Hello There, Guest! (LoginRegister)

Post Reply 
Alternate History and Future College Sports Realignment Scenarios
Author Message
RutgersGuy Offline
All American
*

Posts: 3,127
Joined: Nov 2015
Reputation: 152
I Root For: Rutgers
Location:
Post: #61
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-10-2017 02:18 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  
(07-10-2017 01:36 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  
(07-07-2017 05:42 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Post your alternate history scenarios here!

Here's the present day alignment of power conferences in an alternate timeline in which the Big East football wing never formed. The SEC added Florida State (before the ACC could) as well as independent Miami, while the ACC expanded north, picking up most of the would-be Big East football schools. The Big 8 was torn apart by the Pac, Big Ten, and SEC. The Southwest Conference lasted a bit longer than in our timeline (OTL), past Ann Richards's tenure as governor. Thus when they were eventually beheaded by the Pac, Houston came along rather than Baylor.

ACC
East: Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
North: Boston College, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple
South: Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Wake Forest
West: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville

Protected crossovers: North Carolina/Virginia, Pittsburgh/West Virginia

Big 16
East: Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse
North: Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Purdue
South: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
West: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin

Protected crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Indiana/Purdue, Michigan/Ohio State

Pac-16
East: Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
North: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
West: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Protected crossovers: none

SEC
East: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami
North: Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West: Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Protected crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

Annual interconference matchups
Clemson/South Carolina
Georgia/Georgia Tech
Kentucky/Louisville
Notre Dame/USC
Oklahoma/Texas
Penn State/Pittsburgh

Replace Temple with Syracuse.

In this timeline, the Big Ten snagged Syracuse before the ACC could and before they dropped their AAU status (if they even do so, as in OTL). The ACC took Temple mainly for its prime location in a large metro area.

Ahhh gotcha, didn't see the, there
07-10-2017 04:53 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
RutgersGuy Offline
All American
*

Posts: 3,127
Joined: Nov 2015
Reputation: 152
I Root For: Rutgers
Location:
Post: #62
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
I think the MAC should just go all out and expand to 20!

East- Buffalo, UMass, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine

West- South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, N. Illinois, Illinois St

South- Youngstown, Kent, Miami, Ohio, Akron

North- CMU, WMU, EMU, Toledo, Bowling Green

BOOM! Thats a fun conference right there! Adding some top flight FCS schools and expanding into New England I think really injects some excitement into an already fun conference.
07-10-2017 06:03 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
DavidSt Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 23,011
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation: 732
I Root For: ATU, P7
Location:
Post: #63
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-10-2017 06:03 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  I think the MAC should just go all out and expand to 20!

East- Buffalo, UMass, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine

West- South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, N. Illinois, Illinois St

South- Youngstown, Kent, Miami, Ohio, Akron

North- CMU, WMU, EMU, Toledo, Bowling Green

BOOM! Thats a fun conference right there! Adding some top flight FCS schools and expanding into New England I think really injects some excitement into an already fun conference.

Replaced Maine with James Madison.
Go to 24 to have a clear 24 teams of 4 pods of 6.
VCU (adds football)
Milwaukee (adds football)
Eastern Kentucky
Mankato State several years down the road for a bridge between the Dakotas and the Illinois schools. If not? Southern Illinois or Indiana State slips in there somewhere.
07-10-2017 06:11 PM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
RutgersGuy Offline
All American
*

Posts: 3,127
Joined: Nov 2015
Reputation: 152
I Root For: Rutgers
Location:
Post: #64
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-10-2017 06:11 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  
(07-10-2017 06:03 PM)RutgersGuy Wrote:  I think the MAC should just go all out and expand to 20!

East- Buffalo, UMass, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine

West- South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, N. Illinois, Illinois St

South- Youngstown, Kent, Miami, Ohio, Akron

North- CMU, WMU, EMU, Toledo, Bowling Green

BOOM! Thats a fun conference right there! Adding some top flight FCS schools and expanding into New England I think really injects some excitement into an already fun conference.

Replaced Maine with James Madison.
Go to 24 to have a clear 24 teams of 4 pods of 6.
VCU (adds football)
Milwaukee (adds football)
Eastern Kentucky
Mankato State several years down the road for a bridge between the Dakotas and the Illinois schools. If not? Southern Illinois or Indiana State slips in there somewhere.

