Seadragon76

On the topic of this thread, I bring you... 2015 MLS Realignment. With the incoming additions of New York City FC and Orlando City SC, the Eastern Conference would be at a bloated level with 12 teams while the West has 9. To combat this, the realignment plan would create 3 division of 7 teams each. Eastern Division -D.C. United -Montreal Impact -New England Revolution -New York Red Bulls -New York City FC -Orlando City SC -Philadelphia Union Central Division -Chicago Fire -Colorado Rapids -Columbus Crew -FC Dallas -Houston Dynamo -Sporting Kansas City -Toronto FC Western Division -Chivas USA -Los Angeles Galaxy -Portland Timbers -Real Salt Lake -San Jose Earthquakes -Seattle Sounders -Vancouver Whitecaps Schedule: 40 games (home and home with the other 20 teams) Playoff Format: 6 teams (Top 2 in each division). Top two overall earn byes while in the first round, #3 vs. #6 and #4 vs. #5 in home and home aggregate series. The winners move to the semifinals where they are re-seeded for the next round, which is the same format as last round. Winners meet in the MLS Cup with the higher seed having home field advantage.

I am and I personally think that Oklahoma Baptist joining the GAC was a very bad idea. Yes, the location is perfect as it make the GAC equal (6 Oklahoma schools and 6 Arkansas schools). But, if I remember right... there's a rule that states you need 10 members in a conference. I don't know if that rule exists still, but I know of one conference that needs members: the Lone Star Conference (LSC). This league has 9 schools with 7 playing football (Cameron and Texas Women's are the non-football schools). McMurry, which gave up it's D-II bid to go back to D-III, will be in the conference for this season only as a football playing member. This is where Oklahoma Baptist would be welcomed in with open arms. As a football playing school, they can easily take the spot McMurry would have in 2015 (and beyond) and it gives the league an even 10 teams. As for UCO and Northeastern State (OK): I think they're happy in the MIAA. It's consistently one of the better leagues at the D-II level. Why give that up to be in the GAC?

With some of the new moves, I figured that I could take a crack at realigning the AHL and the NBA D-League. First off, the AHL. It'll be a 16/14 format similar to the NHL is. With the addition of the Adirondack Flames, the Eastern Conference gets 16 teams while the Western Conference has 14. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division -Bridgeport -Hartford -Manchester -Portland -Providence -Springfield -St. John's -Worcester East Division -Adirondack -Albany -Binghamton -Hershey -Lehigh Valley -Norfolk -Syracuse -Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Western Conference North Division -Grand Rapids -Hamilton -Lake Erie -Milwaukee -Rochester -Toronto -Utica West Division -Charlotte -Chicago -Iowa -Rockford -Oklahoma City -San Antonio -Texas As for the NBA D-League, it'll have 18 teams, so three 6 team divisions makes the most sense here. East Division -Canton -Delaware -Erie -Fort Wayne -Maine -Westchester Central Division -Austin -Grand Rapids -Iowa -Sioux Falls -Texas -Tulsa West Division -Bakersfield -Idaho -Los Angeles -Reno -Rio Grande Valley -Santa Cruz

Hmmm...Well, I guess the theory should be that after 2015 (when the deal ends for UMass and the MAC), UMass would fall back down to the FCS level. There would be enough members in the A-10 itself for the conference to have football (UMass, Rhode Island, Richmond, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham and soon-to-be member Davidson). My only issue with this theory is this: Would Dayton and Davidson be willing to give up it's non-scholly football in the Pioneer League for the chance to be in the A-10?

Upset that Boise State lack of professional degrees don't get you to the Power 5 table? OK, how does a lack of professional degrees correlate to the fact that Boise State isn't in a 'Power 5' conference? I think you're making up to piss off Lights Out. Boise State has only eight programs which award terminal degrees (PhD or ED) with a ninth one for nursing on the way in August, but it an online course. Heck, even TCU, Baylor and Wake Forest offer more. But it still doesn't answer my question. What does having a lack of professional degrees at a college have to do with the fact that Boise State isn't in a 'Power 5' conference?

Upset that Boise State lack of professional degrees don't get you to the Power 5 table? OK, how does a lack of professional degrees correlate to the fact that Boise State isn't in a 'Power 5' conference? I think you're making up to piss off Lights Out.

Now, for something fun... NBA D-League Realignment! In this planned realignment, each NBA team has a minor league team, so that way it can be, in a way, like the NBA is. Also keep in mind that the teams getting new teams will have the parent team's name as a placeholder for the time being. Also, location will also matter here. So, let's begin... Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia) Erie Bayhawks (New York) Maine Red Claws (Boston) Ottawa Raptors (Toronto) Springfield Armor (Brooklyn) Central Division Canton Charge (Cleveland) Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Indiana) Green Bay Bucks (Milwaukee) Iowa Energy (Chicago) Toledo Pistons (Detroit) Southeast Division Durham Bobcats (Charlotte) Florida Flame (Miami) Jacksonville Magic (Orlando) Richmond Wizards (Washington) Savannah Hawks (Atlanta) Western Conference Northwest Division Billings Jazz (Utah) Idaho Stampede (Portland) Omaha Nuggets (Denver) Sioux Falls Skyforce (Minnesota) Tulsa 66ers (Oklahoma City) Southwest Division Austin Toros (San Antonio) Lafayette Pelicans (New Orleans) Little Rock Grizzlies (Memphis) Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston) Texas Legends (Dallas) Pacific Division Albuquerque Suns (Phoenix) Bakersfield Jam (LA Clippers) Los Angeles D-Fenders (LA Lakers) Reno Bighorns (Sacramento) Santa Cruz Warriors (Golden State)

I dunno, but I think UMass-Lowell is a good fit for America East. It allows them to gain member in Massachusetts even though they are losing one. It keeps their geographic profile very well defined (even though geography means jack squat here). The only other option for America East was NJIT, but I don't know if they can get the Highlanders before the NEC could snatch them up as a replacement for Monmouth.

