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Moser316

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  1. Because universities align themselves not just on athletic standards, but academic ones as well. To use your example, all of the SEC schools are very high-level research universities (Carnegie category R1) in addition to being very strong in athletics. Putting schools like Troy, South Alabama, and Arkansas State into the mix (M1, R2 and R2, respectively) doesn't make sense not just from a competitive standpoint on the field, but in the classroom as well.
  2. And now for Part 2 of my full-scale NCAA Division I realignment. A couple of notes before we dive right in (all conferences in alphabetical order): In Part 1, I got rid of the Big 12 and Conference USA. To take this further for the all-sport realignment, we are also getting rid of the Atlantic 10, Atlantic Sun, and Western Athletic Conferences. All three of these conferences have a pretty wide geographic spread (especially the WAC and A-Sun), and there are opportunities to create new rivalries and rekindle old ones in larger conferences. One more school not already scheduled for transition moves up from D-II in this scenario: the University of Missouri, St. Louis (joining the Horizon League) All told, 84 of the proposed 325 Division I schools change conferences (nearly a quarter of the total number of schools). Now, onto the changes! AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE Albany, Binghamton, Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, UMass-Lowell, Vermont Loses Hartford (Northeast) and UMBC (CAA), gains Northeastern (CAA) and Rhode Island (A-10). Five members (Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Stony Brook) are also members of the Eastern Football Alliance, all in the Yankee Division (named after the old Yankee Conference). AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Central Florida, Charlotte, East Carolina, George Mason*, Old Dominion, South Florida, Temple, Virginia Commonwealth* Western Division: Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, Wichita State* *Non-football member Adds four members from C-USA (Charlotte, Old Dominion, Rice and UAB) and two non-football members from the A-10 (George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth to existing eleven-member conference. ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE Atlantic Division: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Wake Forest Coastal Division: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia Retains all fifteen conference members, adds Maryland back into the conference from the Big Ten and West Virginia from the Big 12. Notre Dame competes as an FBS independent at the same level as the Power Four conferences, maintaining a partial schedule of ACC schools. BIG EAST CONFERENCE Gavitt Division: Connecticut, George Washington, Georgetown, Massachusetts, Providence, Saint Joseph’s, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova Tranghese Division: Butler, Creighton, Dayton, DePaul, Detroit Mercy, Duquesne, Marquette, Saint Louis, Xavier The Big East is the landing spot for a large share of former A-10 members (Dayton, Duquesne, George Washington, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis) and adds one from the Horizon League (Detroit Mercy) to its lineup of eleven members. Becomes a predominantly Catholic non-football superconference in the process. Four schools (Connecticut, Duquesne, Massachusetts and Villanova) are members of the Eastern Football Alliance, with UConn and UMass in the Yankee Division and Duquesne and Villanova in the Colonial Division. Two schools (Butler and Dayton) are members of the Continental Football Alliance, both are in the Pioneer Division. Georgetown competes in the Atlantic Football Alliance (Patriot Division) for football only. BIG SKY CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Colorado Mines, Dixie State, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Utah Valley*, Weber State Western Division: Cal Poly**, Central Washington, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, UC Davis** *Non-football member **Former football-only member, now all-sport member Keeps all eleven all-sport members, makes former football-only members Cal Poly and UC Davis all-sport members, and adds two schools from the WAC (Dixie State and Utah Valley) and promotes two schools from D-II (Central Washington and Colorado School of Mines). BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE Northern Division: Campbell, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Lipscomb, Longwood, Radford, UNC-Asheville, USC-Upstate, Winthrop Southern Division: Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, North Alabama, North Florida, Presbyterian, Stetson Loses Hampton to the MEAC, retains all ten other member schools, adds most of the old A-Sun (Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, North Alabama, North Florida and Stetson) and one former CAA member (College of Charleston). Five members (Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw State and North Alabama) are part of the Mid-South Football Alliance, all but North Alabama compete in the Southern Division (UNA is part of the Ohio Valley Division). Two members (Presbyterian and Stetson) compete in the Continental Football Alliance, both schools are in the Pioneer Division. BIG TEN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers Western Division: Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin Loses Maryland to the ACC but adds Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State to its lineup of thirteen schools as a result of the Big 12’s demise. BIG WEST CONFERENCE Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara Loses Cal Poly and