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Conference Realignment

Olyduck

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Don't know about realignments but I would love to see a third tier in college football and "floating conference members" Group of Five competes for their own national championship but they also compete for a spot at the big boy table. While bottom of the barrel Power 5 teams must compete to keep their spot.

Example with this year: Western Michigan (MAC) trades spots with Rutgers (B1G)
Western Kentucky (CUSA) swaps with Virginia (ACC)
San Diego St (MW) trades with Arizona (PAC)
Temple (AAC) switches with Kansas (B12)
Appalachian St (Sun Belt) switches with Missouri (SEC)

This would of course require college football to be placed into its own little bubble. Obviously schools couldn't be completely lose membership based on a football game. Would make those G5 championship games very exciting and even add a little more zest to those end/middle year matchups between Rutgers and Indiana or Kansas and Iowa State.

Disclaimer: I know this will never happen
regionally it makes sense but Sun Belt being the 10th of 10 conference and SEC typically 1 or 2 out of 10 doesnt make any sense.
I would do AAC/ACC and CUSA/Big 12 because while Western Kentucky for Virginia Makes sense, most of the West division would not. UTEP in the ACC? North Texas? UTSA?
or course thats assuming its a partnership between 2 conferences.
 

Nerdlinger

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Hiya folks, new on the board. Here's what I see as a plausible scenario for the next round of realignment. I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to poke holes in it!

The dominoes fall when the Big 12 GOR expires in 2025. The Pac-12 is first to strike, becoming the Pac-16 by acquiring Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. The rest of the Big 12 is up for grabs. The Big Ten invites Kansas to make 15. Iowa State is a suitable add but offers nothing new. Instead, the Big Ten scores a coup by poaching Missouri from the SEC. West Virginia is added by the SEC to replace Missouri. Although the SEC already has a foothold in Texas with A&M, they could become the dominant conference in the state by adding any two of Baylor, Houston, and TCU. The latter two are invited, while small-market Baylor is shunned. The ACC must keep up by moving to 16 as well. Notre Dame is at last compelled to join as a full member. Cincinnati is chosen as #16 over Connecticut in order to improve the football strength of the now-weakest P4 conference. Baylor, Iowa State, and Kansas State fall down to the American.

Each P4 conference divides its teams into four pods, which rotate annually between divisions to allow each team to play all other 15 teams in the conference within two years (based on a 9-game conference schedule). In one year, you have the Northeast (North + East Pods) and Southwest (South + West Pods) Divisions, and the next year, you have the Northwest and Southeast Divisions. The four winners of the conference championship games automatically receive bids into the CFP.

So here's what we get:

ACC
East Pod: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North Pod:
Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
South Pod: Florida State, Miami, NC State, Wake Forest
West Pod: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville

Permanent crossovers: Duke/Wake Forest, NC State/North Carolina

Big Ten
East Pod: Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
North Pod: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
South Pod: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue
West Pod: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

(Yes, the South Pod isn't very "south," but there's no help for it.)

Permanent crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Michigan/Ohio State

Pac-16
East Pod: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
North Pod: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South Pod: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
West Pod: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Permanent crossovers: none

SEC
East Pod: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia
North Pod: Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South Pod: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West Pod: Houston, LSU, TCU, Texas A&M

Permanent crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

This really only works if Texas and Oklahoma go to the Pac. I'm not confident that Missouri would defect, even though they originally preferred the Big Ten and the SEC has no exit penalties. And the SEC simply might not choose to move from 14 to 16.

So what does everyone think? Any questions, just let me know!
 

7Samurai13

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Hiya folks, new on the board. Here's what I see as a plausible scenario for the next round of realignment. I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to poke holes in it!

