RE: Alternate History: Save the SWC
This would have been way ahead of its time, but I would have approached the Pac 10 for a merger:
North - Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State
Coastal - UCLA, Southern California, California, Stanford
Mountain - Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
South - TCU, SMU, Houston, Rice
This would require some reforms that aren't even in place today with regards to conference championships, but getting everyone a conference game in Texas every year would be huge.
The Big 8/12 replaces Colorado with Colorado State.
The WAC, which lost Utah and Colorado State, and can't invite all of TCU, SMU, and Rice, now no longer has any need to invite Tulsa. The WAC stays at 10 teams for 1996. They add Nevada and Boise State for the 2000 season, forcing Big West football to collapse a year sooner.
Tulsa replaces Houston in Conference USA. Without SMU, Houston, and Rice in 2005, UTEP waita until 2014 to leave the WAC for C-USA in and is replaced by New Mexico State. WKU winds up becoming a permanent replacement for UAB after UAB drops football. UAB re-emerged as a member of the Sun Belt in 2017.
The Sun Belt keeps Louisiana Tech longer, but eventually loses them to C-USA, at which time they finally invite Louisiana-Monroe from FCS.
The Big 12 loses Nebraska to the Big 10, and Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC effective with the 2012 season. They then are able to raid TCU and Houston from the Pac 16 (now Pac 14), and still take West Virginia from the Big East. The Big East responds by inviting SMU and Rice; Temple doesn't leave the Atlantic 10/MAC until 2014. BYU goes independent, and is replaced in the WAC by Utah State in 2012.
|