Philsphan

This is a cool series. The expansion teams are all really well done, especially with the color schemes all taking into account the existing teams in the league. I agree about the Voyageurs. Maybe you could have the man in the canoe standing and paddling more vigorously? I don't know. Google tells me that voyageur refers to river traders, but you could also use imagery related to explorers like Samuel Champlain, who I believe founded Quebec City. That could veer too closely to the Schooners, but you don't use a big old fashioned boat in that logo really. You should keep the pine trees, the midnight green (and the Eagles number font?) regardless!

People are just going to start calling them the American Conference. AAC is already too close to ACC.

Maybe they should have considered calling it the American Athletic League (AAL).

They should call it the AA, because by the time the dust settles in conference realignment, it will be equivalent to Double A Baseball.

In light of the 32 team NHL thread that has exploded and illwauk's realignment here is mine!

Boston Bruins

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Quebec Nordiques *expansion

Hartford Whalers *from Florida

New York Rangers

Brooklyn Islanders

New Jersey Devils

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals

Tampa Bay Lightning

Carolina Hurricanes

Nashville Predators

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dallas Toros *for lack of a better name

Detroit Red Wings

Chicago Blackhawks

Toronto Maple Leafs

Buffalo Sabres

Minnesota North Stars

St. Louis Blues

Winnipeg Jets

Colorado Avalanche

Calgary Flames

Edmonton Oilers

Vancouver Canucks

Seattle Metropolitans *from Phoenix

Los Angeles Kings

San Jose Sharks

Anaheim Ducks

Salt Lake... Saints, Sting, Mammoths, Mormons?

Move Atlanta to Industrial and Florida Suns to the Sunbelt Division. Otherwise, looks good.

Why is that? Just curious, that's all.

"Suns." Their name is in the division name and Florida is closer to the Sunbelt than Atlanta.

Move Atlanta to Industrial and Florida Suns to the Sunbelt Division. Otherwise, looks good.

Really interesting and insightful. I have not ever followed European club soccer or how it is organized until I got Fifa13 for Christmas. Now, I am obsessed with bringing European club soccer ideas (and Soccer in general- it's the world's game after all), like Promotion and Relegation, good derbies, 6 teams in NY London style, Cups, champions leagues and 20 team leagues.

I agree with you that Austin will have 2-3 teams in 20 years and other cities (especially Midwestern) will lose teams. Vancouver, and among others Raleigh, San Jose, Las Vegas, Albuquerque might also have teams.

Yes please let's stop reacting to max cause all he wants is attention. I love this thread and I'll comment to almost any realignemnt but I've completely ignored max.

ESTONE please keep working on that!! It'll get this thread back on line. In the mean time, I've also started brainstorming for a possible concept series about where big club soccer teams would be in the US...

EPL: Northeast

Chelsea- New York

Arsenal- The Bronx

Spurs- Boston

Manchester United/Manchester City- Washington DC

Liverpool- Philadelphia

Newcastle- Buffalo

And so on...

Serie A: Southeast

AC Milan/Inter- Atlanta

Juventus- Charlotte

Palmero- Miami

Roma/Lazio- Orlando

Udinese- New Orleans

La Liga: California

Real Madrid/Athletico Madrid: San Francisco

Barcelona: Los Angeles

Bundesliga: Midwest

Bayern Munich: St. Louis

Borussia Dortmund: Chicago

Werder Bremmen: Minneapolis

Wolfsburg: Detroit

Ligue 1: Texas

Marseille: Houston

Lyon: Austin

PSG: Dallas

Again, just the start of a project and I'm not really sure where this is going. I'll appreciate any feedback that isn't along the lines of "this is stupid."

The number one rule of realignment (especially for the pro leagues) is that the division must be equal! I like your idea, but find a way to make the divisions equal!

Here's a really interesting article discussing the Big East's future.

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=4584#more-4584

I actually really like the C-USA and Big East merger idea.

I do too, but can Conference USA just cancel the additions of Louisiana Tech, UTSA, North Texas, FAU, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and Charlotte. If they can, then most of those schools would probably go to the Sun Belt, which has also added teams.

I really like your Pac 16 and B16. They are almost ideal, but sadly they probably will never happen. I would adjust the Big XVI, SEC and ACC though. Think about what each conference would want and which conferences have the power to get what they want.

Here is a revised version. Chicago State was a stupid addition.

ECC: Georgetown, Villanova, St. Joes, La Salle, Seton Hall, St. John's, Fordham, Providence, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure

GMC: Marquette, DePaul, Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, Butler, Valparaiso, Detroit, Cleveland State, St. Louis

Option A looks like the most likely and I like them taking the Metro name, but I think Option B could be interesting. Here's how I would change it.

