(04-07-2015 10:16 PM)ohio1317 Wrote: I knew people would jump to this conclusion, but actually 14 works every bit as well as 15.
1. Remember first that if you had three divisions, winning a division would not mean you would automatically be in the CCG. Therefore having them be completely equal is not required even if ideally you want them somewhat close together.
2. If you have 3 divisions with 8 conference games, things work fine. Division A and B have 5 teams each while division C has 4. They all play round robin in division. That fills up 4 games in division A and B and 3 in division C. Division A and B play 2 teams from the other 2 divisions each on a rotation basis. That means that each team in division C is playing five out of division games (2 from one division and 3 from the other) and everything works out fine.
Math for division c: Out of division games: From division A and B each play 2 vs. division C. 10x2=20. 20 games/4 teams=5 games. 5 out of division games+3 in division games=8 games.
Yep, that is a VERY good catch. The math works out
PERFECTLY.
As for the ACC, the composition of the 5-5-4 team divisions are pretty easy to work out too. Put the North Carolina 4 together. Then it's just a matter of splitting the other 10; if you send Miami north you get the below which seems viable:
Division A (North): Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Miami FLA
Division B (South): Virginia, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech
And another thing --- the Dodd article about how this was "expected to pass" made me think the B1G and SEC, for whatever reasons, are already on-board with this. As I've thought about it, there are some fairly good ways to break the B1G into 5-5-4 team division sets also. SEC is significantly more difficult to break 5-5-4. But consider:
B1G Division A: Penn State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Maryland, Michigan
B1G Division B: Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana
B1G Division C: Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin
(Michigan-Michigan State is the only guaranteed annual cross-over game)
SEC Division A: Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida
SEC Division B: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
SEC Division C: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
(this is hardly perfect, nothing for the SEC really keeps everyone happy. Tennessee vs. both Alabama and Kentucky are the only guaranteed annual cross-over games. Also possible for guaranteed annual cross-overs are Texas A&M v. LSU, Vandy v. Ole Miss, Mizzo v. Miss State, and Arkansas v. Auburn. That would mean there's 1-each for a B-C crossover)