UC Davis to the Big Sky, replaces them with California Baptist and Grand Canyon (previously of the WAC), Hawaii joins Mountain West as an all-sport member, all eight other member schools remain. COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION Delaware, Drexel, Elon, Hofstra, James Madison, Richmond, Towson, UMBC, UNC-Wilmington, William & Mary Loses College of Charleston to the Big South and Northeastern to the America East, replaces them with Richmond (A-10) and UMBC (America East). Six members (Delaware, Elon, James Madison, Richmond, Towson and William & Mary) are also members of the Eastern Football Alliance, all in the Colonial Division. HORIZON LEAGUE Eastern Division: Bellarmine, Chicago State, Cleveland State, IUPUI, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, Wright State Western Division: Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Missouri-St. Louis, Omaha, Oral Roberts, SIU-Edwardsville Loses Detroit Mercy to the Big East and Youngstown State to the MAC, retains other nine member schools, adds schools from the A-Sun (Bellarmine), Ohio Valley (SIU-Edwardsville), Summit League (Kansas City, Omaha, Oral Roberts), and WAC (Chicago State). In addition, they promote Missouri-St. Louis from D-II. IVY LEAGUE Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale No changes, all eight schools are members of the Atlantic Football Alliance, comprising the Ivy Division. METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Quinnipiac, Saint Peter’s Western Division: Canisius, La Salle, Niagara, Rider, Siena, St. Bonaventure Adds La Salle and St. Bonaventure (previously of the A-10) to its eleven-member lineup, effectively reuniting the Western New York Little Three (Canisius and Niagara were already conference members). Two schools (Marist and Monmouth) are members of the Continental Football Alliance, with Marist in the Pioneer Division and Monmouth in the Northeast Division. MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Youngstown State Western Division: Ball State, Bowling Green State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Northern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan Adds three members from the former C-USA (Marshall, Middle Tennessee State, and Western Kentucky) and Horizon League (Youngstown State) to its existing twelve-member conference. MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State*, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Hampton, Howard, Maryland-Eastern Shore*, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, South Carolina State Adds Hampton (Big South) back into the mix for an even twelve schools. With the exception of Coppin State and Maryland-Eastern Shore, the other ten schools are part of the HBCU Football Alliance, comprising the Mid-Eastern Division. MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE Bradley, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Loyola (Chicago), Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso Loses Northern Iowa to the Summit League, replaces with Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley), all nine other schools remain. Five schools (Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois) are members of the Gateway Football Alliance, all in the Missouri Valley Division. Two schools (Drake and Valparaiso) are members of the Continental Football Alliance, both competing in the Pioneer Division. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Wyoming Western Division: Boise State, BYU, Fresno State, Hawaii*, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV *Former football-only member, now all-sport member Adds UTEP and UTSA from the former C-USA, BYU back into the fold from the West Coast, and New Mexico State from the WAC, promotes Hawaii to full member. All eleven existing all-sport members remain. NORTHEAST CONFERENCE Northern Division: Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Hartford, Long Island, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn Southern Division: Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary’s, NJIT, Robert Morris, Saint Francis (PA), Wagner Adds Hartford (America East) and NJIT (A-Sun) to their existing eleven-school membership. Eight schools (Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Long Island, Merrimack, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner) are also members of the Continental Football Alliance, all in the Northeast Division. OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech Loses SIU-Edwardsville to the Horizon League and Eastern Illinois to the Missouri Valley, all other members remain. Six schools (Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech) are members of the Mid-South Football Alliance, all in the Ohio Valley Division. Two schools (Murray State and Southeast Missouri State) play in the Gateway Football Alliance. Morehead State competes in the Continental Football Alliance (Pioneer Division) for football only. PAC-16 CONFERENCE Mountain Division: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, Utah Pacific Division: California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State Adds four former Big 12 schools (Baylor, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech) to its existing twelve-member conference, renaming conference to PAC-16 in the process. PATRIOT LEAGUE American, Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Davidson, Fordham, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola (MD), Navy Adds two former A-10 schools (Davidson and Fordham) to its existing ten-member conference. Six schools (Bucknell, Colgate, Davidson, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh) are members of the Atlantic Football Alliance, all in the Patriot Division. Army and Navy are football-only members