ECC: Georgetown, Villanova, St. Joes, La Salle, Seton Hall, St. John's, Fordham, Providence, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure

GMC: Marquette, DePaul, Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, Butler, Loyola-Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland State, Chicago State

Here's a rather interesting idea I had...

The SEC, Big Ten and Big XII destroy the ACC raiding FSU, GT, Clemson, NC State, UNC, Duke, VT, UVA, Louisville and Cincinnati between the three conferences. Those three conferences are at 16 unlike the Pac 12. (The Pac 12 can expand and grab MWC schools or they can stay put for the purpose of this scenario) The remaining ACC is left with BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Wake Forest and Miami. The Notre Dame makes those five schools an offer to join a conference started by Notre Dame and broadcasted by NBC. The remaining ACC schools gladly accept and join ND and BYU. UConn is added as the 8th member.

Notre Dame

BYU

Miami

Wake Forest

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Connecticut

The conference thrives on big TV money, especially flowing out of New York, a market CFB conferences have long been trying to capture. NBC features a day game and a night game with the conferences' teams. ND's resurgence brings the other schools in the league back to their all-time best. The U dominates. Northeastern schools see the light of the Top 10 again. And BYU has a perfect season in 2024.

So what do ya think?

Interesting points have been raised. Here are my thoughts.

I think UVA could be in trouble, because I do think the Big Ten wants to somewhat keep a Midwestern culture.

I also don't think the SEC and the Big Ten will go past 16. The only conference that might is the Big XII. With 10 teamsmand a crumbling ACC, the Big XII might do a super-raid to pick up any programs left with value including Notre Dame. Paired with another Indy-football school (BYU) the Big XII would have a 16 team football league and an 18 team all-sports league.

Well isn't this interesting.

"Sources at Cincinnati and UConn are under the impression, even if it's not known to be true yet, that the Big Ten will raid the ACC for two more schools -- North Carolina and Georgia Tech."

I hate the B16 TEN going outside the contiguous footprint. I wish they would add Virginia and Kansas to expand east and west, and call it a day. Adding Georgia Tech and North Carolina without Virginia really is disappointing.

I agree completely.

Well isn't this interesting.

"Sources at Cincinnati and UConn are under the impression, even if it's not known to be true yet, that the Big Ten will raid the ACC for two more schools -- North Carolina and Georgia Tech."

Wow, that is terrible for Virginia. At least if UNC gets left behind in the ACC, they will still have Duke and a good basketball conference (Syr, Pitt, Wake, ND) but UVA really doesn't have any natural rivals in that group.

Here's the best they could do at this point. Sell the Big East name to the Catholic schools and become the Continental 16.

East: UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, East Carolina, USF, UCF, Tulane, Memphis

West: New Mexico, Boise St., SDSU, Fresno, UNLV, SMU, Houston, Air Force

If Air Force declines, maybe they get UMass, BYU (unlikely I know), or Nevada.

Yeah, I think the Big East name is pretty useless for the remaining teams now. It's really just another way the public can make fun of the scraps that they picked up. I like Big Continent. The plan looks pretty good. I think they'd take Nevada over New Mexico though.

Big East meets with Fresno State and UNLV

Ahh, now that's just sad. Hopefully these teams realize the Big East is nothing more than a name now and one that's losing value quickly. They'd have been better off staying put in the MWC and other schools and CUSA and gone ahead with the proposed merger/alliance.

The Big East is turning into that MWC-CUSA merger. The only teams to have never played in those conferences are Temple, Navy, and Connecticut.

One of the reasons the Catholic 7 are leaving is because of football running the conference. Don't think any of them would run right back into the same situation.

It's much different when the football schools in your conference are Syracuse, Notre Dame, Miami, etc. The Catholic basketball schools didnt have a problem with football in the Big East until they started adding UCF, Boise State and Tulane.

Yeah but is some crappy football better than no football at all? Sure, basketball is the OTHER money making sport in college, but its a football dominated country. So even if you add ECU and Boise State, wouldn't it be beneficial to get SOME football revenue while still having a premier basketball conference as opposed to a premier basketball conference and NOT football revenue?

Yes, but those football schools tarnish the brand of the Big East (Tulane tarnishes that brand in a way that Rutgers or even USF didn't) School presidents care about money, yes, a lot, but they also care about the image of their school because that can affect admissions.

One of the reasons the Catholic 7 are leaving is because of football running the conference. Don't think any of them would run right back into the same situation.

It's much different when the football schools in your conference are Syracuse, Notre Dame, Miami, etc. The Catholic basketball schools didnt have a problem with football in the Big East until they started adding UCF, Boise State and Tulane.

Wrong, Seton Hall, St. John's, Providence and Georgetown all had a problem with the addition of Virginia Tech, Rutgers, WVU, and Temple as full members. That is why it took VT until 2000 to be a full member. In case you don't remember, the Catholic 7 also did not like it when they went to two divisions for the 1995-96 season,

By didn't have a problem, I meant it didn't make them leave the conference. Of course the basketball schools had a problem with VT and the others. I should have been more clear.