The dominoes fall when the Big 12 GOR expires in 2025. The Pac-12 is first to strike, becoming the Pac-16 by acquiring Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. The rest of the Big 12 is up for grabs. The Big Ten invites Kansas to make 15. Iowa State is a suitable add but offers nothing new. Instead, the Big Ten scores a coup by poaching Missouri from the SEC. West Virginia is added by the SEC to replace Missouri. Although the SEC already has a foothold in Texas with A&M, they could become the dominant conference in the state by adding any two of Baylor, Houston, and TCU. The latter two are invited, while small-market Baylor is shunned. The ACC must keep up by moving to 16 as well. Notre Dame is at last compelled to join as a full member. Cincinnati is chosen as #16 over Connecticut in order to improve the football strength of the now-weakest P4 conference. Baylor, Iowa State, and Kansas State fall down to the American.

Each P4 conference divides its teams into four pods, which rotate annually between divisions to allow each team to play all other 15 teams in the conference within two years (based on a 9-game conference schedule). In one year, you have the Northeast (North + East Pods) and Southwest (South + West Pods) Divisions, and the next year, you have the Northwest and Southeast Divisions. The four winners of the conference championship games automatically receive bids into the CFP.

So here's what we get:

ACC
East Pod: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North Pod: Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
South Pod: Florida State, Miami, NC State, Wake Forest
West Pod: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville

Permanent crossovers: Duke/Wake Forest, NC State/North Carolina

Big Ten
East Pod: Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
North Pod: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
South Pod: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue
West Pod: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

(Yes, the South Pod isn't very "south," but there's no help for it.)

Permanent crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Michigan/Ohio State

Pac-16
East Pod: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
North Pod: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South Pod: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
West Pod: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Permanent crossovers: none

SEC
East Pod: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia
North Pod: Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South Pod: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West Pod: Houston, LSU, TCU, Texas A&M

Permanent crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

This really only works if Texas and Oklahoma go to the Pac. I'm not confident that Missouri would defect, even though they originally preferred the Big Ten and the SEC has no exit penalties. And the SEC simply might not choose to move from 14 to 16.

So what does everyone think? Any questions, just let me know!
I don't know which is weaker, the Big10 west pod or the acc east pod.
 

Nerdlinger

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I don't know which is weaker, the Big10 west pod or the acc east pod.

Yes, I tried to spread out the stronger teams while still retaining rivalries and some semblance of geography, but it's not perfect. I think having the pods rotate between divisions helps balance things out better though.
 
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How about this for conference realignment:

SEC

Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
MissSt
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Florida
Georgia

Big 10

Ohio St
Michigan
Mich St
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
Northwestern

and so on and so forth

As one great american once said, conference realignment suxx
and I say, FUCK split conferences!


(yeah,I'm from the old school)
 

Innermind

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Hiya folks, new on the board. Here's what I see as a plausible scenario for the next round of realignment. I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to poke holes in it!


So what does everyone think? Any questions, just let me know!



Why have pods? Why have divisions? Those are becoming archaic.

The more I mull it over, the more I become convinced that college football conferences need to get rid of divisions/pods.

Instead of divisions, each team in a conference would have the option to protect one or two annually played games against traditional conference rivals, then rotate playing other games against the remaining conference members. Using whatever tie-breaking system the conference chooses, the two best teams from the conference meet in the Conference Championship Game. No divisions or pods needed. Conferences can have an odd number of members (13 or 15 member conference) under this system because there are no divisions to worry about.

Under such a division-less system, a team could play each/every opponent in their conference at least every other year, even if the conference consists of 15 members, and even if only eight conference games are being played, and while still protecting two annual conference rivalry games.

Under a division-less system, in order to reduce the chances of playing the same conference rival two consecutive weeks, the top teams in each conference simply need to avoid playing each other Thanksgiving week. In other words, perhaps for one or two top programs in each conference, the final week of the regular season would be a good time to play a Power 5 out-of-conference opponent instead of a top conference rival...........

..........In the B1G for example, Michigan vs Ohio State can still be the final conference game played by these two teams, but 'The Game' could be played mid-November (the penultimate week of the regular season), with the final week of the regular season (Thanksgiving weekend) being reserved for a Power 5 out-of-conference opponent for both Michigan and Ohio State......