of the American Athletic Conference (Eastern Division). Fordham competes in the Eastern Football Alliance (Yankee Division) for football only. SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt Western Division: Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M Adds Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to its existing fourteen-school membership after demise of Big 12. SOUTHERN CONFERENCE Chattanooga, The Citadel, East Tennessee State, Furman, Mercer, Samford, UNC-Greensboro*, VMI, Western Carolina, Wofford *Non-football member No changes to membership, nine members (all but UNC-Greensboro) are part of the Mid-South Football Alliance. Three schools (Chattanooga, East Tennessee State and Samford) are part of the Ohio Valley Division, the other six (The Citadel, Furman, Mercer, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford) are part of the Southern Division. SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Arkansas Tech, Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, New Orleans*, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin Western Division: Abilene Christian, Central Oklahoma, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Sam Houston State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*, UT-Rio Grande Valley*, West Texas A&M *Non-football member Retains all twelve existing members, adds two WAC schools (Tarleton State and UTRGV), promotes four schools from the ranks of Division II (Arkansas Tech, Central Oklahoma, Texas A&M-Commerce, West Texas A&M). All but three schools (New Orleans, Texas A&M-CC and UTRGV) compete in football. SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern No changes to membership, all member schools are part of the HBCU Football Alliance, comprising the entire Southwestern Division. SUMMIT LEAGUE Augustana (SD), Denver*, Minnesota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State, St. Thomas (MN), Western Illinois *Non-football member Loses three schools to the Horizon League (Kansas City, Omaha and Oral Roberts), adds Northern Iowa from the Missouri Valley, promotes two schools from D-II (Augustana and Minnesota State) and one from D-III (St. Thomas). Nine members (Augustana, Minnesota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State, St. Thomas and Western Illinois) compete in the Gateway Football Conference, with all schools but Western Illinois competing in the Summit Division. Fun fact: seven of the nine football schools were part of the old North Central Conference at various points in their histories. SUN BELT CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Liberty, South Alabama, Troy Western Division: Arkansas State, Little Rock*, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Southern Mississippi, Texas State, UT-Arlington* *Non-football member Adds five schools from C-USA (Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and Southern Mississippi) and one from the A-Sun (Liberty) to existing twelve-school conference. South Alabama competes in the Western Division for football only. WEST COAST CONFERENCE Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle Loses BYU to the Mountain West, replaces with Seattle (formerly of the WAC), creating a predominantly Catholic conference on the west coast. San Diego competes in the Continental Football Alliance as a member of the Pioneer Division.
  3. Over the past few weeks, I came up with a realignment plan for NCAA Division I that is heavier on superconferences than the current alignment. Starting with the FBS Power Five conferences, I decided to put the Big 12 out of its misery and move Maryland back to the ACC, which nets the following (relocated schools in italics): ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE Atlantic Division: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina State, Notre Dame*, Syracuse, Wake Forest Coastal Division: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia NOTE: Notre Dame maintains independent status for football (because Notre Dame) but keeps its affiliation with the ACC BIG TEN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers Western Division: Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin PAC-16 CONFERENCE Mountain Division: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, Utah Pacific Division: California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt Western Division: Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M Among the Group of Five conferences, I decided to break up Conference USA because of the two G5 conferences that are very spread out geographically (AAC and C-USA), the AAC is the stronger conference in athletics and academics. Also, all FBS independents join conferences (BYU and New Mexico State to the Mountain West, Liberty to the Sun Belt, Army to the AAC), Connecticut and Massachusetts drop down to FCS, and Youngstown State moves up to join the Mid-American Conference: AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Army, Central Florida, Charlotte, East Carolina, Navy, Old Dominion, South Florida, Temple Western Division: Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Marshall, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Youngstown State Western Division: Ball State, Bowling Green State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Northern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Wyoming Western Division: Boise State, BYU, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV SUN BELT CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Liberty, Troy Western Division: Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Texas State At the FCS level, there would be two conferences that enlarge in size for all sports (Big Sky and Southland), and the other conferences would consolidate into larger "alliances" of smaller or non-football conferences. The Big South Conference would be disbanded for football in this scenario (more to come in Part 2). Among the schools that would move up from Division II: Arkansas Tech, Augustana (SD), Central Oklahoma, Central Washington, Colorado School of Mines, Dixie State, Minnesota State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M. St. Thomas (MN) would also move up from Division III (assuming the NCAA allows them to move directly from D-III to D-!). BIG SKY CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Colorado Mines, Dixie State, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Colorado, Weber State Western Division: Cal Poly, Central Washington, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, UC Davis EASTERN FOOTBALL ALLIANCE (former Colonial Athletic Association) Colonial Division: Delaware, Duquesne, Elon, James Madison, Richmond, Towson, Villanova, William & Mary Yankee Division: Albany, Connecticut, Fordham, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Stony Brook GATEWAY FOOTBALL ALLIANCE (former Missouri Valley Football Conference) Missouri Valley Division: Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois Summit Division: Augustana (SD), Minnesota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State, St. Thomas (MN) HBCU FOOTBALL ALLIANCE Mid-Eastern Division: Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Hampton, Howard, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, South Carolina State Southwestern Division: Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern MID-SOUTH FOOTBALL ALLIANCE Ohio Valley Division: Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Jacksonville State, North Alabama, Samford, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech Southern Division: Campbell, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw State, Mercer, VMI, Western Carolina, Wofford SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE Eastern Division: Arkansas Tech, Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin Western Division: Abilene Christian, Central Oklahoma, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Sam Houston State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, West Texas A&M ATLANTIC FOOTBALL ALLIANCE (limited/non-scholarship) Ivy Division: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale Patriot Division: Bucknell, Colgate, Davidson, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh CONTINENTAL FOOTBALL ALLIANCE (limited/non-scholarship) Northeast Division: Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Long Island, Merrimack, Monmouth, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis (PA), Wagner Pioneer Division: Butler, Dayton, Drake, Marist, Morehead State, Presbyterian, San Diego, Stetson, Valparaiso Coming in Part 2: these conference changes within the greater context of all-sport conferences
  4. Your swinging Owgust fixes the problem that I always had with the 1970-77 Owgust: the 1970-77 one is too diagonal, yours is much more orthogonal. That alone makes this a great concept, the rest is just icing on the cake. Great work!
  5. I'm curious as to how the Eagles would look with a gray background, the Seahawks with a neon green background, and the Chargers with a powder blue background. These are great, it's an idea I've been kicking around in my head for a while now, thanks for sharing this!
  6. I've got a project that I've been undertaking on and off for the past few months (and I actually thought of this idea eight years ago, but never got around to it), and if I can bring it to fruition, it'll be like nothing this board has ever seen. For the past nine years, I've played an Irish sport called hurling. It is a field sport that dates back to ancient times, and can best be described as a cross between field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse on a large pitch. In Ireland, it is one of the two main sports sanctioned by the Gaelic Athletic Association (the other being Gaelic football), and is played to large crowds at both the intra- and inter-county level. What makes it truly amazing is that these players, especially at the inter-county level are as skilled as any professional athlete in the world, but these are amateurs with day jobs. See it for yourself HERE Over the past 10-20 years, the sport has started to take a foothold in the United States. It used to be confined to cities with large Irish ex-pat communities (i.e. New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia), but it's sprung up in a lot of cities where most of the players are American-born. In fact, the club I started with in Milwaukee is the largest club in the country, with youth and co-ed intramural leagues, and sanctioned traveling teams for both hurling and camogie (women's hurling) that play against clubs in other cities. Naturally, this got me thinking. What if hurling truly took off to the point in this country where instead of county-level teams (as there are in Ireland), there are state-level teams here? Currently, I have this project developed to the point where I've created rough sketches of all 50 state teams (also including District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, so 52 total). I have general kit designs, color schemes, and sponsors picked out for all teams, and I have rough logos sketched out for about 1/4 of the teams so far. All kits would be done by the same manufacturer (O'Neills, who does most of the inter-county level kits in Ireland), and their template is extremely flexible due to most of the graphics being sublimated. My goal is to get it to the point where I can do something on a template, but progress has been slow to this point and I don't know if I want to collaborate with somebody quite yet. Thoughts?
