RE: Reorganizing the G5
OK. Massive disruption in the P5 which leads to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas leaving the Big12. Going to set aside the P5 realignment.
So the Big12 while it is flailing to maintain P5 status grabs:
BYU
Boise State
UC
... and then the next CFP round sees it lose its Contract Bowl, so it drops down into tweener status and to build up its inventory, it adds a Florida island:
UCF/USF
Now the sequencing is important here (conference realignment is very path dependent), because in the first round, the AAC stands pat at 10. So when the MWC talks to UTEP, they balk at the $7m exit fee and instead the MWC offers NMSU a place.
And with that, the MWC is set at 12, and that is the only aftershock of the first phase of Big12 realignment.
It's the second phase that sets off the big moves. When the Big12 expands to 12 with UCF/USF
Big12 "East": UWV, [UC], [UCF], [USF], Iowa State, Kansas State
Big12 "West": TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, [BYU], [Boise State]
Then the AAC has to expand. And it's their Eastern Division they have to rebuild
AAC East: Temple, ECU, [], [], [], []
AAC West: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy/Wichita
Buffalo, NIU, Toledo, WMU ... whichever MAC schools is on a FB run at the time (or maybe a BBall run if it is impressive enough) doesn't matter, too far away. So the MAC is not touched. Similarly it's the East they need to rebuilt, not the West, so even if the MWC was vulnerable after losing Boise State, the AAC is not looking West.
Marshall and Appalachia State are the first picks.
AAC East: Temple, ECU, [Marshall], [App State], [], []
AAC West: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy/Wichita
While replacing the mid-Florida pair with the southern-Florida pair is an option, I'm going to push this one toward divisional contiguity and pick Old Dominion and Charlotte
AAC East: Temple, ECU, [Marshall], [App State], [ODU], [UNCC]
AAC West: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy/Wichita
Conference USA lets UAB slide to the East. None of the Sunbelt teams are shaken loose by the raid on the Sunbelt, so they invite up James Madison:
CUSA East: MTSU, WKU, UAB, FIU, FAI, [JMU]
CUSA West: LTech, UNT, Rice, USM, UTEP, UTSA
Leaving the Sunbelt at:
Sunbelt East: Coast Carolina, GA St, GA Southern, Troy, []
Sunbelt West: USA, ULM, LA, ASU, TX St
Sunbelt BBall: UTA, Little Rock
The Sunbelt holds their nose, bites the bullet, and invites Liberty FB-only.
Sunbelt East: Coast Carolina, GA St, GA Southern, Troy, {Liberty FB-only}
Sunbelt West: USA, ULM, LA, ASU, TX St
Sunbelt BBall: UTA, Little Rock
And no, it doesn't "fix the mess". If conference realignment had a tendency to "fix messes", we wouldn't have so many messes right now.
So the Go6 is a pyramid, with one tweener conference, two in a tier below that, and three in a tier below that:
Big12 "East": UWV, [UC], [UCF], [USF], Iowa State, Kansas State
Big12 "West": TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, [BYU], [Boise State]
AAC East: Temple, ECU, [Marshall], [App State], [ODU], [UNCC]
AAC West: Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, Navy/Wichita
MWC Mountain: USAF, CSU, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming, [NMSU]
MWC West: Fresno State, {Hawaii FB-only}, Nevada, UNLV, SDSU, San Jose
MAC East: Buffalo, Kent State, Akron, Ohio, Miami, Bowling Green
MAC West: Toledo, EMU, CMU, WMU, Ball State, NIU
CUSA East: MTSU, WKU, UAB, FIU, FAI, [JMU]
CUSA West: LTech, UNT, Rice, USM, UTEP, UTSA
Sunbelt East: Coast Carolina, GA St, GA Southern, Troy, {Liberty FB-only}
Sunbelt West: USA, ULM, LA, ASU, TX St
Sunbelt BBall: UTA, Little Rock
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