........Remember, Florida and Florida State already play out-of-conference the final week of the regular season, as does USC sometimes (vs Notre Dame)........... I would love to see Oklahoma vs Nebraska play every year Thanksgiving week instead of Oklahoma & Oklahoma State running the risk of playing each other two consecutive weeks. I would also love to see Texas vs Texas A&M play every Thanksgiving week too, as well as Pitt vs West Virginia. This can be a reality with only 8 conference games being played by all Power 5 conferences in a division-less system..... as long as a national policy is made (for ALL Power 5 conferences) that at least 3 out of the 4 out-of-conference games must be played against Power 5 opponents.



I would also like to see the group of five conferences do something similar, and have their own playoff and national championship using existing Bowls.
 
Last edited:

ericd7633

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Hiya folks, new on the board. Here's what I see as a plausible scenario for the next round of realignment. I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to poke holes in it!

The dominoes fall when the Big 12 GOR expires in 2025. The Pac-12 is first to strike, becoming the Pac-16 by acquiring Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. The rest of the Big 12 is up for grabs. The Big Ten invites Kansas to make 15. Iowa State is a suitable add but offers nothing new. Instead, the Big Ten scores a coup by poaching Missouri from the SEC. West Virginia is added by the SEC to replace Missouri. Although the SEC already has a foothold in Texas with A&M, they could become the dominant conference in the state by adding any two of Baylor, Houston, and TCU. The latter two are invited, while small-market Baylor is shunned. The ACC must keep up by moving to 16 as well. Notre Dame is at last compelled to join as a full member. Cincinnati is chosen as #16 over Connecticut in order to improve the football strength of the now-weakest P4 conference. Baylor, Iowa State, and Kansas State fall down to the American.

Each P4 conference divides its teams into four pods, which rotate annually between divisions to allow each team to play all other 15 teams in the conference within two years (based on a 9-game conference schedule). In one year, you have the Northeast (North + East Pods) and Southwest (South + West Pods) Divisions, and the next year, you have the Northwest and Southeast Divisions. The four winners of the conference championship games automatically receive bids into the CFP.

So here's what we get:

ACC
East Pod: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North Pod: Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
South Pod: Florida State, Miami, NC State, Wake Forest
West Pod: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville

Permanent crossovers: Duke/Wake Forest, NC State/North Carolina

Big Ten
East Pod: Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
North Pod: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
South Pod: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue
West Pod: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

(Yes, the South Pod isn't very "south," but there's no help for it.)

Permanent crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Michigan/Ohio State

Pac-16
East Pod: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
North Pod: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South Pod: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
West Pod: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Permanent crossovers: none

SEC
East Pod: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia
North Pod: Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South Pod: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West Pod: Houston, LSU, TCU, Texas A&M

Permanent crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

This really only works if Texas and Oklahoma go to the Pac. I'm not confident that Missouri would defect, even though they originally preferred the Big Ten and the SEC has no exit penalties. And the SEC simply might not choose to move from 14 to 16.

So what does everyone think? Any questions, just let me know!

Seems plausible, the B1G added dumpster fires in Maryland and Rutgers, why not Kansas and Missouri while we're at it!
 

Jekku

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Does it not occur to people that college football is just about fucking perfect the way it is now?

Everyone bound and determined to fuck it up.

The Big 12 gonna fuck it up. I miss the old Big east and Big 8 and SWC days. The rivalries were timeless.
 

Jekku

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Seems plausible, the B1G added dumpster fires in Maryland and Rutgers, why not Kansas and Missouri while we're at it!

I still cannot believe those are Big Ten schools... Penn State made sense back in the 90's but these 2 are strange.
 

Jekku

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Hiya folks, new on the board. Here's what I see as a plausible scenario for the next round of realignment. I'm definitely no expert, so feel free to poke holes in it!