There's Abliene Christian and Incarnate Word, who are joining the Southland in 2013. Northern Kentucky and Nebraska-Omaha are already in the process of moving up.

If I remember right, BU leaving America East for the Patriot League has to do more with what the Patriot League is about. Boston U. has a strong academic reputation, which fits in very well along side with the other members of the Patriot League. As for the other two, I haven't heard news of that yet. Both Stony Brook and UNH would be key should America East ever wants football as part of it's conference (remember, Albany and Maine also have football so they would need at least two more schools, either within the conference or as associates, in order to have a legit football playing conference). If anything, I suggest going to collegesportsinfo.com for more on the conferences and any possible moves. EDIT: Speaking of America East... Looks like they found their replacement for Boston U. It's... UMass-Lowell

When I first read in the paper that UMKC was making the move to the WAC from the Summit League, I was scratching my head trying to figure out why the Kangaroos want to bail on the Summit League, which is somewhat stable, to the WAC, which is nothing short of 'fat man standing on little boat' kind of stable. Then, I realized something yesterday... it's a safety measure for the WAC. Right now, they're safe. When the massive shift happens, they'll be at nine members (the 8 D-I schools and newbie Grand Canyon, who doesn't count yet as they are transitioning). When Idaho bails in 2014, Having UMKC join the WAC gives the league a safety net by having 7 full time members, which is right on the cusp of keeping the automatic bid. Once GCU is done with the transition process in 2017, the WAC will still be thriving... or be another dead carcass.

Money. If Boise can find a way to get a better deal in the Big XII then they have now in the Mountain West, then yeah. They would jump ship that quickly. In case anyone hasn't noticed, academics is pretty much backburner stuff here.

Not much. Remember, all of this movement is largely done for football purposes, so basketball only schools won't be seen as valuable because they have one sport as it's money maker. Even then, what good would it do to add a school for just one sport?

He meant conference games, Geoff. As for the Big East: Remember what the MAC had to do when Temple left before this last season? I'm assuming the Big East will do the same.

One thing I'm wondering with the move by Boise: What does this do for their other sports? Remember, they were heading to the Big West for everything else other then football. Does the move back to the Mountain West (which seems to be much stronger now then the currently-crumbling Big East) also mean all their other sports move back?

I had a idea with the 'Group of Seven' that is leaving the Big East. Option A: The 'Group of Seven' remains together and forms an all basketball league with Butler, St. Louis and Xavier as the newest members. This 10 team league doesn't take the 'Big East' name, allowing the current Big East to keep it's name as part of the deal that allowed them to leave. This new conference is named the Metro Conference, after the former conference of the same name (a forerunner of the current Conference USA). It's name is also dervived from the major Metro areas that it's conference members reside in. Option B: The Group of Seven split up. The five eastern members (Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova) team up with eastern members of the Atlantic 10 (Rhode Island, UMass, St. Bonaventure, Fordham, Duquesne and La Salle) to form the East Coast Conference. They later add the lone independent NJIT to form a 12 team league. Meanwhile, DePaul and Marquette team with Butler, St. Louis and Xavier to form a new league. They add Creighton, IUPUI and Chicago State to form the Great Midwest Conference.

Ahh, the smell of desperation. It makes a wonderful stench.

How much you wanna bet the 'Group of Seven' is going to sue the Big East like what Rutgers is doing, hm?

You know, how were most of the schools being, as you put it, 'dead weight on the Conference RPI'? The only one that hasn't been able to stand on it's own two feet recently has been DePaul. If anything, those seven schools finally grew a collective pair and want to get out of town. Now, I know this belongs in the realignment thread, but there are two scenarios out there for this. Scenario A: The 'Group of Seven' (as it's known for now) form their own league and ask Butler, Xavier and St. Louis to join them in forming a 10 team basketball based league that would get most of the key TV markets out there. Scenario B: The five eastern members of the 'Group of Seven' take the six northern most A-10 schools (UMass, Rhode Island, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Duquesne) and form their own league. Meanwhile, Marquette and DePaul invite Butler, Xavier, St. Louis and Creighton to form another new league. This group would then look into other possible members (The ones that come to mind are IUPUI, Oral Roberts, Oakland and the Wisconsin schools)

The hope is that either the NEC, MAAC or America East can pick them up. Personally, I hope it's America East so they can have a replacement for Boston University.

While Davison said no... http://espn.go.com/m...tic-association College of Charleston is possibly saying 'yes' to the CAA

Which wouldn't shock me since Idaho has talked to the Big Sky about joining that conference in 2014. The WAC needs members badly, and that is the only way the WAC can be saved: D-II upgrades like Grand Canyon.

Time to bring this back to life! Why? Because the WAC is not dead yet (Here's proof: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8482600/western-athletic-conference-adds-cal-state-bakersfield-utah-valley)

Never saw this coming. But, there is one sport that will definatly benefit from having Notre Dame in: Lacrosse. Syracuse joins Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia next season. Say they add Notre Dame in 2014. In about 3 or 4 years, you'll see the ACC have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

OK, follow along: -Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC from the Big East -North Texas and FIU to C-USA from the Sun Belt (Charlotte and ODU also joins C-USA, but won't play football until 2015 though) -Georgia State to the Sun Belt from the CAA As for Idaho and NMSU: I don't know if they sustain being an independent for very long because it's not easy to do unless you're Notre Dame.