HK3: Scheduling Protocol (2/3)

24 min readJul 19, 2021

The second component of the comprehensive HK3 Proposal for college football is an ongoing regular season scheduling protocol.

The protocol leverages the benefits of conference size uniformity, given the conference realignment structure (HK3 component 1/3) to propose a more symmetrical and efficient conference structure, as well as an innovative framework for establishing intra-Power 6 (P6), intra-Group of 6 (G6), and inter P6-G6 crossovers.

In so doing, it would provide sensible standardization (both rhyme and reason) to major non-conference matchups, representing a deviation from the current arbitrary regime.

The regular season protocol would immediately precede (and populate) the revised postseason format (HK3 component 3/3).

The Regular Season

In all years, the college football regular season would start 91 days prior to Thanksgiving.

In the majority of years in which Labor Day Monday and Thanksgiving fall 80 days apart, college football would begin with a select number of Week 0 Showcase Games on Thursday/Saturday. Week 1, the official start of the season, would subsequently take place the following weekend, coinciding with Labor Day Weekend. In such years, all teams would play 10 games in the first 11 weeks of the season. In week 12, all teams would have a bye except for Army and Navy. Weeks 14–15 is conference championship week, as explained below in 1. Conference Games.

A summary is as follows:

Week 0 — Select Regular Season Showcase Games
Week 1 — Regular Season Kickoff Weekend (Labor Day Weekend)
Weeks 2–12 — Regular Season (Week 12: Army-Navy Game)
Week 13 — Regular Season Rivalry Week (Thanksgiving)
Weeks 14–15 — Regular Season Championship Week

In years which Labor Day Monday and Thanksgiving fall 87 days apart, there would be no Week 0 Showcase games; all teams would begin their seasons Labor Day Weekend, spanning from Thursday to Monday night (NFL season starts the following Thursday). In such years, each team would have 3 byes (2 in Weeks 1–12 + Week 13) as there is an extra week between college football’s anchor holiday weekends. The regular season schedule, including the italicized postseason, is as follows:

Week 1 — Regular Season Kickoff Weekend (Labor Day Weekend)
Weeks 2–13 — Regular Season (Week 13: Army-Navy Game)
Week 14 — Regular Season Rivalry Week (Thanksgiving)
Weeks 15–16 — Regular Season Championship Week

* Note — all references to weeks below reference the more common 80 day LDM / Thanksgiving interval.

P6 Scheduling Formula

14 weeks
12 games for all 72 teams
I. 8 (+1) conference games (9 total)
II. P6-P6 crossover game (1)
III. P6-P6 rotational crossover game (1)
IV. P6-G6 crossover game (1)

G6 Scheduling Formula

14 weeks
12 games for all 72 teams
I. 8 (+1) conference games (9 total games)
IV. P6-G6 crossover game (1)
V. G6-G6 crossover game (1)
VI. G6 Game 12 (1)

Incorporated into the formulas are Week 13 Rivalries (W13R), largely in-state games. At the P6 level, these W13R games are accounted for in either I (54/72), II (13/72), or IV (5/72). At the G6 level, the W13R games are accounted for in either I (58/72), IV (6/72), V (6/72), or VI (2/72).

Based on the pre-determined start date, Week 13 would always fall on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Since 2009, the Army-Navy game has been held the weekend following conference championship weekend as a standalone game; however, now that this game would be a BEAST conference game, it moves slightly forward in the calendar. As opposed to putting it in W13R, a week saturated with rivalry games, Army Navy would be held the weekend before Thanksgiving weekend as the standalone marquee game in that late-November weekend.

Warning: Below comprises, what most would consider, characteristically dry reading — if merely interested in overall conceptual framework, consider continuing to Part 3.

I. Conference Games

All teams would play 8 (+1) conference games, for a total of 9. Five conference games are annual, mimicking the feel of divisional play without the actual existence of divisions. Each team would play half (3/6) of their remaining conference opponents each year on an A-B-C rotational basis, whereas each team has 2As, 2Bs, 2Cs. Each team would:

A: Play both As every other year (alternating one home/one away)

B: Play both Bs every other year (alternating one home/one away)

C: Play one C in back-to-back years (home/away); then play the other C in back-to-back years (home/away)

The purpose of the back-to-back Cs is to balance the eight conference games into four homes/four aways. For example, if 3/5 of a team’s annual conference games are at home, the C game is away.