The dominoes fall when the Big 12 GOR expires in 2025. The Pac-12 is first to strike, becoming the Pac-16 by acquiring Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. The rest of the Big 12 is up for grabs. The Big Ten invites Kansas to make 15. Iowa State is a suitable add but offers nothing new. Instead, the Big Ten scores a coup by poaching Missouri from the SEC. West Virginia is added by the SEC to replace Missouri. Although the SEC already has a foothold in Texas with A&M, they could become the dominant conference in the state by adding any two of Baylor, Houston, and TCU. The latter two are invited, while small-market Baylor is shunned. The ACC must keep up by moving to 16 as well. Notre Dame is at last compelled to join as a full member. Cincinnati is chosen as #16 over Connecticut in order to improve the football strength of the now-weakest P4 conference. Baylor, Iowa State, and Kansas State fall down to the American.

Each P4 conference divides its teams into four pods, which rotate annually between divisions to allow each team to play all other 15 teams in the conference within two years (based on a 9-game conference schedule). In one year, you have the Northeast (North + East Pods) and Southwest (South + West Pods) Divisions, and the next year, you have the Northwest and Southeast Divisions. The four winners of the conference championship games automatically receive bids into the CFP.

So here's what we get:

ACC
East Pod: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North Pod: Boston College, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
South Pod: Florida State, Miami, NC State, Wake Forest
West Pod: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville

Permanent crossovers: Duke/Wake Forest, NC State/North Carolina

Big Ten
East Pod: Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
North Pod: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
South Pod: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue
West Pod: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

(Yes, the South Pod isn't very "south," but there's no help for it.)

Permanent crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Michigan/Ohio State

Pac-16
East Pod: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
North Pod: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South Pod: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
West Pod: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Permanent crossovers: none

SEC
East Pod: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia
North Pod: Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South Pod: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West Pod: Houston, LSU, TCU, Texas A&M

Permanent crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

This really only works if Texas and Oklahoma go to the Pac. I'm not confident that Missouri would defect, even though they originally preferred the Big Ten and the SEC has no exit penalties. And the SEC simply might not choose to move from 14 to 16.

So what does everyone think? Any questions, just let me know!

Interesting...
 

963BUSC

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I see a possibility of:

A few years before the Big XII GOR expires, schools from the Big XII will be negotiating exit strategies, and seeking entry into other P5 conferences... hell, the 'feeler' process is perhaps already in motion for some Big XII schools.

So...look for schools to perhaps begin leaving the Big XII a couple years prior to their GOR expires in 2024-25. This means that schools will probably be willing to negotiate a settlement for the final 2 or 3 years of the Big XII GOR.

So, perhaps schools will begin to leave the Big XII approx 2021-22.

Of course if all Big XII schools find a spot in another P4 conference, then there will be no need to honor any settlements as the Big XII will cease to exist. So, I think an effort will be made to attempt to get all Big XII schools a place in other P5 conferences, although the small, private religious schools who are members of the Big XII (Baylor, TCU) might find it difficult to find a new P4 home.




That being said, I'll play around and try to get most of the Big XII members a new P5 home. The basic scenario I will follow is that the other P4 members (B1G, PAC, SEC, ACC) will all increase to 16 members, and eventually get rid of divisions. These division-less P4 conferences will still play a conference championship game, but that game will be held between the two best teams from the conference based on each conferences internal tiebreaker system.

Starting with the B1G, I have them going to 16 members by adding Oklahoma and Kansas. Yeah-yeah, I know Oklahoma is not AAU (at least not yet), but their brand name is big enough to get them into the B1G without having AAU status.... after all, AAU membership is preferred by the B1G, but not required for B1G membership.

Next, I have Notre Dame and West Virginia to the ACC... no surprise here... it just feels right to have WVU joining Pitt as members of the same conference, doesn't it?

