(11-23-2018 11:10 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(11-23-2018 10:39 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(11-21-2018 10:20 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Inspired by this article, here's the end result (2014) of a full merger between CUSA and the Big East football schools during the Great Realignment:

American Athletic Conference USA
East: Central Florida, East Carolina, South Florida, UAB
North: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Marshall, Temple
South: Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa
West: Houston, Rice, SMU, UTEP

Green = from CUSA
Blue = from Big East
Italics = in AAC in our timeline

I assume that the Big East non-football schools would still break away and that Louisville, Rutgers, TCU, and West Virginia would still join the same conferences that they did in our timeline. Once left with 16 teams, the schools in the AAC/CUSA (or whatever they call themselves) split into 4-team pods, which rotate between two 8-team divisions (American and National) in a 3-year cycle.

Here's the AACUSA in the transitional 2013 season, a sprawling 18-school behemoth with no interdivisional FB games on the conference schedule:

East: Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, Louisville, Marshall, Rutgers, South Florida, Temple
West: Houston, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UTEP

Three divisions would be nicer, but this conference certainly wouldn't have had the sway to deregulate CCGs and divisions by itself.

East: Central Florida, Connecticut, East Carolina, Rutgers, South Florida, Temple
Central: Cincinnati, Louisville, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB
West: Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UTEP

I wish that the Big 12 would have expanded to 12, offering Cincinnati and Louisvile spots when they admitted WVU and TCU.

Big East football would have been reduced to UConn, Rutgers, and USF. The Catholic 7 and ND might not have been anxious to rebuild at that point, leaving the trio in a bit of a jam until Big Ten expansion sends Rutgers to the B10 and UConn to the ACC. USF goes to C-USA with one other--LA Tech or UTSA.

Temple and UMass have a nice existence as MAC football affiliates.

The SBC doesn't experience the mass exodus.

WAC football stays in business, but desperately requires new blood and probably recruits some new programs.

I'm not sure that we see GA Southern, App St, ODU, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, and Liberty as FBS programs unless the WAC recruits them as a unit to be their east coast division.

Even now the Big XII could add Cincinnati and Memphis - it would bridge WV to the rest of the conference, and those two schools play pretty good football AND basketball.

True. I was more focused on creating a plausible scenario where all but 1 of the Big East football schools would have been consolidated into a P5. The end result for the G5 is a pretty nice 14 member C-USA who has to contend with a 10 member MWC for the NY6 slot.

WAC football maintains Idaho, NMSU, Utah St, San Jose St and at least one or possibly two of UTSA, LA Tech, and Texas St.

As far as things go now, the Big 12 is not going to add members unless we see seismic shifts involving Oklahoma and possibly Texas.