No, I think I had it right the first time.
07-10-2017 06:16 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Kittonhead Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 10,000
Joined: Jun 2013
Reputation: 122
I Root For: Beat Matisse
Location:
Post: #65
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
The MAC at one time vetted Troy for membership.

The idea of going to 18 was pretty real.

Going back in time when UCF was FB only MAC, had CUSA not needed teams they had an offer to become the MAC's 14th all sport team.

The MAC could of had UCFs Fiesta Bowl to go with NIUs Orange and WMUs Cotton.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using CSNbbs mobile app
07-10-2017 06:54 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
DavidSt Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 23,011
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation: 732
I Root For: ATU, P7
Location:
Post: #66
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
Would Montana and Idaho stay with the PAC 12 bunch to be PAC 14?
Would Gonzaga kept football and still be with the Big Sky?
Wayne State and Case Western Reserves stay in the MAC?
A lot of scenarios to be counted.
07-11-2017 02:54 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
arkstfan Away
Sorry folks
*

Posts: 25,818
Joined: Feb 2004
Reputation: 967
I Root For: Fresh Starts
Location:
Post: #67
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-10-2017 06:54 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  The MAC at one time vetted Troy for membership.

The idea of going to 18 was pretty real.

Going back in time when UCF was FB only MAC, had CUSA not needed teams they had an offer to become the MAC's 14th all sport team.

The MAC could of had UCFs Fiesta Bowl to go with NIUs Orange and WMUs Cotton.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using CSNbbs mobile app

I had heard a rumor that the MAC was looking to basically absorb the Sun Belt with AState, UL Lafayette, Middle Tenn State, North Texas, Troy, and NMSU or WKU but I chalked it up to message board speculation because I never could figure out how anyone would make it work.
07-11-2017 11:42 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #68
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
New alternate history scenario! The earliest differences from our timeline are the Big Ten's rejection of Penn State for membership in 1990 and Notre Dame's TV deal not panning out. This leads the Irish to join the Big Ten, while Penn State creates a new eastern conference that prevents the addition of football to the Big East.

============
  • Big Ten rejects Penn State; accepts Notre Dame
  • Penn State founds Eastern Athletic Conference (EAC) with 11 other football independents, including 3 football-only affiliates from Big East (BC, Pitt, Syracuse)
  • SEC adds Arkansas from SWC and independent South Carolina
  • Colorado accepts Pac-10 invite; BYU added to Pac-10 as football-only affiliate (non-football remains in WAC); Pac-10 becomes Pacific Athletic Conference (PAC)
  • Big 12 forms as in OTL except without Colorado; Houston is added to make 12
  • SWC left with only 3 members (Rice, SMU, TCU); adds La Tech from Big West, Tulsa from MVC, I-AA indy UAB, and 4 I-A indies (ECU, Memphis, Tulane, USM), but conference is effectively no longer a power
============

I-A 1996 (* = football-only affiliate)

ACC: Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest

Big 12
Central: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M
Plains: Baylor, Houston, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
Protected crossover: Texas/Oklahoma

Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

EAC
North: Boston College*, Penn State, Pittsburgh*, Rutgers, Syracuse*, Temple
South: Cincinnati, Florida State, Louisville, Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Protected crossover: Pittsburgh/West Virginia

PAC
North: California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State
South: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU*, Colorado, UCLA, USC
Protected crossovers: California/UCLA, California/USC, Stanford/UCLA, Stanford/USC

SEC
Eastern: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Western: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
Protected crossovers: same as in OTL

Big West: Arkansas State, Boise State, Idaho, NE Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, SW Louisiana, Utah State

MAC: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan

SWC: East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB

WAC: Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming

Ind: Army, Navy

============
  • MAC adds NIU from Big West and Marshall from I-AA SoCon to reach 12 schools
  • SWC adds independents UCF and USF to reach 12 schools
  • WAC adds Boise State from Big West to reach 12 football schools
============

I-A 2010

Power conferences same as in 1996

Big West: Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Utah State

MAC
East: Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo
West: Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

SWC
East: Central Florida, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Southern Miss, UAB
West: Louisiana Tech, Rice, SMU, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa

WAC
Mountain: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming
Pacific: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Ind: Army, Connecticut, Navy

============
  • Oklahoma and Oklahoma State leave Big 12 for SEC
  • Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech leave Big 12 for PAC
  • Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri leave Big 12 for Big Ten
  • SEC adds NC State from ACC and West Virginia from EAC
  • Pittsburgh and Syracuse leave EAC/Big East to join Big Ten; Big Ten becomes Big 16
  • UConn leaves Big East and football independence to join EAC as full member; BC transfers non-football sports from Big East to EAC to become full member
  • Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Maryland leave ACC for EAC
  • With no other desirable options, Duke, UNC, and UVA also accept EAC's invite; ACC dissolves, leaving WF floating in the wind
  • Big 12 left with only 3 members (Baylor, ISU, KSU); adds WF from defunct ACC and 8 others from SWC (ECU, Memphis, SMU, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USF), but conference is effectively no longer a power
  • SWC left with only 4 members (La Tech, Rice, UAB, USM); adds 8 schools from Big West (Arkansas State, Idaho, Nevada, NMSU, ULL, ULM, UNT, USU); with no remaining football schools, Big West drops the sport
  • Army and Navy football programs drop down to I-AA Patriot
============

I-A 2014 (* = football-only affiliate)

Big 16
East: Indiana, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
North: Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Purdue
South: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
West: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
Protected crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Indiana/Purdue, Michigan/Ohio State, Notre Dame/Pittsburgh

EAC
East: Maryland, Temple, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North: Boston College, Connecticut, Penn State, Rutgers
South: Duke, Florida State, Miami (FL), North Carolina
West: Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville
Protected crossovers: North Carolina/Virginia, Penn State/Temple

PAC
East: Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
North: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU*, Colorado
West: California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

SEC
East: Florida, Georgia, NC State, South Carolina
North: Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, West Virginia
South: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West: Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma
Protected crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

Big 12
East: Central Florida, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Tulane, Wake Forest
West: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa

MAC
East: Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo
West: Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

SWC
East: Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss, UAB
West: Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Rice, Utah State

WAC
Mountain: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming
Pacific: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Notable annual out-of-conference matchups: Air Force/Army, Air Force/Navy, BYU/Utah, Cincinnati/Ohio State, Clemson/South Carolina, Colorado/Colorado State, Duke/Wake Forest, Florida/Florida State, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Iowa/Iowa State, Kansas/Kansas State, Kentucky/Louisville, NC State/North Carolina, Notre Dame/Navy, Notre Dame/USC, Oklahoma/Texas, Penn State/Pittsburgh

============

Copy-pasta:

Each of the 16-team power conferences consists of four 4-team "pods," which alternate between two 8-team divisions every two years. For two years it's the "Northeast" and "Southwest" Divisions, and for the next two it's the "Northwest" and "Southeast" Divisions.

The P4 conference schedule is 9 games across the board. For two years, each team plays a home-and-home against the 3 teams in its pod, the 4 other teams in its division, and 2 teams from the "opposite" pod (i.e., North vs. South, East vs. West). For the next two years, each team plays a home-and-home against the 3 teams in its pod again, the 4 other teams in its division (this time it's a different pod of 4), and the other 2 teams from the opposite pod. This way, with the exception of protected crossovers, each team plays every other team in its conference twice in 4 years. The G4 conference schedules are all 8 games to permit more play of P4 teams.

Conference championships proceed between the two divisions as they do currently. The "College Football Playoff," or whatever it may be called in this timeline, becomes a de facto (if not de jure) competition between the champions of the P4 conferences, with the G4 conferences getting their hush money.

============

You may note that, like the previous scenarios I put forth, this timeline ends with a 4x16 power conference alignment. This alignment, or at least having an even and equal number of teams in each conference, is a common theme in many scenarios I've come up with. I see this balance as the pinnacle of college football realignment.

So what do you think? Plausible?
(This post was last modified: 07-26-2017 06:10 PM by Nerdlinger.)
07-13-2017 12:46 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
WesternSkillet Offline
All American
*

Posts: 2,877
Joined: Sep 2014
Reputation: 89
I Root For: LU
Location: Kalamazoo
Post: #69
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-09-2017 04:53 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  
(07-09-2017 01:33 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  
(07-09-2017 12:18 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  Frankly, that's where the MAC should be. I can't think of one MAC program that's head and shoulders FBS. Akron, Toledo and NIU are decent as is Buffalo but I can't think of any others.