The PAC will seek Texas/Central time zone representation by adding the Longhorns, but Texas will also bring along little brother, Texas Tech to the PAC. The PAC will now be at 14 members, with two more members pending.

The SEC will swoop-in and grab Oklahoma State prior to allowing the PAC to get Okie Lite. The SEC is now at 15 members.

Back to the PAC --- With Oklahoma State gone to the SEC, and already two new PAC members from the state of Texas (Texas and Texas Tech), the PAC will look at increasing their Central time zone presence in states other than Texas. Remember that the PAC covets AAU membership almost as much as the B1G... so... Iowa State's AAU membership will be the deciding factor in getting the Cyclones into the PAC as member #15. PAC member 16 will be a travel partner for Iowa State.....so.... the Manhattan, KS proximity to Ames, IA will be a big factor in getting K-State a place in the PAC as its 16th member.

If you're keeping count, I have already placed 8 of the 10 Big XII teams into new P4 conferences:
- Oklahoma and Kansas to B1G.... B1G is at 16 members
- West Virginia to ACC (along with Notre Dame).... ACC is at 16 members
- Oklahoma State to SEC.... SEC is only at 15 members (for now)
- Texas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, and K-State to PAC.... PAC is at 16 members

This leaves TCU and Baylor remaining... so, to avoid GOR payments from the other departing Big XII schools, let's try to get these two schools a P4 home.

The SEC supposedly has a tradition/policy of not wishing to add new members from existing SEC states. However, I see this gentlemen's agreement as primarily between the 'old school' SEC members, and not necessarily the new SEC members.... so.... let's look at the state of Texas for member 16. The SEC has a strong presence in the Houston area with Texas A&M.... but how about north Texas and the Dallas area? Simple... add TCU for an SEC presence in North Texas/Dallas area. The SEC will now be at 16 members. Texas is such a high population state that this would probably be the only allowable exception to the SEC guideline of not adding new members from existing SEC states.

This leaves poor Baylor as the only school without a P4 home.

But..... in order to avoid messy GOR legalities involving the other former Big XII members and Baylor (the other former Big XII members wouldn't want to pay-off a disgruntled Baylor, as the Bears will be pissed-off about having to settle for MWC or American membership).... perhaps one of the P4 conferences will increase to 17 members in order to accommodate Baylor. I can see the ACC or the B1G possibly looking into adding Baylor because those two conferences do not yet have a presence in the state of Texas. An odd number of members (17) is not really a problem, as we are now using a division-less conference system under this scenario.

So.... since the ACC is obviously already comfortable in having small private schools as members (Syracuse, Boston College, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Miami, Duke), I will then have Baylor go to the ACC as member #17.

Everyone is now happy as all 10 former members of the Big XII have new P4 homes.

The End.




Epilogue:

God hates Baylor.... so...

...an asteroid hits the earth and destroys Waco.


Iowa State and K State? Why do you hate us so? Why, why why?
 

963BUSC

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Don't know about realignments but I would love to see a third tier in college football and "floating conference members" Group of Five competes for their own national championship but they also compete for a spot at the big boy table. While bottom of the barrel Power 5 teams must compete to keep their spot.

Example with this year: Western Michigan (MAC) trades spots with Rutgers (B1G)
Western Kentucky (CUSA) swaps with Virginia (ACC)
San Diego St (MW) trades with Arizona (PAC)
Temple (AAC) switches with Kansas (B12)
Appalachian St (Sun Belt) switches with Missouri (SEC)

This would of course require college football to be placed into its own little bubble. Obviously schools couldn't be completely lose membership based on a football game. Would make those G5 championship games very exciting and even add a little more zest to those end/middle year matchups between Rutgers and Indiana or Kansas and Iowa State.

Disclaimer: I know this will never happen


That would be cool, if teams got relegated down and moved up. Of course Rutgers might be in FCS pretty quick.
 

Superdeluxe

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When will be the next round of conference realignments? And who will be going where when it does happen?

