With Sunday’s news that Syracuse and Pittsburgh have left the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, this much is clear: Major conference realignment is happening fast, past loyalties are out the window, and on the new landscape of college sports, it’s survival of the fittest.

With the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the ACC has taken a major step toward surviving realignment and the Big East is perhaps a step closer to extinction after losing two of its stronger members. The move is another indication that major intercollegiate athletics is heading toward four, 16-team super-conferences.