One of the reasons the Catholic 7 are leaving is because of football running the conference. Don't think any of them would run right back into the same situation.

It's much different when the football schools in your conference are Syracuse, Notre Dame, Miami, etc. The Catholic basketball schools didnt have a problem with football in the Big East until they started adding UCF, Boise State and Tulane.

Yeah but is some crappy football better than no football at all? Sure, basketball is the OTHER money making sport in college, but its a football dominated country. So even if you add ECU and Boise State, wouldn't it be beneficial to get SOME football revenue while still having a premier basketball conference as opposed to a premier basketball conference and NOT football revenue?

Well the football schools that left were also their premier basketball schools, so the remaining schools kind of had a problem because their RPI was about to go in the toilet since they can't say "look at how many good teams we lost to".

Exactly. RPI and university image.

One of the reasons the Catholic 7 are leaving is because of football running the conference. Don't think any of them would run right back into the same situation.

It's much different when the football schools in your conference are Syracuse, Notre Dame, Miami, etc. The Catholic basketball schools didnt have a problem with football in the Big East until they started adding UCF, Boise State and Tulane.

Here's what I would do to fix this:

Football:

North: Notre Dame, Navy, Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut

South: Miami, Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Louisville, Cincinnati

Basketball: play each school once (15 games total) Pods kind of unessecary

Pod 1: Miami, Wake Forest, Duke, UNC

Pod 2: Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, Butler

Pod 3: Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse, Pittsburgh

Pod 4: Connecticut, Boston College, St. John's, Notre Dame

All teams make Tournament

ACC acquires the right use MSG for the premier conference tournament in college basketball.

Catholic 7 never forms. Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul join the A10.

Big East goes on under the name of the Big American Conference. (UCF, USF, East Carolina, Temple, Memphis, Tulane, SMU, Houston, Boise State, San Diego State)

Here is my prediction...

Big Ten adds UNC and UVA

SEC adds NC State and Virginia Tech

Big XII adds BYU and Florida State

ACC adds Connecticut and Cincinnati as full members and Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova and St. John's as non-football members

Miami

Clemson

Georgia Tech

Wake Forest

Duke

Syracuse

Connecticut

Boston College

Pittsburgh

*Notre Dame

Louisville

Cincinnati

*Marquette

*Georgetown

*Villanova

*St. John's

Until there are only conference champions in the national championship game/ playoff notre dame will not be persuaded by anyone to join a conference for football.

And with the superconferences possibly forming, that may very well be the case. And ND would definitely be the regular favorites to win the ACC.

Assuming FSU, Clemson, GT, UVA, VT and NC State leave and, say, the ACC gets back to 14 by adding Cincinnati, UConn, South Florida, Army and Navy in addition to ND, the conference could look like this:

Boston College

UConn

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Louisville

Cincinnati

Notre Dame

Army

Navy

Wake Forest

UNC

Duke

USF

Miami

Notre Dame has a chance to dominate. Miami's only relevant, it seems, every so often. Louisville will tough at times but, all-in-all, the Irish could take a playoff spot almost year-in-year-out.

IMO, there's no way UNC gets left behind. If the Tar Heels aren't chosen by the Big Ten, then the SEC will take them over NC State. Also, I think adding Army and USF just waters down the league too much. I understand adding Navy if it convinces Notre Dame to become a full member and Cincy for Louisville, but Army and USF just don't make sense to me.

I don't see how the Pac gets to 16 without taking a Boise St. or SDSU. The Big 12 schools would leave a lot of cash (all their TV money) on the table if they left the Big XII.

I also don't see the ACC going after South Florida too much. If FSU/Clemson go Big XII or (I mean when) the BIG goes expanding (they would likely add two more to get to 16), adding Cincy and UConn gives the ACC a nice 14 for football and 15 for everything else.

And the ACC at the last expansion said they were waiting to add more than Louisville because they knew Cincy and UConn will come running at the drop of a hat.

So it looks like the losers are possibly South Florida and almost certainly the CUSA teams thinking they were heading to a greener pasture.

Would St. Jospeh's be considered for the Catholic League? Them, Butler, XU, SLU, UD, plus the seven is a nice 12 team league.

St. Joe's is still a contender for the Catholic League if Creighton, Gonzaga and St. Mary's say no. While as a hawks fan, I would love St. Joe to play Georgetown at least once a year, I don't think it will happen. There's always the possibility though.

For Butler to be invited into the new "Group of 7's" conference another prominent non-Catholic school will have to go with them. Agree/Disagree? Ideas?

Also, the only way Gonzaga and St. Mary's go is if it is truly an all Catholic conference IMO because the travel distances are just too hard for student athletes who don't play basketball.