Bowling Green and Western Michigan both have put together quiet a resume in winning at the FBS level. Miami have been good at times, but lousy a lot. The ones I think that have issues are Kent State, Ball State, Eastern Michigan are the ones to worry about.

Western, are you kidding? They have their first really good season in 15 years and first notable national season in even longer and suddenly they have a quiet resume of winning? Same for Bowling, they had a couple years under Urban Meyer and pull a few upsets and suddenly that's a notable resume?

If you put any 12 teams together, someone has to win games and that's exactly what's happened in the MAC since Marshall left. Marshall was the last really great MAC program that won games and produced numerous notable prospects.

For the record, WMU has an all time winning record against 8 of the 11 other current MAC programs. WMU also has a winning record of 22-12 against Marshall. Two of those losses were in the MAC championship.

Also, Bowling Green has 12 MAC titles. That is second best in the conference.
07-14-2017 10:43 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
DavidSt Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 23,011
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation: 732
I Root For: ATU, P7
Location:
Post: #70
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
What if Northern Michigan followed their conference mates into D1, and become a part of the MAC?
07-14-2017 11:18 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
utpotts Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 6,969
Joined: Oct 2004
Reputation: 97
I Root For: Toledo
Location: Canal Winchester, OH
Post: #71
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-14-2017 11:18 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  What if Northern Michigan followed their conference mates into D1, and become a part of the MAC?

Just stop..... you're just embarrassing yourself now.
07-14-2017 11:51 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #72
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
And HERE is a map for the alternate history scenario I just presented. You like?
07-14-2017 01:18 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
DavidSt Offline
Hall of Famer
*

Posts: 23,011
Joined: Dec 2013
Reputation: 732
I Root For: ATU, P7
Location:
Post: #73
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-14-2017 11:51 AM)utpotts Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 11:18 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  What if Northern Michigan followed their conference mates into D1, and become a part of the MAC?

Just stop..... you're just embarrassing yourself now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associatio...s_football

Former members of this conference.

Youngstown State
Akron
Eastern Illinois
Northern Michigan
Western Illinois
Northern Iowa
Missouri State


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_North...tball_team

1975 D2 championship playoffs that Northern Michigan won their first national title.

Beat Central Michigan, Omaha, Youngstown State, Eastern Michigan, and Boise State.
Then they beat Western Kentucky in the final championship game.

All of their former conference mates and schools they beat in the D2 playoff are all in D1. They could be better than Eastern Michigan.
07-14-2017 03:24 PM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
utpotts Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 6,969
Joined: Oct 2004
Reputation: 97
I Root For: Toledo
Location: Canal Winchester, OH
Post: #74
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-14-2017 03:24 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 11:51 AM)utpotts Wrote:  
(07-14-2017 11:18 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  What if Northern Michigan followed their conference mates into D1, and become a part of the MAC?

Just stop..... you're just embarrassing yourself now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associatio...s_football

Former members of this conference.

Youngstown State
Akron
Eastern Illinois
Northern Michigan
Western Illinois
Northern Iowa
Missouri State


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_North...tball_team

1975 D2 championship playoffs that Northern Michigan won their first national title.

Beat Central Michigan, Omaha, Youngstown State, Eastern Michigan, and Boise State.
Then they beat Western Kentucky in the final championship game.

All of their former conference mates and schools they beat in the D2 playoff are all in D1. They could be better than Eastern Michigan.


Do you even know where Northern Michigan is???

No one cares about what happened in D2 in 1975 it has zero corolation on what is happening today. Zero, none.

It's as ridiculous as you saying Dayton will have an FBS program or Ferris State should make FBS.

Just stop talking about the MAC, you embarrass yourself every time.
07-14-2017 05:34 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
vandiver49 Offline
Heisman
*

Posts: 8,589
Joined: Aug 2011
Reputation: 315
I Root For: USNA/UTK
Location: West GA
Post: #75
Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-13-2017 12:46 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  New alternate history scenario! The earliest differences from our timeline are the Big Ten's rejection of Penn State for membership in 1990 and Notre Dame's TV deal not panning out. This leads the Irish to join the Big Ten, while Penn State creates a new eastern conference that prevents the addition of football to the Big East.