The result is four permutations for each team. Over a four year period, each team would play their two As, two Bs, and two Cs both home and away, once each. No team can not play a conference opponent over a three year span.

Therefore, over a standard four year college period, each school is guaranteed to host and visit every conference opponent at least once.

Every team would play their eight conferences games within Weeks 1–13. Post-Week 13 conference standings establish the matchups for Week 14–15 (Regular Season Championship Week), the +1 games, as such:

1 vs. 2 ([Neutral site] Conference Championship Games)
3 vs. 4
5 vs. 6
7 vs. 8
9 vs. 10
11 vs. 12

Two weeks are allocated for Championship Week to enable a conference(s) to schedule its 3–12 games on Week 14 and its Championship Game on Week 15. The reason to split would be to cut down on the massive gap between conference championships and NY6 bowl games that currently exists. Non-championship game teams would presumably be playing earlier bowl games, with the conference championship contenders playing end-of-year bowl games.

The locations of Week 14 games, except for the conference championship games, are determined, considering all reasonable and relevant factors, as follows:

1 — If there is an at least two game disparity in total number of home games (e.g. 5H/6A vs 7H/4A), the team with lesser home games played would host.
2 — If no such disparity, if the Week 14 game is a rematch, the away team from the earlier matchup would host.
3 — If not a rematch, if there is a one-game disparity in the number of home games, the team with one less home game played would host.
4 — If no such disparity, the higher (better) seed, pursuant to conference standings criteria, would host.

Proposed Sequential Tiebreaking Criteria

2 Teams

Head-to-head
Record against common opponents
Combined record of conference teams played (strength of record)
Last win between the two tied teams

3 (or more) Teams

Every time a team(s) wins or loses outright the multiple team tiebreak, that team(s) is extricated from the tiebreaking procedure (either above or below remaining teams). If multiple teams are extricated, they start separate tiebreaker anew. If three tiers emerge in a single tiebreaking step, separate tiebreakers are to be run anew at each tier. When down to two teams, proceed to two-team tiebreaker.

Combined winning percentage against tied teams
Combined winning percentage against common opponents (all teams must have played)
Record of two-team tiebreaking procedure amongst all tied teams (running all combinations of two-team tiebreakers between tied teams)
Combined winning percentage against common opponents (at least two teams must have played)
Combined record of conference teams played
Combined point margin in all games

Championship Games: As there are now 12 FBS conferences, there would be 12 conference championship games, representing the 12th regular season game played for each team. These games would occur in Week 14 (final week of the regular season), on what is guaranteed to be the first weekend in December (as Thanksgiving falls between November 22–28).

Below are the proposed Week 14/15 Conference Championship Games:

SEC Championship Game (#1 SEC vs. #2 SEC) — Atlanta, GA
B1G Championship Game (#1 B1G vs. #2 B1G) — Indianapolis, IN
* P12 Championship Game (#1 P12 vs. #2 P12) — Paradise, NV / Inglewood, CA
ACC Championship Game (#1 ACC vs. #2 ACC) — Charlotte, NC
B12 Championship Game (#1 B12 vs. #2 B12) — Arlington, TX
BEAST Championship (#1 BEAST vs. #2 BEAST) — East Rutherford, NJ / Miami, FL
SBT Championship Game (#1 SBT vs. #2 SBT) — New Orleans, LA
MAC Championship Game (#1 MAC vs. #2 MAC) — Detroit, MI
* MWC Championship Game (#1 MVS vs. #2 MVC) — Glendale, AZ / Paradise, NV
AAC Championship Game (#1 AAC vs. #2 AAC) — Nashville, TN
SWC Championship Game (#1 SWC vs. #2 SWC) — Houston, TX
SKY Championship Game (#1 SKY vs. #2 SKY) — Minneapolis, MN

* P12 and MVC alternate playing in Paradise, NV

The results of Week 14 games establish the final conference standings; however, teams cannot fall outside of the corresponding rankings to the game it played in. For example, the winner of the 5–6 game is the 5th ranked team in the final standings; the loser is 6th. As a result, it would not be uncommon for a 7th ranked team to have a better final record, yet lower ranking, than the 6th ranked team.

