In this timeline, the various major independent football schools along the east coast decide to form a FB-only conference, the Eastern Football Alliance, in the 1980s. Some enterprising individual discovers the 12-school cutoff for a CCG a few years earlier than it was discovered in our timeline.
Eastern Football Alliance 1988
Atlantic: Boston College (Big East), Miami-FL (DI Ind), Notre Dame (MCC [BB DI Ind]), Rutgers (A-10), Syracuse (Big East), Virginia Tech (Metro)
Eastern: South Carolina (Metro), Florida State (Metro), Pittsburgh (Big East), Temple (A-10), Penn State (A-10), West Virginia (A-10)
Teams are listed in the same order as their protected crossover (BC/SC, Miami/FSU, ND/Pitt, Rutgers/Temple, Syracuse/PSU, VT/WVU).
For the 1991 season, in an atypically (for our timeline) forward-thinking move, the Big East extends offers of full membership to several EFA members (FSU, Miami, ND, PSU, and SC) and affiliate membership in football to the rest. So the divisions of the EFA are effectively transferred to the Big East, while the BE basketball roster grows to 14 schools.
Big East 1991
Atlantic: Boston College, Miami-FL, Notre Dame, Rutgers* (A-10), Syracuse, Virginia Tech* (Metro)
Eastern: South Carolina, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Temple* (A-10), Penn State, West Virginia* (A-10)
NFB: Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Villanova
* = FB only (primary conference)
Though prudent for the conference's survival in an increasingly football-focused market, this decision would come back to haunt the non-FB schools. The FB members soon push for full membership for the 4 affiliates. A compromise is struck in 1995, as Rutgers and WVU receive enough support to join in full, while Temple and VT are denied. The peace doesn't last for long.
Meanwhile, the ACC's growth is stunted by the Big East. There is a growing divide between the FB- and BB-focused schools of the ACC, with the former seeking to up the conference's pigskin game and the latter stubbornly refusing.
By the turn of the century, both the pro-BB schools of the Big East and the pro-FB schools of the ACC are looking to get out of their respective conferences. Someone's bright idea to exchange schools results in the "Great Swap": Clemson, GT, UMD, and NCSU move from the ACC to the Big East; and the 6 non-FB schools of the Big East move to the ACC. Additionally, Temple and VT finally gain full membership in the Big East.
The remaining ACC members consider dropping football to the I-AA level, but there is too much resistance within the schools to do so. Consequently, the new ACC members with FB programs are required to bring their game up to I-A. With FB playing second fiddle to BB, however, the ACC is no longer considered a power football conference (which, lacking FSU, it had barely earned to begin with). The 10-team lineup of the ACC permits an 18-game double round robin schedule for basketball.
ACC 2003
FB: Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, North Carolina, St. John's, Villanova, Virginia, Wake Forest
NFB: Providence, Seton Hall
The 16-school Big East aligns itself into 4-team pods for football that rotate between two 8-team divisions (Atlantic and Eastern) in a 3-year cycle. A new TV deal compels them to add a 9th game to the conference schedule, to the chagrin of FSU, GT, NCSU, ND, and VT, each with at least one effectively permanent OOC opponent (2 in ND's case).
Big East 2003
Code:
POD 1: Boston College Clemson NC State Temple
POD 2: Miami-FL Florida State Virginia Tech Rutgers
POD 3: Notre Dame Georgia Tech West Virginia Pittsburgh
POD 4: Syracuse South Carolina Maryland Penn State
The teams are listed above in the same order as their protected crossovers. Each team has a protected crossover in each of the other 3 pods (e.g., BC, Miami, ND, and Syracuse all play one another every year).
For basketball, each team has 3 protected opponents (listed below) that they play twice every year. The remaining 12 schools are played once, for a total of 18 games. (This also serves as an alternate divisionless setup for football, with each team playing their 3 protected opponents annually and alternating between half of the other 12 opponents every 2 years.)
Code:
BOSTON COLLEGE Miami-FL Notre Dame Syracuse
CLEMSON Georgia Tech NC State South Carolina
FLORIDA STATE South Carolina Miami-FL Georgia Tech
GEORGIA TECH Clemson South Carolina Florida State
MARYLAND Temple Virginia Tech West Virginia
MIAMI-FL Boston College Florida State Notre Dame
NC STATE Rutgers Clemson Virginia Tech
NOTRE DAME Pittsburgh Boston College Miami-FL
PENN STATE Syracuse Temple Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH Notre Dame West Virginia Penn State
RUTGERS NC State Syracuse Temple
SOUTH CAROLINA Florida State Georgia Tech Clemson
SYRACUSE Penn State Rutgers Boston College
TEMPLE Maryland Penn State Rutgers
VIRGINIA TECH West Virginia Maryland NC State
WEST VIRGINIA Virginia Tech Pittsburgh Maryland
Incidentally, the success of the eastern football school alliance results in more westward expansions for the Big Ten (Nebraska) and SEC (Arkansas and Texas A&M) in the early '90s. The Big 12 still forms in the mid-'90s, but with Houston and TCU instead of NU and A&M.