============
  • Big Ten rejects Penn State; accepts Notre Dame
  • Penn State founds Eastern Athletic Conference (EAC) with 11 other football independents, including 3 football-only affiliates from Big East (BC, Pitt, Syracuse)
  • SEC adds Arkansas from SWC and independent South Carolina
  • Colorado accepts Pac-10 invite; BYU added to Pac-10 as football-only affiliate (non-football remains in WAC); Pac-10 becomes Pacific Athletic Conference (PAC)
  • Big 12 forms as in OTL except without Colorado; Houston is added to make 12
  • SWC left with only 3 members (Rice, SMU, TCU); adds La Tech from Big West, Tulsa from MVC, I-AA indy UAB, and 4 I-A indies (ECU, Memphis, Tulane, USM), but conference is effectively no longer a power
============

I-A 1996[/B] (* = football-only affiliate)

ACC:[/B] Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest

Big 12[/B]
Central:[/B] Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M
Plains:[/B] Baylor, Houston, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
Protected crossover: Texas/Oklahoma

Big Ten:[/B] Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

EAC[/B]
North:[/B] Boston College*, Penn State, Pittsburgh*, Rutgers, Syracuse*, Temple
South:[/B] Cincinnati, Florida State, Louisville, Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Protected crossover: Pittsburgh/West Virginia

PAC[/B]
North:[/B] California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State
South:[/B] Arizona, Arizona State, BYU*, Colorado, UCLA, USC
Protected crossovers: California/UCLA, California/USC, Stanford/UCLA, Stanford/USC

SEC[/B]
Eastern:[/B] Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Western:[/B] Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
Protected crossovers: same as in OTL

Big West:[/B] Arkansas State, Boise State, Idaho, NE Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, SW Louisiana, Utah State

MAC:[/B] Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan

SWC:[/B] East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB

WAC:[/B] Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming

Ind:[/B] Army, Navy

============
  • MAC adds NIU from Big West and Marshall from I-AA SoCon to reach 12 schools
  • SWC adds independents UCF and USF to reach 12 schools
  • WAC adds Boise State from Big West to reach 12 football schools
============

I-A 2010[/B]

Power conferences same as in 1996[/B]

Big West:[/B] Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Utah State

MAC[/B]
East:[/B] Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo
West:[/B] Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

SWC[/B]
East:[/B] Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss, UAB
West:[/B] Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Rice, Utah State

WAC[/B]
Mountain:[/B] Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming
Pacific:[/B] Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Ind:[/B] Army, Connecticut, Navy

============
  • Oklahoma and Oklahoma State leave Big 12 for SEC
  • Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech leave Big 12 for PAC
  • Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri leave Big 12 for Big Ten
  • SEC adds NC State from ACC and West Virginia from EAC
  • Pittsburgh and Syracuse leave EAC/Big East to join Big Ten; Big Ten becomes Big 16
  • UConn leaves Big East and football independence to join EAC as full member; BC transfers non-football sports from Big East to EAC to become full member
  • Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Maryland leave ACC for EAC
  • With no other desirable options, Duke, UNC, and UVA also accept EAC's invite; ACC dissolves, leaving WF floating in the wind
  • Big 12 left with only 3 members (Baylor, ISU, KSU); adds WF from defunct ACC and 8 others from SWC (ECU, Memphis, SMU, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USF), but conference is effectively no longer a power
  • SWC left with only 4 members (La Tech, Rice, UAB, USM); adds 8 schools from Big West (Arkansas State, Idaho, Nevada, NMSU, ULL, ULM, UNT, USU); with no remaining football schools, Big West drops the sport
  • Army and Navy football programs drop down to I-AA Patriot
============

I-A 2014[/B] (* = football-only affiliate)

Big 16[/B]
East:[/B] Indiana, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
North:[/B] Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Purdue
South:[/B] Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
West:[/B] Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
Protected crossovers: Illinois/Northwestern, Indiana/Purdue, Michigan/Ohio State, Notre Dame/Pittsburgh