Finally, Week 14 determines both the matchups and locations for the following season’s P6 rotational crossover games (III). Within III, as further detailed below, the 1s host the 2s, 3s host the 4s…resulting in great excitement as matchups for the following season are determined in live time, while introducing a unique Week 14 incentive — the winners earn an additional home game for the following season.

Below are the summaries of games II-VI within the P6/G6 scheduling formulas. Greater detail is provided in each conference’s scheduling protocol page.

II. P6-P6 Crossover Games

The P6 conferences are paired for an annual series of crossover games, which could/should be accompanied by conference rivalry trophies. When there are an odd number of games between the conferences, the most wins would win the crossover series. Like the Ryder Cup, when there is an even number of such matchups, a tie would result in the reigning champion retaining the crossover trophy.

The pairings, and number of such annual crossovers are:

SEC — ACC (10)
Big 10 — Big 12 (10/11) — The BIG Trophy
Pac-12 — Big East (7/8) — The Coastal Trophy

There are seven annual games, which for lack of fit elsewhere, would usurp the P6 crossover. These 10 P6 teams (italicizations indicate G6, parentheses indicate non-FBS), as a result, do not participate in the P6 crossover rotation.

Kentucky — Louisville
Notre Dame — USC
BYU — Utah State
Maryland — Navy
TCU — SMU
Rutgers — Princeton (151)
Temple — Pennsylvania (150)

The net effect of these seven games is the creation of two annual displacement games, due to imbalances between nonparticipating teams within each P6 crossover pairing. Displacement matchups, as well as the incipient rivalries proposed in the protocol for each, are:

SEC vs. Pac-12: Vanderbilt vs. Stanford; Tennessee vs. UCLA
Big 10 vs. Pac-12: Northwestern vs. Stanford; Illinois vs. UCLA

Both Stanford and UCLA would alternate between their two matchups, playing each in back-to-back years. For example, in the sample schedules, Stanford plays Vanderbilt in 2022/23 and Northwestern in 2024/25.

When not playing in the SEC-P12 displacement game, Vanderbilt/ Tennessee are scheduled to play Duke (substitute matchups for half the Vanderbilt/Tennessee vs Duke matchups [Tennessee vs North Carolina; Vanderbilt vs Virginia] are proposed in SEC). When not playing in the B1G-P12 displacement game, Northwestern/Illinois would play the Big 12.

Scheduling note: Displacement matchups cannot duplicate P6 rotational crossover games (III). In such a case, an adjustment to III games takes place (via rotational replacement games), in which the teams (evens or odds) within 1–4, 5–9, or 9–12 are switched. For example, if Tennessee were scheduled to play UCLA as a SEC-P12 rotational (#5 SEC vs. #6 P12) and displacement game (as is the case in 2025 in the sample SEC/P12 schedules), Tennessee switches with #7 SEC (Florida) in the SEC-P12 rotational.

Furthermore, there are three biennial and quadrennial matchups which alter the number of B1G-B12 and P12-BEAST matchups. Every other year, Penn State would play Pittsburgh or Syracuse in an alternating order. In those years, Colorado and Utah would contest the Rumble in the Rockies. Thus every other year, the number of B1G-B12 and P12-BEAST matchups would decrease from 11 and 8 to 10 and 7 respectively.

P6 crossover scheduling is accomplished via a group system (SEC v. ACC) or a pod system (B1G v. B12, B12 v. BEAST).

In group scheduling, all teams are labeled as either G-Even or G-Odd, denoting which years the teams would play their P6 crossover games at home. The G-Evens and G-Odds would then play each other on a rotational basis.

In pod scheduling, all teams are arranged into pods, which in addition to playing teams on a rotational basis, the pods too rotate. The rationale for the double rotation is to equitably distribute home games amongst the conferences, versus having one entire conference host the other.

