Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was the face of college basketball for decades before his retirement after the 2022–23 season. His voice still carries as much weight as anyone in the sport, so when he floats a pretty wild idea like a Big East-ACC merger, it may not be as wild as it seems on its face.
During a January edition of his radio show, Coach K first floated the "mega-conference" concept, which would also bring UConn football into the ACC fold. The Huskies have been an FBS independent since leaving the AAC and rejoining the Big East for most of its programs.
“I’d like to see something innovative, like, I’d like to see the ACC and the Big East talk, and form a mega basketball conference,” Krzyzewski said, per the Hartford Courant. “People are talking about a mega football conference eventually. Imagine if we had the Big East.
“And you know what? Connecticut would have the opportunity to play football in our league. We need to at least talk about stuff like that. Imagine our footprint? Come on. And the quality of basketball to go along with the tradition of basketball in our conference.”
St. John's coach Rick Pitino signed off on the idea a few weeks later. Even Big East commissioner Val Ackerman has acknowledged it, stating that she and her ACC counterpart Jim Phillips have had some discussions, without confirming the full extent of them.
UConn's Dan Hurley, who Krzyzewski has called the new leader of college basketball, is on board as well. Ahead of his Huskies' NCAA tournament opener against Oklahoma, the reigning back-to-back national championship winner says he's discussed it with both Coach K and UConn AD Dave Benedict, and thinks it could be a real boon to the basketball programs involved, especially those former Big East schools that have departed for the ACC over the last few decades.
“I don’t know if I have any space in my brain for conference realignment,” Hurley said. “But I’ve been saying that. I’ve talked to Coach K about that. He’s texted me that, we’ve talked about that. I’ve mentioned it to people at the Big East, I’ve talked to Dave about it. It would just make tons of sense to come up to come up with some way...
“I think the basketball programs in the ACC could really use that,” Hurley said. “Syracuse has been hurt by losing the Garden, Pitt’s been hurt by losing the Garden, [Boston College], obviously there’s been major advantages from a football standpoint. I hope I’m not speaking out of turn for those folks. But how cool would it be to find a way to get Syracuse back in some type of ACC-Big East consortium tournament?"
“That would make a ton of sense … and I think basketball programs in the ACC could use that.”
— Josh Graham (@JoshGrahamShow) March 20, 2025
Since Dan Hurley is in Raleigh, he was naturally asked about the ACC-Big East merger Coach K has been pushing.
Hurley is in favor of it and has spoken to K and Big East officials… pic.twitter.com/Il4nAxk2PM
Whether a tournament or a true merger, there is certainly something to the idea. For much of the 1990s through the early 2010s, the ACC and Big East jostled for the title of best college basketball league. Now, both are worse for the wear, even with the impressive individual success of programs like Duke, UConn and Villanova.
Of the ACC's 17 basketball-playing programs, seven were at one point Big East members: Boston College, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Reuniting with programs like Georgetown, St. John's, UConn and Villanova could go a long way towards helping renew some regional interest, especially for the Northeastern wing of the ACC, and could certainly raise interest in the sport's regular season.
Football is always going to be king in college athletics for the schools that play it, however, so it remains to be seen how a basketball-focused move like this could play for the league as a whole, especially given the very recent (and ongoing) concern about the potential flight of programs like Clemson and Florida State.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as UConn's Dan Hurley Weighs in on Coach K's Ambitious ACC-Big East Merger Idea.