EAC[/B]
East:[/B] Maryland, Temple, Virginia, Virginia Tech
North:[/B] Boston College, Connecticut, Penn State, Rutgers
South:[/B] Duke, Florida State, Miami (FL), North Carolina
West:[/B] Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville
Protected crossovers: North Carolina/Virginia, Penn State/Temple

PAC[/B]
East:[/B] Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
North:[/B] Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South:[/B] Arizona, Arizona State, BYU*, Colorado
West:[/B] California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

SEC[/B]
East:[/B] Florida, Georgia, NC State, South Carolina
North:[/B] Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, West Virginia
South:[/B] Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
West:[/B] Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma
Protected crossovers: Alabama/Tennessee, Auburn/Georgia

Big 12[/B]
East:[/B] Central Florida, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Tulane, Wake Forest
West:[/B] Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa

MAC[/B]
East:[/B] Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo
West:[/B] Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

SWC[/B]
East:[/B] Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss, UAB
West:[/B] Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Rice, Utah State

WAC[/B]
Mountain:[/B] Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, UTEP, Wyoming
Pacific:[/B] Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Notable annual out-of-conference matchups: Air Force/Army, Air Force/Navy, BYU/Utah, Cincinnati/Ohio State, Clemson/South Carolina, Colorado/Colorado State, Duke/Wake Forest, Florida/Florida State, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Iowa/Iowa State, Kansas/Kansas State, Kentucky/Louisville, NC State/North Carolina, Notre Dame/Navy, Notre Dame/USC, Oklahoma/Texas, Penn State/Pittsburgh

============

Copy-pasta:

Each of the 16-team power conferences consists of four 4-team "pods," which alternate between two 8-team divisions every two years. For two years it's the "Northeast" and "Southwest" Divisions, and for the next two it's the "Northwest" and "Southeast" Divisions.

The P4 conference schedule is 9 games across the board. For two years, each team plays a home-and-home against the 3 teams in its pod, the 4 other teams in its division, and 2 teams from the "opposite" pod (i.e., North vs. South, East vs. West). For the next two years, each team plays a home-and-home against the 3 teams in its pod again, the 4 other teams in its division (this time it's a different pod of 4), and the other 2 teams from the opposite pod. This way, with the exception of protected crossovers, each team plays every other team in its conference twice in 4 years. The G4 conference schedules are all 8 games to permit more play of P4 teams.

Conference championships proceed between the two divisions as they do currently. The "College Football Playoff," or whatever it may be called in this timeline, becomes a de facto (if not de jure) competition between the champions of the P4 conferences, with the G4 conferences getting their hush money.

============

You may note that, like the previous scenarios I put forth, this timeline ends with a 4x16 power conference alignment. This alignment, or at least having an even and equal number of teams in each conference, is a common theme in many scenarios I've come up with. I see this balance as the pinnacle of college football realignment.

So what do you think? Plausible?

BYU to the PAC breaks the readers suspension of disbelief
07-14-2017 05:40 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #76
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(07-14-2017 05:40 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  BYU to the PAC breaks the readers suspension of disbelief

I was worried about that. But even as a football-only affiliate to balance out the addition of Colorado?
07-14-2017 05:41 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #77
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
While I have nothing against the AAC, its formation/continuation did cause a cascade of realignment that resulted in an almost complete membership turnover of CUSA and the Sun Belt. Could the creation of the AAC have been averted? Perhaps the announced exodus of WVU, Pitt, and Syracuse is somehow delayed by about a year, by which point Rutgers and Louisville would have secured future homes in the Big Ten and ACC, respectively. By then you'd have at least 75% of the 16 members potentially in favor of dissolving the conference, assuming at least 7 of the 8 Catholic non-football schools are fine with starting up a new "Big East" as in our timeline. Only UConn, Cincy, USF, and possibly ND would be opposed. This could prevent financial penalties for the departing schools, though the legal details are beyond me, and I'm sure some hush money is exchanged in any case. In theory, UConn, Cincy, and USF could still start up a new conference, but I think it would have been a lot harder to do so. Maybe instead they join CUSA or go football independent. Notre Dame likely half-commits to the ACC as in our timeline.