In group scheduling, the sequential pattern is twice as long as the number of teams involved to ensure every matchup contains both locations (home/away), in accordance with all even/odd groupings.

Similarly, in pod scheduling, the pod sequence is twice as long as the team sequence; the second half of the pod sequence is a direct inverse of the first half.

Below are the conference-specific P6 crossover protocols (each individual conference scheduling page features greater detail):

SEC/ACC: There are three fixed matchups (Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, South Carolina-Clemson) between the two conferences. Three SEC/ACC teams play matchups which usurp the crossover game, and thus do not participate: Kentucky (vs. Louisville), Maryland (vs. Navy) and Notre Dame (vs. USC). Finally Tennessee and Vanderbilt alternate between the SEC-P12 displacement game and Duke.

Remaining are six teams from both the SEC (Auburn [1], Alabama [2], Mississippi State [3], Ole Miss [4], LSU [5], Arkansas[6]) and ACC (Miami [1], Wake Forest [2], Virginia Tech [3], Virginia [4], North Carolina [5], NC State[6]).

SEC teams 1–5 would play the ACC teams on a rotational basis in the following 12-digit repetitive sequence (6 [Arkansas] would play teams consecutively]): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5… Starting with:

1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5…
2: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3, 6…
3: 6, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 3…
4: 3, 6, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4…
5: 4, 3, 6, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1…
6: 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 1, 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 2…

ACC teams play SEC teams in the following 12-digit repetitive sequence: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Starting with:

1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
2: 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
3: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3…
4: 5, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4…
5: 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1…
6: 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2…

B1G/B12: There are two fixed matchups (Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa State-Kansas State) between the two conferences, as well as one P6-G6 matchup that usurps the P6 crossover game (TCU-SMU). Finally, Illinois and Northwestern alternate between the B1G-P12 displacement game and a B12 crossover.

Remaining are nine teams from the Big 12 and 10 from the Big Ten, with Illinois and Northwestern sharing a spot (whichever team is not represented in the B1G-P12 displacement game — Big Ten pod 2 ensures an alternating home and away for optimal displacement purposes). The two conferences are broken into the following pods:

B1G–1: Michigan State (1), Ohio State (2), Penn State (3)
B1G–2: Indiana (4), Purdue (5), Illinois/Northwestern (6)
B1G–3: Michigan (7), Minnesota (8), Wisconsin (9)
B12–1: Texas (1), Texas A&M (2), Texas Tech (3)
BI2-2: Baylor (4), Oklahoma (5), Oklahoma State (6)
BI2-3: Colorado (7), Kansas (8), Missouri (9)

The 9-year team rotations (same for both conferences), as well as 18-year pod rotations (home/away) are as follows:

1s: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…
2s: 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 9, 7, 8…
3s: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4, 8, 9, 7…
4s: 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
5s: 9, 7, 8, 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5…
6s: 8, 9, 7, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4…
7s: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3…
8s: 6, 4, 5, 9, 7, 8, 3, 1, 2…
9s: 5, 6, 4, 8, 9, 7, 2, 3, 1…
B1G–1: HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA…
B1G–2: AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH…
B1G–3: HAH-AHH-AAH-AHA-HAA-HHA…
B12–1: AHA-AHA-HHA-HAH-HAH-AAH…
B12–2: AHA-HAH-HAH-HAH-AHA-AHA…
B12–3: HAH-HAA-AHA-AHA-AHH-HAH…

In all years that Penn State and Colorado are not participating, their would-be opponents, according to the scheduling protocol, would play in their stead.

P12/Beast: There are six matchups which usurp the P6 crossover game within this pair of conferences: BYU (vs. Utah State), USC (vs. Notre Dame), Louisville (vs. Kentucky), Navy (vs. Maryland), Rutgers (vs. Princeton) and Temple (vs. Pennsylvania). Furthermore, both Stanford (Vanderbilt/Northwestern) and UCLA (Tennessee/Illinois) alternate matchups in the P12’s annual two displacement games with the SEC and B1G.

