“If I were the king of the for-r-r-rest”, sang the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. While not so cowardly (I like to think) I would love to be “king” of college football for just one day. The football realignment issue could be settled by simply moving some schools around and adding some from the FCS to create 8 “Super” conferences of 16 teams each. Here is my plan:
SEC – With the addition of Texas A&M almost assured, the best conference in football would only get stronger by adding Clemson, Va Tech and Florida State. The additions would add to the conference’s baseball power and upgrade the basketball prestige. Here’s what it would look like:
East – UGA, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida, Clemson and Va Tech.
West – Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU, Texas A&M and FSU.
The renewing of the UGA-Clemson rivalry and the brewing LSU/Arkansas-Texas A&M dust ups make this a no-brainer.
Big “10” – I guess conference name could remain, but something would have to be done about the “Leaders” and “Legends” monikers. My picks for adds are Missouri, Iowa State, Notre Dame and Pitt. Here’s how it shakes out:
North – Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri and Iowa State.
South – Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame and Pitt.
The additions make geographical sense and “Our Lady” already plays Michigan, MSU and Pitt. The PSU-Pitt and Iowa-Iowa State matchups are already heated.
Pac 12 – I didn’t add the usual suspects – Texas, Oklahoma and Okie St. My adds were based more on geography and some natural rivalries that could develop. I choose to add Hawaii, SDSU, Fresno State and……Boise State! The line-up would look something like this:
North – Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, California, Washington State, Boise State and Fresno State.
South – Utah, Arizona State, USC, Arizona, Colorado, UCLA, SDSU and Hawaii.
Boise State has some recent history with Oregon and OSU, and the “city” rivalry between San Diego and LA is already as intense as that between Tuscon and Phoenix.
ACC/Big East – I raided both of these conferences in my realignment. Both conferences need a little shot in the arm football-wise. The proposed conference would add the up-and coming UCF and create some natural rivalries by throwing Army, Navy and East Carolina into the mix:
North – Maryland, Boston College, NC State, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Syracuse, Army and Navy.
South – Miami, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Duke, USF, UCF and ECU.
Removing the Seminoles and Hokies from the ACC mix will make the conference more competitive. Fans of UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati shouldn’t worry – they will show up later in the plan.
Big “12” – Texas seems to like the idea of financial dominance. Oklahoma is forever linked to the Horns. That’s pretty much the catalyst for this whole thing. My plan raids Conference USA to set up an “All Texas” division:
North – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, BYU, Tulsa, Louisville and Southern Miss.
South – Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU, Houston, Rice, TCU and UTEP.
With this alignment, Texas couldn’t avoid TCU and BYU brings its own television network to the table. The in-state recruiting wars in Texas will provide enough material to keep an army of sports bloggers working.
Conference “X” – I will delegate naming duties to more creative minds. This conference would be a mix of those left out of the realignment and one school, South Alabama, making the jump from the FCS.
North – Cincinnati, UConn, Rutgers, MTSU, Memphis, Marshall, Western Kentucky and Tulane.
South – UAB, Troy, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Lafayette, University of Louisiana-Monroe, Lousiana Tech and South Alabama.
Newcomer South Alabama forms a natural triumvirate with UAB and Troy, while the state of Louisiana is well represented. Memphis, Cincinnati and Marshall could become relevent again.
Mountain West/WAC – Here’s where things get interesting. There are not enough D-1 schools currently to fill out the conference plan completely. This conglomerate conference picks up newcomers Texas State and Texas San Antonio, but still remains a couple of member short of 16. As “King” I hereby extend my powers to move FCS schools Montana and Montana State into Big Boy Football. My old roomie, Ben Ribble, will appreciate my giving the Grizzlies some love.
North – Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, Utah State, Idaho, San Jose State, Montana and Montana State.
South – UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Arkansas State, North Texas, Texas State and Texas San Antonio.
Putting the Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado Schools in the same conference only makes sense.
MAC – The MAC already boasts 13 members and plans to add UMass in 2012. Villanova has been invited to join the current Big East, but would be a better fit here in terms of football competitiveness. This still leaves the need for an additional member. Using my “Kingly” powers, I promote Appalachian State to the realm of Big Boy Football. They would would be the only conference member to have defeated Meeechigan in recent memory.
East – Miami (OH), Ohio, Temple, Kent State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Akron and UMass.
West – Toledo, Northern Illinois, Western Michingan, Central Michigan, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Villanova and Appalachian State.
App State becomes an immediate contender for the East crown (and makes the road a little easier for Georgia Southern).
There it is, a simple and concise plan to realign the college football world. Fans of Big East and ACC basketball are also appeased by the marriage of the two powerhouse conferences. Some of the lesser schools will benefit from intensified rivalries and recruiting wars and it is only a simple progression to a tournament style national championship…..but that is an undertaking for another day.