Alternately, perhaps the restocking Big 12 is in a more expansive mood, taking on Cincinnati and Louisville in addition to WVU. Pitt and Syracuse are still bound for the ACC, and Rutgers for the Big Ten. With Louisville taken, the ACC probably taps UConn to replace outgoing Maryland. This leaves USF as the only football member of the Big East. The non-football schools vote to drop football from the conference. USF football is picked up by CUSA. Notre Dame makes the same deal with the ACC as it did in our timeline.

In either scenario, CUSA doesn't lose any members and potentially gains at least one Big East survivor. This means no need to prey on the Sun Belt, which in turn has less need to draw additional members from FCS. The WAC is also given a reprieve, but I still think they'll end up dropping football due to having too few members.

Assuming the latter of the two scenarios above takes place, here's how the FBS might look by 2018.

ACC
Atlantic: Boston College, Clemson, Connecticut, Florida State, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest
Coastal: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech
NFB: Notre Dame

Big 12
North: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, West Virginia
South: Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech

Big Ten
East: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
West: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

Pac-12
North: California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State
South: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, Utah

SEC
Eastern: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Western: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M

FBS Independent
Army* (Patriot), BYU* (WCC), Louisiana Tech* (WAC), New Mexico State* (WAC), Notre Dame* (ACC), Texas State* (WAC)

CUSA
East: Central Florida, East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, South Florida* (Big East), Southern Miss, UAB
West: Houston, Navy* (Patriot), Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UTEP

MAC
East: Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Massachusetts* (A-10), Miami-OH, Ohio, Temple* (A-10)
West: Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan

MWC
Mountain: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming
West: Fresno State, Hawaii* (Big West), Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

Sun Belt
East: FAU, FIU, Georgia State, Middle Tennessee, Troy, Western Kentucky
West: Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, North Texas, UTSA* (WAC)
NFB: Little Rock

* = football only (primary conference)

Any thoughts?
(This post was last modified: 08-16-2018 11:05 AM by Nerdlinger.)
08-04-2017 04:27 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
AntiG Offline
1st String
*

Posts: 1,396
Joined: Dec 2012
Reputation: 40
I Root For: Rutgers
Location: NYC
Post: #78
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
Nebraska and Colorado announced their moves to the B1G and the PAC-10.

After initial speedbump, the PAC reconvenes with Texas and finally agrees to allow the LHN. A&M chooses the SEC over the PAC, and Mizzou follows them to the SEC.

PAC-11 adds Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Utah to become the new PAC-16.

The Big East and remaining Big XII members (Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State) agree to a merger. Due to the other teams abandoning the XII, the remaining teams carry the history and basketball credits to the already insane BE basketball conference, and as a result also stabilizes the icy relationships behind the scenes between the basketball and football schools, thus preventing the divorce. Additionally, this weakens the ACC's pitch to Syracuse, Pitt and ND, so this no longer happens anymore either.

Due to this happening, TCU does not go back on their agreement to join the BE and obviously WVU does not get an invitation to leave, and SD State and Boise State invites never happen. To balance it out to 14 football schools, Temple is re-invited as a full member.

The new upgraded BE:

Football (14): Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Temple, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU
Basketball (22): Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Temple, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Notre Dame

Shortly afterwards, the B1G comes calling to Rutgers and Maryland with an invitation. The difference this time is that the BE did not already previously lose WVU, so this time losing Rutgers does not destabilize the football conference. Additionally, with the BE now arguably more stable than the ACC (getting rejected by Syracuse, Pitt & ND, losing Maryland, and FSU/Clemson threatening to leave), Louisville declines the ACC invite. The BE decides to ask ND to become a football member, gets rejected as expected, and adds Navy as a football only member.

Football (14): UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Temple, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Navy
Basketball (21): UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Temple, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Notre Dame


The ACC is now down to 11 members: BC, VT, UVA, UNC, NC State, GT, FSU, Miami, WF, Duke, Clemson

The B1G now seeing a weakened ACC after grabbing Maryland and the ACC not having made their additions, swoop in and offer FSU and GT memberships. They accept.
Rutgers, Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Florida State

ACC now has to backfill after dropping to 9. They invite schools that increase their media area, expand more into Texas and Florida, help with basketball and football, and also add a couple of fits as academic partners for their private institutions: Houston, UCF, Memphis, Tulane and Rice to get to 14.
BC, VT, UVA, UNC, NC State, Miami, WF, Duke, Clemson, Houston, UCF, Memphis, Tulane, Rice
08-05-2017 01:14 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
DawgNBama Online
the Rush Limbaugh of CSNBBS
*

