerome Tang. It landed on someone completely unexpected: John Calipari.
Now, where do chicken nuggets come into this? Simple.
The Hogs were able to land Calipari, drawing him away from Lexington and Kentucky, utilizing both good timing and the help of the Tyson family, friends of Calipari and wealthy Arkansas donors.
Yes, that Tyson family. The one famous for Tyson chicken nuggets, found in grocery stores, like, everywhere so long as everywhere is one of 16 countries served.
See, Calipari had already been looking for an exit strategy. Fans had turned on him and he was fed up with all of it. The chicken money and a destination that wanted him was just the final straw that pushed him to make the leap. Now with one of the largest jobs in the sport, the home of the “greatest tradition in the history of college basketball” and the winningest college basketball program of all time, open for the first time in over a decade it feels absurd to say that some dino nuggets and two unrelated team’s conference changes three years ago led us here, but that’s the reality of the situation.
Reality truly is wilder than fiction sometimes.