I think the Big 12 and the Pac-12 get together somehow, there were rumblings of a scheduling agreement between the two conferences, but nothing came out of that.
 

Nerdlinger

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Why have pods? Why have divisions? Those are becoming archaic.

The more I mull it over, the more I become convinced that college football conferences need to get rid of divisions/pods.

Instead of divisions, each team in a conference would have the option to protect one or two annually played games against traditional conference rivals, then rotate playing other games against the remaining conference members. Using whatever tie-breaking system the conference chooses, the two best teams from the conference meet in the Conference Championship Game. No divisions or pods needed. Conferences can have an odd number of members (13 or 15 member conference) under this system because there are no divisions to worry about.

Under such a division-less system, a team could play each/every opponent in their conference at least every other year, even if the conference consists of 15 members, and even if only eight conference games are being played, and while still protecting two annual conference rivalry games.

Under a division-less system, in order to reduce the chances of playing the same conference rival two consecutive weeks, the top teams in each conference simply need to avoid playing each other Thanksgiving week. In other words, perhaps for one or two top programs in each conference, the final week of the regular season would be a good time to play a Power 5 out-of-conference opponent instead of a top conference rival...........

..........In the B1G for example, Michigan vs Ohio State can still be the final conference game played by these two teams, but 'The Game' could be played mid-November (the penultimate week of the regular season), with the final week of the regular season (Thanksgiving weekend) being reserved for a Power 5 out-of-conference opponent for both Michigan and Ohio State......

........Remember, Florida and Florida State already play out-of-conference the final week of the regular season, as does USC sometimes (vs Notre Dame)........... I would love to see Oklahoma vs Nebraska play every year Thanksgiving week instead of Oklahoma & Oklahoma State running the risk of playing each other two consecutive weeks. I would also love to see Texas vs Texas A&M play every Thanksgiving week too, as well as Pitt vs West Virginia. This can be a reality with only 8 conference games being played by all Power 5 conferences in a division-less system..... as long as a national policy is made (for ALL Power 5 conferences) that at least 3 out of the 4 out-of-conference games must be played against Power 5 opponents.

I would also like to see the group of five conferences do something similar, and have their own playoff and national championship using existing Bowls.

I actually like this idea, although I think divisions are here to stay. Maybe up the number of conference games to 9 instead of 8? This makes conferences more relevant and accommodates teams with more than one protected rivalry. So what would be the protected conference games? Here's what I have (for my scenario anyway):

ACC
Boston College/Notre Dame
Clemson/Georgia Tech
Duke/NC State*
Duke/North Carolina
Duke/Wake Forest
Florida State/Miami
NC State/North Carolina
NC State/Wake Forest
North Carolina/Wake Forest*
Notre Dame/Pittsburgh
Virginia/Virginia Tech

* = drop if only 2 protected rivalries allowed per school
(Missing UNC/UVA, but how strong is that rivalry in football anyway?)

Big Ten
Illinois/Northwestern
Indiana/Purdue
Iowa/Minnesota
Iowa/Wisconsin
Michigan/Michigan State
Michigan/Ohio State
Minnesota/Wisconsin

Pac-16
Arizona/Arizona State
California/Stanford
California/UCLA
California/USC*
Oklahoma/Oklahoma State
Oklahoma/Texas
Oregon/Oregon State
Oregon/Washington
Stanford/UCLA*
Stanford/USC
Texas/Texas Tech
UCLA/USC
Washington/Washington State

* = drop if only 2 protected rivalries allowed per school

SEC
Alabama/Auburn
Alabama/Tennessee
Auburn/Georgia
Florida/Georgia
Mississippi State/Ole Miss
Tennessee/Vanderbilt

Any others? I feel like I'm missing some.

Seems plausible, the B1G added dumpster fires in Maryland and Rutgers, why not Kansas and Missouri while we're at it!

Missouri has a decent program, no? And Kansas is good for basketball. In any case, I'm not advocating for them to be added, just trying to anticipate what the Big Ten might actually do.