Remaining are eight teams in both the P12 and BEAST, allocated into the following pods:

P12–1: Washington (1), Washington State (2)
P12–2: Oregon (3), Oregon State (4)
P12–3: California (5), Utah (6)
P12–4: Arizona (7), Arizona State (8)
BST-1: Boston College (1), Syracuse (2)
BST-2: Pittsburgh (3), West Virginia (4)
BST-3: Army (5), Cincinnati (6)
BST-4: Central Florida (7), South Florida (8)

The 8-year team rotations (same for both conferences), as well as 16-year pod rotations (home/away) are as follows:

1s: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…
2s: 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 8, 7…
3s: 8, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
4s: 7, 8, 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5…
5s: 6, 5, 8, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4…
6s: 5, 6, 7, 8, 2, 1, 4, 3…
7s: 4, 3, 6, 5, 8, 7, 1, 2…
8s: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 2, 1…
P12–1: HA-HA-AH-AH-AH-AH-HA-HA…
P12–2: HA-AH-HA-AH-AH-HA-AH-HA…
P12–3: AH-HA-AH-HA-HA-AH-HA-AH…
P12–4: AH-AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-AH-AH…
BST-1: AH-HA-HA-AH-HA-AH-AH-HA…
BST-2: HA-AH-AH-AH-AH-HA-HA-HA…
BST-3: HA-HA-HA-HA-AH-AH-AH-AH…
BST-4: AH-AH-AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-AH…

III. P6-P6 Rotational Crossover Games

Each P6 conference would rotate between four P6 conferences, excluding its annual P6 crossover, for an all-conference top-down series of games. For example, the SEC, which plays the ACC annually, would play the B1G, B12, P12 and the BEAST once every four years.

The P6 rotational crossover runs counter to II and IV. As opposed to rotating matchups against fixed conferences, these matchups are predetermined, by the prior season’s order of conference finish (1s play the 2s, 3s play the 4s…) against rotational conferences.

For all matchups, the higher (better) seed is the home team. As a result, not only do Week 14 matchups determine the P6 rotational crossovers for the following season, they are competed for an additional home game.

The only exception to the P6 Rotational Crossover is the Notre Dame — Navy game, which has been played annually, spare the 2020-COVID season, since 1927, making it the third-longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football. Including when the ACC and BEAST are paired in the P6 rotational, their would-be matchups would play instead (Notre Dame-Navy Adjustment Game).

For example, below is a P6-P6 rotational crossover series between the SEC and Big East (assumes Navy finished 3rd).

#2 BEAST @ #1 SEC; #2 SEC @ #1 BEAST
#4 BEAST @ #3 SEC; #4 SEC (tbd) would-be opponent of Notre Dame
#6 BEAST @ #5 SEC; #6 SEC @ #5 BEAST
#8 BEAST @ #7 SEC; #8 SEC @ #7 BEAST
#10 BEAST @ #9 SEC; #10 SEC @ #9 BEAST
#12 BEAST @ #11 SEC; #12 SEC @ #11 BEAST

Scheduling Note: If both teams in the (ND-Navy) adjustment game were to be home (or away), a simple tiebreaker takes place: the lesser number of scheduled home games would be the home team. If tied, the record against any common opponents from the prior season. If none, coin toss.

IV. P6-G6 Crossover Games

P6 conferences would each be paired with an affiliate G6 conference, largely on geographic lines (spare the Big East/Sky) for a series of annual crossover games, which would primarily fall in early-September, or Week 12. The pairings, and (maximum) number of such annual crossovers are:

SEC — Sun Belt (10)
Big 10 — Mid-American (9)
Pac-12 — Mountain West (10)
ACC — American Athletic (10)
Big 12 — Southwest (10)
Big East — Big Sky (6)

P6 Home Games: These games default as home games for the P6, which would ensure that a good majority of all P6 teams have more home games than away games. In turn, the G6 has room in their schedules (VI) to similarly schedule FCS home games across the board.

Thus, these IV games establish a framework for P6 teams to guarantee a home game, and would undo the undue leverage that FCS schools, those willing to play games they have zero chance to win in exchange for athletic budget funding, maintain over the P6 schools in search of a home game, often resulting in seven-figure payouts.

