Anybody else tired of conferences dictating who plays who rather than each school deciding what is best for them? If your school could choose nine other schools to compete/partner with for athletics as well as other important institutional functions, who would it be? Nine seems to be a good number because it allows annual football, home/home basketball, and plenty of baseball/softball. I'll start off as a Kentucky fan, in order of importance and with a mind toward who would actually want to play us as a top 9 rival (Texas, Michigan, and Alabama are not going to play us annually over other schools... sorry BBN):

1. Louisville
2. Tennessee
3. Indiana
4. West Virginia
5. Va. Tech (I think this would become a great regional rivalry)
6. UNC
7. Illinois
8. South Carolina
9. Ohio State (please, sweet baby Jesus, let them feel the same way...)

The hate for Duke is too much to have to deal with their poppycock year in, year out. See you in the tournament every decade or so.

For ECU...

1. NC State
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. West Virginia
5. South Carolina
6. Clemson
7. Virginia
8. Florida school
9. Florida school

(05-01-2013 11:53 AM)apex_pirate Wrote:  For ECU...

1. NC State
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. West Virginia
5. South Carolina
6. Clemson
7. Virginia
8. Florida school
9. Florida school

From an outsider perspective, South Florida and Central Florida would seem like natural fits for ECU. Old Dominion also seems like a good peer as soon as they get football on good footing. ECU is just caught at that weird size where they are not prominent enough for the flagship schools but too prominent to fit in with most of the state directional schools.

For Missouri:

1. Tennessee
2. Illinois (home/home - no neutral site)
3. Kansas or K State (home/home- no neutral site)
4. Arkansas
5. Ole Miss
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. South Carolina
9. Florida

For Pitt:

1. Penn State
2. ND
3. WVU
4. Syracuse
5. BC
6. Ohio State
7. Maryland
8. Navy
9. VT

For Louisville
Kentucky
Indiana
Notre Dame
Florida
Syracuse
Florida state
Cincinnati
Memphis
Virginia Tech

Rutgers:

PSU
UConn
Cuse
Maryland
Temple
BC
Pitt
UVA
WVU

(05-01-2013 11:37 AM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  Anybody else tired of conferences dictating who plays who rather than each school deciding what is best for them? If your school could choose nine other schools to compete/partner with for athletics as well as other important institutional functions, who would it be? Nine seems to be a good number because it allows annual football, home/home basketball, and plenty of baseball/softball. I'll start off as a Kentucky fan, in order of importance and with a mind toward who would actually want to play us as a top 9 rival (Texas, Michigan, and Alabama are not going to play us annually over other schools... sorry BBN):

1. Louisville
2. Tennessee
3. Indiana
4. West Virginia
5. Va. Tech (I think this would become a great regional rivalry)
6. UNC
7. Illinois
8. South Carolina
9. Ohio State (please, sweet baby Jesus, let them feel the same way...)

The hate for Duke is too much to have to deal with their poppycock year in, year out. See you in the tournament every decade or so.

Awesome thread BBB. Well thought out and lots of fun. +2 for ya.

(05-01-2013 11:58 AM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  

(05-01-2013 11:53 AM)apex_pirate Wrote:  For ECU...

1. NC State
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. West Virginia
5. South Carolina
6. Clemson
7. Virginia
8. Florida school
9. Florida school

From an outsider perspective, South Florida and Central Florida would seem like natural fits for ECU. Old Dominion also seems like a good peer as soon as they get football on good footing. ECU is just caught at that weird size where they are not prominent enough for the flagship schools but too prominent to fit in with most of the state directional schools.

ODU will never be a rival. USF and UCF are too far away from ECU to ever become very enthusiastic and hated rivals.

For me:

NC State
West Virginia
UVA
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Cincy
Navy
South Carolina
Wake Forest

(05-01-2013 12:13 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  For Missouri:

1. Tennessee
2. Illinois (home/home - no neutral site)
3. Kansas or K State (home/home- no neutral site)
4. Arkansas
5. Ole Miss
6. Georgia
7. Texas A&M
8. South Carolina
9. Florida

Surprised to not see Nebraska, Iowa, or Oklahoma.

(05-01-2013 12:17 PM)curtis0620 Wrote:  For Pitt:

1. Penn State
2. ND
3. WVU
4. Syracuse
5. BC
6. Ohio State
7. Maryland
8. Navy
9. VT

Good list. I've always thought you guys would go well with Purdue and Michigan State, too.

(05-01-2013 12:18 PM)NJRedMan Wrote:  Rutgers:

PSU
UConn
Cuse
Maryland
Temple
BC
Pitt
UVA
WVU

This one makes perfect sense to me.

(05-01-2013 12:17 PM)CardFan1 Wrote:  For Louisville
Kentucky
Indiana
Notre Dame
Florida
Syracuse
Florida state
Cincinnati
Memphis
Virginia Tech

Don't think you are getting Florida ( I do not even have UK as getting Florida), but Clemson would be a good fit. I think Louisville fits in well with WVU, too, just like UK.

It's really hard to do a list for Tulane. Tulane is a peculiar little private school that has too many quirks to fit with most schools.

Missouri, Rutgers, ECU, etc. have some very clear choices for the first four or five. Tulane has none. I will make a list later (at lunch right now, and this will require thought).

(05-01-2013 12:23 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  

(05-01-2013 11:37 AM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  Anybody else tired of conferences dictating who plays who rather than each school deciding what is best for them? If your school could choose nine other schools to compete/partner with for athletics as well as other important institutional functions, who would it be? Nine seems to be a good number because it allows annual football, home/home basketball, and plenty of baseball/softball. I'll start off as a Kentucky fan, in order of importance and with a mind toward who would actually want to play us as a top 9 rival (Texas, Michigan, and Alabama are not going to play us annually over other schools... sorry BBN):

1. Louisville
2. Tennessee
3. Indiana
4. West Virginia
5. Va. Tech (I think this would become a great regional rivalry)
6. UNC
7. Illinois
8. South Carolina
9. Ohio State (please, sweet baby Jesus, let them feel the same way...)

The hate for Duke is too much to have to deal with their poppycock year in, year out. See you in the tournament every decade or so.

Awesome thread BBB. Well thought out and lots of fun. +2 for ya.

Thanks, Medic! Nice to dream of simpler and more common sense times every once in a while. By the way, I would put Mizzou on my list with Kentucky, but you guys had too many other neighbors that I thought you would rather play. Missouri touches so many states with good programs that you guys would have a pick of the litter, I would think.

For Georgia Southern

UGA
App State
Georgia Tech
Troy
ECU
Marshall
Central Florida
South Florida
GaSta
MTSU

For Ohio State:

Michigan
Illinois
Michigan State
Northwestern
Purdue
Indiana
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota

The first two are in order, the rest are in no particular order. I like the games with Penn State and enjoyed the series with Nebraska, but the other 9 Midwestern Big Ten teams (prior to Penn State joining) are the ones I definitely want to be part of schedules no matter what.

For Maryland:

(alphabetical)
Navy
North Carolina
Penn State
Pitt
Rutgers
Syracuse
Virginia

Non-Football
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins

(05-01-2013 12:35 PM)NBPirate Wrote:  For me:

NC State
West Virginia
UVA
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Cincy
Navy
South Carolina
Wake Forest

The drop off in schools from South Carolina and Georgia really hurt ECU as far as natural rivals. You have USC, Clemson, UGA, Georgia Tech, and then..... Coastal Carolina and Georgia State & Southern?! Maybe UNC Charlotte and/or Appalachian State can develop over the next decade and give you guys something to look forward to. I was recently in Wilmington, by the way. Loved it.