On Sunday, 20 schools officially became members of a new conference.

Few, if any, make as much sense as TCU's move to the Big 12.

The Horned Frogs earned the invitation through their football program's national profile, but now men's basketball at least has a chance. TCU always seemed like a geographic outcast in the WAC and then the Mountain West. Heading to the Big East would've presented the same problem.

That's not an issue in the Big 12, where Fort Worth will be in the heart of Big 12 country right alongside old Southwest Conference rivals at Texas, Baylor and Texas Tech -- not to mention powerhouse Kansas and the nearby Oklahoma schools.

"It's a beautiful thing,'' said TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte, whose campaign to get the Horned Frogs into the Big 12 will go down as his lasting legacy. "We've got the fans and the rivalries back that we had in the old Southwest Conference. There is such great familiarity.''

Will that make a difference in the win column, though? In the past 40 years, TCU has been to two NCAA tournaments (1987, '98).

Del Conte said for the Frogs to survive in the Big 12, they must update the antiquated Daniel-Meyer Coliseum -- and the fundraising has begun.

"I have to remodel it and renovate it,'' he said. "We have to have the facilities that are the very best. We've got a great practice facility that was built in 2004. Daniel-Meyer hasn't changed since 1968, '78, '98. We built what is the Camden Yards of football stadiums, and now we have to take that same concept to men's and women's basketball.''

The original move to the Big East was made for BCS access, he said, not geography. Now TCU has made a move for both.

Jim Christian won't be making that move, however. After a respectable 18-15 season, the former coach left TCU to go back to the MAC at Ohio.

Del Conte landed Trent Johnson, who doesn't have natural ties to the Metroplex but is as energized about a fresh start as he has been in any of his previous three spots (Nevada, Stanford, LSU).

"I've always had the energy, but this conference move to the Big 12, the private factor and the education here and the proximity to players,'' Johnson said. "We're being perceived with some curiosity and a wait-and-see attitude, as it should be. It's going to be tough and a challenge.''

Johnson said that he and Del Conte have discussed the geographic location of TCU at length and the benefits of the move to the Big 12. He said the timing is perfect.

"All of the competition in the league comes here to the Dallas-Fort Worth area,'' Johnson said. "The timing is right.''

Johnson said he's not worried about the ability to raise funds to upgrade Daniel-Meyer.

"That's going to happen,'' he said. "The next step is the locker rooms and those kinds of things. The most important thing moving forward is recruiting and getting guys to understand that you can get a topflight education and play basketball. The athletic department had success in the Mountain West, and the next logical step was the Big 12.''

Nineteen other teams officially joined a conference on Sunday.

ESPN.com asked representatives from each school to describe in their own words what it means to the men's basketball program and what challenges are ahead.

Only one -- Denver -- declined to comment. The Pioneers left the Sun Belt for the WAC, but the latter conference is quickly falling apart and to this point has only DU, Seattle, Idaho and New Mexico State lined up for the 2013-14 season. Denver is desperate to be invited to the West Coast Conference, according to a source. But the WCC isn't interested at this juncture.

[Editor's Note: In addition to these 20, Northern Kentucky is moving from Division II. The Norse will join the Atlantic Sun, but will be a provisional DI member and not eligible for the postseason]

Here are the others:

West Virginia (Big East to Big 12)

The move: The Mountaineers will immediately be a player in the Big 12 under Bob Huggins. The travel will be an issue for WVU and every other team coming to Morgantown. But the Eers will deliver another home run home court in a league that has plenty of them. Do they fit better in the Big East? Of course. This was a survival move for football. But the basketball program won't have an issue settling into its strange new home.

Coach Bob Huggins: "I think there is a lot of excitement. We were in the Big East for 16 years, and any time there is something new it maybe is a little refreshing and exciting. The [fans] are certainly looking forward to Big 12 teams coming to Morgantown. I think it is great because we have a round-robin schedule, and they will get to see all the teams. In the Big East, I think we played at Syracuse four years in a row and Louisville played at our place four years in a row. So you don't get to see all those teams. You don't get to quite develop the rivalries like you do when you play teams on a home-at-home basis.

"It's so much of a college atmosphere at all of those schools. It's just an incredible student involvement. There's so much energy in those arenas. Going to Stillwater is unbelievable, and Iowa State is absolutely crazy. Going to Lawrence is nothing you've ever seen with the 'Rock Chalk Jayhawk.' And then there's the 'Wabash Cannonball' at Kansas State.

"I looked around at our Big 12 meetings in the spring, and out of the 10 coaches, five of them have been in the Final Four. What other conference can say 50 percent of its coaches have been to a Final Four, and I think three of them multiple times?"

Athletic director Oliver Luck: "I think we're going to be as prepared as we can. Certainly in football with the coaches we have, with a good bit of experience in the Big 12 starting with coach [Dana] Holgorsen. And then with Coach Huggins, who spent a year at Kansas State, he's been at every one of the Big 12 basketball arenas, I think that really is going to help us."

Missouri (Big 12 to SEC)

The move: The Tigers were desperate to get out of the Big 12, even if it meant cutting ties with ancient rival Kansas. Football may take some time to adjust to the SEC dominance, but the basketball program will quickly become a player in the SEC. Expect Missouri to be a top-four finisher and an NCAA tournament team in its first season.

Coach Frank Haith: "We are leaving one great basketball league for another, so I believe the challenges will be similar. The SEC has won three of the last seven national titles, and you have a great mix of established and growing programs. Obviously the league is filled with talented coaches and players. We saw 12 guys from the league drafted last week, so you are playing against some of the top talent in the game night in and night out. We played 18...