Take for example Boston College over Howard 76–0, a game which Boston College paid Howard $350,000 to outgain its heavily overmatched opponent 483–11. These games do nothing for the sport, and should be phased out.

The structure proposed herein instead ensures the P6 teams a guaranteed home game without the uncouth bidding wars.

Note: Athletic budget funding for FCS schools is undoubtedly an unmet need. Though not explored in this HK3 proposal, a more suitable way for upper tier college football teams to help fund FCS programs would be the continued establishment of conference verticals, to create downstream pipelines for some revenue sharing. For example, the SEC/Sun Belt/SWAC…HK3 2.0 could take on such an endeavor.

Alternate Games: The P6/G6 also represents an allowance for customization within the schedule. A P6 team can schedule an alternate game and forego the G6 crossover (and potentially a home game).

By foregoing a G6 crossover game, the P6 team would forge a vacancy in its affiliate G6 conference to similarly schedule elsewhere.

For example, if Florida and Miami were to schedule an alternate game every other year as proposed in the protocol, to actualize the three-way Florida Cup rivalry, scheduling vacancies would be forged for both an SBT and AAC team. Or, if South Carolina and/or Clemson were to schedule an FCS Palmetto State team, as per custom, it would similarly forge vacancies in the same G6 conferences.

Scheduling an alternate game could present a tradeoff. For example, if Georgia and Clemson were to schedule a home-and-home series, both would forego two G6-P6 crossovers and one home game. Yet would Georgia hosting Clemson more than offset two home games against Georgia State and Troy?

The location of alternate games would be determined by rotation, by terms of a negotiated multi-season series, or by the participating schools.

Notre Dame: As part of special scheduling privileges granted to Notre Dame to join a conference, it is assumed that Notre Dame would forego the G6 crossover on an annual basis to schedule an additional rival, such as Michigan, Michigan State or Stanford. For this reason, Notre Dame’s G6 crossover is labeled Choice Game.

Scheduling Process: As mentioned, P6-G6 crossover is a framework for the P6 to guarantee a home game without needing to pay FCS teams seven-figure guarantee fees. For the G6, these games represent the opportunity to punch up.

These games are defaulted to occur, unless the P6 team opts out via an alternate game.

As it is unknowable how many such P6-G6 crossovers would occur on an annual basis, no such scheduling protocol is offered. If for example, there are eight games to be played between the SEC and Sun Belt, eight games would be scheduled sans protocol.

Below are the P6-G6 crossovers. Though P6 teams can/would schedule sporadic alternate games, P6 teams are shown in their default positions. Some P6 teams have proposed alternate games with varying frequencies.

SEC: 10 SBT, 1 SWC, 0.5 B12, 0.5 ACC
B1G: 8.5 MAC, 3 SKY, 0.5 B12
P12: 10 MWC, 2 SKY
ACC: 10 AAC, 1 SBT (ND N/A)
B12: 9.5 SWC, 1 MWC, 0.5 SEC, 0.5 B1G, 0.5 SBT
BEAST: 6 SKY, 2 MAC, 2 MWC, 2 AAC
SBT: 10 SEC, 1 ACC, 0.5 B12, 0.5 FCS
MAC: 8.5 B1G, 2 BEAST, 1 SKY, 0.5 FCS
MWC: 10 P12, 2 BEAST, 1 B12, 1 SWC (14 total, see below)
AAC: 10 ACC, 2 BEAST
SWC: 9.5 B12, 1 SEC, 1 MWC, 0.5 FCS
SKY: 6 BEAST, 3 B1G, 2 P12, 1 MAC

SEC-Sun Belt: There are eight SEC teams defaulted against the SBT on an annual basis: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

For the purposes of preservation and renewal of historic rivalries, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU are all proposed to play SBT teams every other year.

In even years, Florida would play Miami, while LSU would play Tulane. In odd years, Ole Miss would play Memphis, while Arkansas would alternate between Texas and Texas A&M.

