It would be a neat idea, not feasible, but hell, let's play
A. P5 conferences relegate playoff losers
1 seed SEC: E7 UTk @ E7 Arkansas: E7 UTk relegated
2 seed ACC: C7 UNC @ A7 Cuse: C7 UNC relegated
3 seed B12: #10 Kansas @ #9 Baylor: #10 Kansas relegated
4 seed B10: W7 UIUC @ E7 Indiana: W7 UIUC (I cry a little as an alum
) relegated
5 seed P12: N6 Oregon St @ S6 Colorado: N6 Oregon St relegated
Relegated lists: Tennessee, UNC, Kansas, Illinois, Oregon St
B. G5 champs earn promotion in conference title games:
1 seed AAC: UCF over Memphis: UCF promoted (sad)
2 seed MWC: Boise St over Fresno: Boise St Promoted
3 seed MAC: NIU over Akron: NIU promoted
4 seed CUSA: North Texas over FAU: North Texas promoted
5 seed SunBelt: Troy over Georgia St: Troy promoted
Promoted: UCF, Boise, NIU, North Texas, Troy
C. Conferences pick teams based by ranking, with a geographic limit allowed for the ACC / Pac12 to prevent a two time zone jump for fairness.
1. SEC takes UCF
5. Pac12 takes Boise on geographic exception
2. ACC takes Troy (bitterly)
3. B12 takes North Texas
4. B10 takes NIU (actually ok).
D. Independents are forced to join conferences:
1. ND to B10
2. BYU to MWC
3. Army to AAC
4. UMass to MAC
E. Football and Basketball FULLY separated as conferences so the conferences would be separate memberships.
Non-Sports become regional conferences, so you start to see the shakeout of regional conferences for BB/olympic sports.
>>>>
The logical end is 4 power conferences based on the Midwest, South, East, West with 8 smaller G5 type conferences with a promotion playoff.
It never happens, but it was interesting to type.