evanaho

When doing a realignment, you can't only look at geographical layout, whether college or pro.

You have to look at tradition (yes at this point in time, some teams have been in conferences/leagues/divisons and rivalries for quite some time), current placement (such as if they have been in a certain league for awhile, would it be a good idea to actually move them to another) and geography. And it's not exactly one first, then the second and then the third. You have to look at which one stands out the most as a reason to keep or move a team. And with colleges, you have to look at school size and athletic department sizes, as some schools may geographically fit, but you may put a small time school in a conference with all big schools, leaving them no chance. Or vice versa with a big school dominating a conference of smaller ones.

My apologies if yours is a general statement McCall, but I'm going to treat it as a direct response with no malice intended.

You're absolutely right McCall. In light of factors beyond geography, I did take a look at which rivalries might be adversely affected by regionalizing the conferences and decided to go with regionalization anyway. I didn't find too many rivalries that needed to be split up. Also, I'm a firm believer that (hypothetically) if the rivalry was strong enough between the two schools, they would schedule each other out-of-conference year after year.

I also understand the small school vs. large school argument. My theory (which of course hasn't been lab-tested) is that competition levels will even out between conferences if the powerhouse schools are spread around. Then it's less of "SEC is so much tougher than other conferences" and comes down more to the individual play of schools.

FYI, TCU is the 7th smallest school (enrollment) in Division 1A, yet they've managed to hang with the big programs. Central Florida is the 3rd largest.

I always thought conferences (FBS) would make more sense if they were regionalized. Also, since many conferences are moving to a two-division format, I thought relatively equal-sized conferences seemed like an agreeably symmetrical way of organizing teams. I began with the current 120 teams and added the three schools* due to join FBS in the near future (Texas State, South Alabama, UTSA). I did my best to preserve some rivalries, though I did move Ohio State and Michigan to seperate conferences (*gasp!*). They can schedule a non-conference every year for the last game. I welcome your thoughts and/or criticisms.

--SNIP--

This makes a nice 10-conference layout. Got a playoff to go with it? Say, all ten conference champions, with #7 meeting #10 and #8 meeting #9 in the first round?

Thank you! I suppose this alignment could support a playoff easily... Two teams with the best records get byes in the first round? That would make things relatively straightforward if we're trying to crown a national champion.

Personally though, I'm anti-playoff. I would be in favor of five post-season bowls for conference champions and one "at-large" bowl. I'm also a big proponent of conference tie-ins to bowls. The way I'd like to see it play out:

Rose Bowl: Pacific Champ vs. Great Lakes Champ

Fiesta Bowl: Mountain Champ vs. Northeast Champ

Orange Bowl: Great Plains Champ vs. Atlantic Champ

Sugar Bowl: Dixieland Champ vs. Sun Belt Champ

Cotton Bowl: Lone Star Champ vs. River Valley Champ

Aloha Bowl: At Large vs. At Large

though I did move Ohio State and Michigan to seperate conferences

I'll be taking your next of kin information now.

*ducks and covers head*

Opinion noted. That's a legit gripe.

I thought for a long time about that move and justified it by saying the River Valley conference needed a stronger school to justify it as a legitimate conference. If I moved Ohio State to the Great Lakes Conference, someone from the former MAC would end up filling the River Valley slot and it would just look too weak.

I always thought conferences (FBS) would make more sense if they were regionalized. Also, since many conferences are moving to a two-division format, I thought relatively equal-sized conferences seemed like an agreeably symmetrical way of organizing teams. I began with the current 120 teams and added the three schools* due to join FBS in the near future (Texas State, South Alabama, UTSA). I did my best to preserve some rivalries, though I did move Ohio State and Michigan to seperate conferences (*gasp!*). They can schedule a non-conference every year for the last game. I welcome your thoughts and/or criticisms.

Atlantic

North

East Carolina, Maryland, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

South

Clemson, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina

Dixieland

East

Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, UAB, Vanderbilt

West

Arkansas, Arkansas State, LA Tech, LSU, Memphis, Tulane

Great Lakes

East

Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State, Toledo, Western Michigan

West

Illinois, Minnesota, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Wisconsin

Lone Star

North

Baylor, North Texas, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech, UTEP

South

Houston, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State*, UTSA*

Mountain

North

Boise, BYU, Idaho, Utah, Utah State, Wyoming

South

Arizona, Arizona State, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, UNLV

Northeast

North

Army, Boston College, Buffalo, Connecticut, Rutgers, Syracuse

South

Marshall, Navy, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, West Virginia

Pacific

North

Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State

South

Fresno State, Hawai'i, San Diego State, San Jose State, UCLA, USC

Great Plains

North

Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska

South

Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa

River Valley

East

Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Ohio State

West

Ball State, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, Western Kentucky

Sun Belt

North

Georgia, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, South Carolina, Tennessee, Troy

South

Central Florida, Florida, Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama*, South Florida, Southern Mississippi