Posts: 8,321
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation: 446
I Root For: conservativism/MAGA
Location: US
Post: #79
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
Liking what arkstfan did, but going back even further:

Back during the formation of the SEC, Ole Miss mysteriously never receives an invitation to join. Instead, Clemson gets the invite, and Tulane doesn't receive an invite either. Georgia Tech does get the invite, but decides to decline. Instead, Arkansas is given an invite, and like Clemson, accepts. Ole Miss winds up in the SWC, as does Tulane. South Carolina is chosen over the University of the South for the last invite, and the University of the South decides to stay in the SoCon. Georgia Tech becomes a charter ACC member.
08-05-2017 02:59 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Nerdlinger Offline
Realignment Enthusiast
*

Posts: 4,908
Joined: May 2017
Reputation: 423
I Root For: Realignment!
Location: Schmlocation
Post: #80
RE: Alternate History College Sports Realignment Scenarios
(08-05-2017 01:14 AM)AntiG Wrote:  Nebraska and Colorado announced their moves to the B1G and the PAC-10.

After initial speedbump, the PAC reconvenes with Texas and finally agrees to allow the LHN. A&M chooses the SEC over the PAC, and Mizzou follows them to the SEC.

PAC-11 adds Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Utah to become the new PAC-16.

The Big East and remaining Big XII members (Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State) agree to a merger. Due to the other teams abandoning the XII, the remaining teams carry the history and basketball credits to the already insane BE basketball conference, and as a result also stabilizes the icy relationships behind the scenes between the basketball and football schools, thus preventing the divorce. Additionally, this weakens the ACC's pitch to Syracuse, Pitt and ND, so this no longer happens anymore either.

Due to this happening, TCU does not go back on their agreement to join the BE and obviously WVU does not get an invitation to leave, and SD State and Boise State invites never happen. To balance it out to 14 football schools, Temple is re-invited as a full member.

The new upgraded BE:

Football (14): Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Temple, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU
Basketball (22): Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Temple, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Notre Dame

Shortly afterwards, the B1G comes calling to Rutgers and Maryland with an invitation. The difference this time is that the BE did not already previously lose WVU, so this time losing Rutgers does not destabilize the football conference. Additionally, with the BE now arguably more stable than the ACC (getting rejected by Syracuse, Pitt & ND, losing Maryland, and FSU/Clemson threatening to leave), Louisville declines the ACC invite. The BE decides to ask ND to become a football member, gets rejected as expected, and adds Navy as a football only member.

Football (14): UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Temple, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Navy
Basketball (21): UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Temple, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Notre Dame


The ACC is now down to 11 members: BC, VT, UVA, UNC, NC State, GT, FSU, Miami, WF, Duke, Clemson

The B1G now seeing a weakened ACC after grabbing Maryland and the ACC not having made their additions, swoop in and offer FSU and GT memberships. They accept.
Rutgers, Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Florida State

ACC now has to backfill after dropping to 9. They invite schools that increase their media area, expand more into Texas and Florida, help with basketball and football, and also add a couple of fits as academic partners for their private institutions: Houston, UCF, Memphis, Tulane and Rice to get to 14.
BC, VT, UVA, UNC, NC State, Miami, WF, Duke, Clemson, Houston, UCF, Memphis, Tulane, Rice

Very interesting! Just a point though: if the ACC is adding one of Houston or Rice, they would not add the other, especially if there are already travel partners in the form of Tulane and/or Memphis.

I'm skeptical about the Big East's Temple invite. I would think it more likely that they add only one or three of Baylor, Kansas, KSU, and ISU to keep their football numbers even (either only Kansas or all but KSU), if indeed that's considered crucial to the conference.
(This post was last modified: 08-05-2017 04:21 AM by Nerdlinger.)
08-05-2017 04:13 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 




User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


Copyright © 2002-2024 Collegiate Sports Nation Bulletin Board System (CSNbbs), All Rights Reserved.
CSNbbs is an independent fan site and is in no way affiliated to the NCAA or any of the schools and conferences it represents.
This site monetizes links. FTC Disclosure.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org.
Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2024 MyBB Group.