I know the Big 12 is in good shape and all but.... Let's say the networks or playoff committee or whoever decides that college football must go to a 16 team, 4 conference model and only member teams will be eligle for the playoffs. How would that play out if enough current Big 12 members decide to leave simultaneously thus voiding the GOR? In my hypothetical world: 1. Notre Dame to ACC as full member due to current affiliation 2. B10 takes Kansas and Oklahoma. 3. PAC offers to guarantee Texas $ equal to LHN if they fold it into struggling PAC network. Texas accepts since B10 spots are taken and A&M doesn’t want them in SEC. 4. TTU, KSU & OSU follow Texas to PAC to get to 16 members 5. ACC takes WVU for geographical reasons and to restore rivalries. This leaves 2 spots open in the SEC with TCU, Baylor & ISU left in the B12 along with BYU, all of the mountain west, and all of the AAC . The SEC historically doesn’t like to take teams from a state where they already have a presence. But, I think they would make an exception by taking TCU since they belong to Dallas area while A&M are closer to Houston. Additionally, A&M doesn’t have a long history in the SEC to cast a veto and they may actually enjoy having an old Southwest member for rivalry purposes. That leaves 1 spot open. We can eliminate BYU and the entire Mountain West due to geography. We can also eliminate Baylor, Houston & SMU now that both A&M and TCU are members. Navy, Temple, Tulane & Tulsa just aren’t big enough players to be considered so that leaves the following schools as competition with ISU for the last spot: UCF Cincinatti UConn Memphis USF ECU UCF had a great season under Frost and is a large school but would Florida allow another in-state school? Unlike A&M, they have a long history with the conference and I have to believe that Florida State and/or Miami would be SEC members today if it was OK with the Gators. There was no ACC GOR keeping FSU & Miami in place when the SEC chose Missouri. Memphis is out since they already have both Vandy and Tennessee. I don’t think UConn offers enough to overcome the geography. So how does ISU stack up against ECU & Cincinatti in the eyes of the SEC? All 3 schools border a current SEC state but ISU is a State school as opposed to a city or directional school. ISU has a larger stadium and higher football attendance and our basketball program is much better than ECU’s. So, as crazy as it sounds… is it possible that under the right circumstances Iowa State ends up in the SEC??
IF the 4x16 "superconferences" thing happens I don't think any of the current conference names survive. It will be more like regions for March Madness, ie, East, Midwest, South, and West.
Eight 8 Team Geographic Divisions that lead to an 8 team playoff. Baylor is the odd man out of the current 65 because the rape scandal and religious affiliation makes them the easiest to get rid of politically. Some adjustments in the southeast that go against pure geography so that you don't end up with one crazy super division. Northwest Washington Washington State Oregon Oregon State Stanford Cal Utah Colorado Southwest Arizona Arizona State USC UCLA Texas Tech TCU Oklahoma Oklahoma State Midwest Iowa Iowa State Nebraska Missouri Minnesota Wisconsin Kansas Kansas State South Texas Texas A&M LSU Arkansas Ole Miss Mississippi State Vanderbilt Tennessee Mideast Indiana Purdue Michigan Michigan State Ohio State Illinois Northwestern Kentucky Southeast Miami Florida Florida State Georgia North Carolina North Carolina State Duke Wake Forest Mid-South Alabama Auburn Clemson South Carolina Virginia Virginia Tech Kentucky Georgia Tech Northeast Notre Dame Syracuse Boston College Rutgers Pittsburgh Penn State Maryland Louisville This will never happen in a million years but it makes the most sense.
This would be great. Unfortunately your last line sums it up very well. It makes a lot of sense and brings back regional rivalries....therefore it has no chance of ever happening.
There's no way anyone is going to throw away decades upon decades of the branding and brand equity that's been built up in many of these conference names. Just like the biggest bowl games didn't give up their names or identity when they essentially became CFP semi-finals.
IMO the driving force to realignment will be the college playoff structure. At some time in the next 3 years the P5 conferences need to determine do they stay at 4 or bump playoff to 8 or 16 teams. I also think at some point AD's at blue blood schools will come to the conclusion it is easier to get to the playoff when the conference/division is around 10 teams vs 14 or 16. Plus it cleaner if the politics are removed and all conference/division champs earn a playoff berth on the field vs. in the boardroom. IMO an 11 team conference ia the ideal size. Play 10 division games and 2 non-division games. This would allow rivalries like ISU v Iowa or Ga v GTech to continue and teams play a round robin schedule.
This is what I'd like to see. Kansas - SEC (Mizzou main rivalry) TCU - SEC (A&M ok with them vs Texas) Iowa State - B1G (best fit for ISU) Kansas State - B1G (Nebraska rivalry) Texas - PAC16 (UT gets desired academics +) Texas Tech - PAC16 (following UT) Oklahoma - PAC16 (following UT) Oklahoma State - PAC16 (following OU) West Virginia - ACC (Notre Dame joins too) Baylor - AAC (Rape scandal fallout, SMU rival) The end of realignment.
ACC Atlantic: Boston College Clemson Florida State Louisville North Carolina State Notre Dame Syracuse Wake Forest ACC Coastal: Duke Georgia Tech Miami North Carolina Pittsburgh Virginia Virginia Tech West Virginia SEC East: Alabama Auburn Florida Georgia Kentucky South Carolina Tennessee Vanderbilt SEC West: Arkansas Kansas Louisiana State Missouri Mississippi Mississippi State Texas A&M Texas Christian B1G East: Indiana Maryland Michigan Michigan State Ohio State Pennsylvania State Purdue Rutgers B1G West: Illinois Iowa Iowa State Kansas State Minnesota Nebraska Northwestern Wisconsin PAC16 East: Arizona Arizona State Colorado Oklahoma Oklahoma State Texas Texas Tech Utah PAC16 West: California Oregon Oregon State Stanford UCLA USC Washington Washington State The winner of each conference championship game goes to the 4 play off spots regardless of record. Baylor goes to the AAC.