  7. Okay, I'll bite. I've been working on an idea for a 40-team MLB Super League (possibly for a project if I ever get enough time), and I think I finally have it perfected. Assuming no teams have to relocate, that would make for 10 new expansion teams, which I tried to divvy up equally among the eight five-team divisions (by necessity, two divisions have two expansion teams each, but every other division has one). I also tried, where possible, to keep teams within the same time zone together, and if there is a time difference between any of the teams in a division, it's only one hour (the main reason why Cincinnati ended up in the NL Southeast instead of the NL Central in this realignment). Without further adieu, the results: AMERICAN LEAGUEAtlantic DivisionBaltimore OriolesBoston Red SoxCarolina Mudcats (expansion)New York YankeesTampa Bay Rays Great Lakes DivisionChicago White SoxCleveland IndiansDetroit TigersIndianapolis Arrows (expansion)Toronto Blue Jays Midwest DivisionHouston AstrosKansas City RoyalsMinnesota TwinsOklahoma Roughnecks (expansion)Texas Rangers Pacific DivisionLas Vegas Gamblers (expansion)Los Angeles AngelsOakland AthleticsSeattle MarinersVancouver Mounties (expansion) NATIONAL LEAGUENortheast DivisionMontreal Expos (expansion)New York MetsPhiladelphia PhilliesPittsburgh PiratesWashington Nationals Southeast DivisionAtlanta BravesCincinnati RedsMiami MarlinsNashville Sounds (expansion)New Orleans Crescents (expansion) Central DivisionChicago CubsColorado RockiesMilwaukee BrewersSan Antonio Missions (expansion)St. Louis Cardinals Western DivisionArizona DiamondbacksLos Angeles DodgersPortland Beavers (expansion)San Diego PadresSan Francisco Giants There were quite a few cities considered for this project that didn't make the cut for various reasons. Here they are: DMA Size Too SmallAlbuquerque, NM (47th)Des Moines, IA (72nd)Jacksonville, FL (50th)Omaha, NE (75th) Proximity To Other Teams (Existing or Expansion)Buffalo, NY (too close to Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland)Charlotte, NC (too close to Atlanta and Raleigh/Durham)Columbus, OH (too close to Cincinnati and Cleveland)Louisville, KY (too close to Cincinnati and Indianapolis)Memphis, TN (too close to St. Louis and Nashville)Norfolk, VA (too close to Raleigh/Durham and Washington) Travel Costs ProhibitiveHonolulu, HI There was one odd city out in my final decision between three markets (Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio), and it ended up being Salt Lake City. My rationale for this was that Oklahoma City is essentially a one-horse town (the Thunder), and that horse is active in the fall, winter, and spring (mostly). Salt Lake City has Real Salt Lake to occupy the summer months, and the Jazz to occupy the winter months. I wouldn't think Salt Lake City would work as a three-team market, so I gave teams to the one-team markets, Oklahoma City and San Antonio (who has been angling for MLB for the past few years). Some of the other tough decisions were Raleigh/Durham over Charlotte (similar DMA size, but Charlotte has two major league teams to Raleigh/Durham's one), Indianapolis over Louisville (Indianapolis is a larger DMA, and Louisville is most definitely Reds territory), and Nashville over Memphis (Nashville is the larger DMA by a wide enough margin). Albuquerque and Jacksonville are interesting cases, as well. Both cities have larger DMAs than my smallest market (New Orleans, 51st), but didn't end up with teams. Jacksonville is hemmed in geographically by the Braves, Rays, and the Marlins (not to mention the Atlantic Ocean) so they would face the same issues that Milwaukee does by its proximity to Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Lake Michigan. Albuquerque's DMA covers pretty much the entire state of New Mexico, leaving very few options in the way of adjacent DMAs to draw from. New Orleans would most likely draw from both Louisiana and Mississippi (and possibly southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle), giving them more future potential than the two markets mentioned.
  8. I second those nominations. Roger and Discrim really kept me motivated and inspired back when I used to do a lot of hockey jersey concepts. I also second the nomination for Eriq Jaffe and his fonts. Yeah, there should definitely be a Veterans Committee for all of the pre-2008 concept series that are eligible.
  9. Yeah, how the heck did the America League not get a nomination? I second that one, along with Raysox's US pro soccer series.
  10. I've said it before many times, and I'll say it again: your unique design style translates so well to Aussie Rules, it's almost scary. The pattern on the Stony Brook jumpers is eye-catching, and I also love the use of green for your Fresno State concept in particular. The only thing so far that I take issue with is the Wisconsin home kit. To me, black should always be used very sparingly for Wisconsin, both to differentiate it from Nebraska and not make it look like Ohio State (the red on top and black on bottom reminds me a bit of OSU's hockey uniforms). I'd try changing the home shorts to red if you want to maintain a home/clash relationship between the kits. Overall, awesome work!
  11. I'd almost like to see what the background silhouette would look like without the black outline, I think that might make this even better. This has been an awesome thread to follow, Ren, your work is solid.
  12. That's a nice logo as is. I might make the sweater yellow to match the school colors, but that was a good old school logo from the jump
  13. A young David Beckham playing for Preston North End in 1995
  14. I don't know what the font is, but it looks to be the same as the font used for the new Marquette logo and wordmarks. I asked around about it a few weeks ago, and I think it's a custom font.
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