Translating to new conferences

The conference carousel has everyone's heads spinning.

To prepare yourself for the new college basketball world order, we take a closer look at the 10 most significant conference switches that take effect for this coming season -- and how you can expect each team to fare in its new environment.

Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12 to SEC)

The Aggies had a rough final season in the Big 12 under first-year coach Billy Kennedy, and this shouldn't be a particularly breezy year, either. An injury to star Khris Middleton made last season a far greater struggle, but Middleton is gone, as are fellow starters David Loubeau and Dash Harris. Elston Turner and Ray Turner are nice pieces, and incoming freshmen J-Mychal Reese and Alex Caruso are rightfully ranked in the ESPN 100. That said, this is a team whose best 2012 win was probably over Oklahoma State and whose two main offensive options aren't coming back. Breaking .500 in the revamped SEC will be tough.

There are a few long-term positives about the conference switch. The Aggies should already be familiar with the power structure, their pace suddenly fits the league and there's an interesting wrinkle regarding in-state transfers. The SEC is much like the Big 12 in that it is led by an absolute monster of a program (Kentucky Wildcats), followed by a football-first, big-athletic-budget school that can recruit with anybody (Florida Gators), then a mass of inconsistent teams.

To read about other significant conference-changing programs, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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