I still cannot believe those are Big Ten schools... Penn State made sense back in the 90's but these 2 are strange.

Maryland and Rutgers were added solely for their market value, although that value is somewhat dubious.

Iowa State and K State? Why do you hate us so? Why, why why?

No hate for ISU or KSU, really. I actually feel bad for them. In the event of a Big 12 collapse, the only conference that might pick up ISU is the Big Ten, and they have almost no reason to do so. The state of Iowa considered as a market unto itself isn't huge, and it's already covered by the Hawkeyes. KSU is in even worse a position, since the Big Ten won't take a non-AAU school (that also isn't ND or OU) and neither the Pac nor the SEC is going to reach for them.
 

Nerdlinger

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Following up on the previous post:

I don't know exactly how the realignment in my future scenario would impact the mid-majors. The American would certainly be affected, as it loses Cincinnati and Houston while gaining Baylor, Iowa State, and Kansas State. That puts them at 13 football schools, assuming Navy is still affiliated. I could see them adding 3 more to make 16 and be like the big boys in the P4. So here's a possible alignment:

American
East Pod:
Connecticut, East Carolina, Marshall, Temple
North Pod: Iowa State, Kansas State, Memphis, Tulsa
South Pod: South Florida, Southern Miss, Tulane, UCF
West Pod: Baylor, Navy, SMU, Rice

The other mid-majors are anyone's guess.

Also, some annual interconference matchups in the scenario:

Clemson/South Carolina
Florida/Florida State
Georgia/Georgia Tech
Iowa/Iowa State
Kansas/Kansas State
Kentucky/Louisville
Navy/Notre Dame
Notre Dame/USC
Pittsburgh/West Virginia
Texas/Texas A&M (time heals all wounds?)

Did I miss any?

Notre Dame is somewhat hamstrung in its schedule by having so many traditional rivalries. With a 9-game conference schedule, and if they keep the annual matchups vs. Navy and USC, as I assume they would, they're left with just one free OOC game. Maybe they could cycle through Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, and Stanford, but then there's no creampuff game. Although several of their in-conference opponents could be considered creampuffs, in football at least...
 

Nerdlinger

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I thought I'd take a stab at the alignment for the rest of the mid-majors in the "Big 12 collapses in 2025" scenario despite the extreme uncertainty in predicting what happens to these conferences. C-USA has been raided by the American and MWC, and as before restocks by poaching schools from the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is left with just 4 schools and either drops football or is demoted to FCS.

C-USA
East: Coastal Carolina, FAU, FIU, Georgia State
North: Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Western Kentucky
South: Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, UAB
West: Arkansas State, North Texas, Texas State, UTSA

MAC
East: Army, Buffalo, James Madison, UMass
North: Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan
South: Akron, Kent State, Ohio, Youngstown State
West: Ball State, Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Toledo

MWC
East: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, UTEP
North: Boise State, Eastern Washington, Montana, Wyoming
South: BYU, Nevada, UNLV, Utah State
West: Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State

Demoted to FCS: Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State (if it hasn't already dropped), Troy

Here I was thinking that the four remaining mid-majors could have a CFP of their own. Division and schedule structure are the same as in the P4.
 

belcherboy

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In my perfect B1G 16 team scenario, I'd see....

Big Ten East
Michigan
Ohio State
Penn State
Michigan State
Illinois
NW
Rutgers
Maryland

Big Ten West
Texas
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Notre Dame (or Oklahoma if ND refuses)
Minnesota
Purdue
Iowa
Indiana

If I had my way, this is how I'd break it up. 7 divisional conference games, 1 yearly divisional crossover rival, and 1 different divisional cross over game each year. So 9 conference games, 3 OOC games.

I'm not in favor of "pods". The last thing I want to see is Michigan vs. OSU twice in a season...unless it is in the playoffs. If you do pods, it is likely they would either have to be in the same pod, or they would likely play each other again during the same season.
 
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