These biennual recurring matchups would alternate locations. Thus when combining with the two default SBT matchups, each of these four teams would play 3/4 of their IV games at home.

Altogether, these four teams represent 2 annual games to the SBT, and one half to both the B12 and SWC.

There are a maximum of nine total SEC-SBT games, depending on the number of additionally scheduled SEC alternate games. In the sample scheduling, there are some proposed non-recurring alternate games.

The SBT would also play one game against the ACC and a 0.5 against the Big 12 (the result of the SEC’s two non-affiliate crossovers with the Southwest). In even years, the SBT would play a B12 school. In odd years, the SBT-B12 game is displaced by Arkansas playing Texas/Texas A&M, and replaced by an SBT-FCS game.

In such years, one of four SBT teams would add an FCS rival: Louisiana (vs. Lamar/McNeese State/Southeastern Louisiana), Louisiana-Monroe (vs. Northwestern State), Troy (vs. Jacksonville State), Western Kentucky (vs. Eastern Kentucky/Murray State).

Big Ten-Mid American: There are eight Big Ten teams defaulted against the MAC on an annual basis: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue.

There are three proposed annual non-affiliate crossovers between the B1G and Big Sky, as both Minnesota and Wisconsin rotate between North Dakota/North Dakota State/South Dakota/South Dakota State, while Iowa and Iowa State alternate a matchup with Northern Iowa.

When not playing Northern Iowa, Iowa would play the MAC, while Iowa State would play Missouri.

There are a maximum of 8–9 total B1G-MAC games, depending both on the availability of Iowa and the number of additionally scheduled B1G alternate games. When Iowa State plays Missouri, as opposed to the MAC, Ball State would play Indiana State.

The MAC would also play two games against the Big East, as Miami (OH) plays Cincinnati, and Buffalo alternates between Syracuse and Temple.

Finally, the MAC would play one non-P6 game against the Big Sky (Southern Illinois), as a partial offset to the three B1G-Big Sky games.

Pac 12-Mountain West: There are a maximum of 10 P12-MWC annual games, depending on the number of scheduled P12 alternate games.

Two such game are fixed annual rivalry games:

BYU vs. Hawaii
Utah vs. Utah State (Beehive Boot)

Unavailable to the Pac-12 are Air Force and Colorado State, which would play Army/Navy (BEAST) and Colorado (B12) respectively.

Remaining are 10 teams from the P12 (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State) to play eight teams from the MWC (Boise State, Fresno State, New Mexico, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming).

Of the eight P12-MWC matchups, two are proposed on a biennual basis (with the option available to the participating teams to convert the matchup to annual):

Arizona vs. New Mexico
Stanford vs. San Jose State

Absorbing the remainder, there would be two annual P12-Big Sky matchups, skewing to the Northern contingent of the P12, one of which is proposed on a biennual basis:

Washington State vs. Idaho (Battle of the Palouse)

Altogether, the Mountain West would absorb a maximum of 14 games allocated to the P6-G6 crossover game, including the aforementioned 10 from the Pac-12.

The MWC also adds two from the Big East (Air Force vs. Army and Navy), one from the Big 12 (Colorado State vs. Colorado) and one from the Southwest (New Mexico vs. New Mexico State).

Part of the reason the MWC absorbs 14 is that the conference is uniquely involved in two triangular FBS rivalries: Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy (Air Force, Army, Navy) and the Beehive Boot (BYU, Utah, Utah State).

ACC-AAC: As previously mentioned, Notre Dame does not participate in the P6-GC crossover. As a result, there are a maximum of 11 ACC teams available.

The remaining 11 ACC teams are defaulted, 10 of which would play the AAC, while one would play the SBT.

The AAC thus would then play 10 against the ACC, less scheduled alternates. Its remaining two teams have fixed non-affiliate crossovers with the Big East: Massachusetts vs. Boston College, Marshall vs. West Virginia.

Big 12-Southwest: There are eight Big 12 teams which default on an annual basis: Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State (fixed against Tulsa), TCU and Texas Tech.

Not included as defaults are Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M. Colorado plays Colorado State (MWC) in a fixed non-affiliate crossover.

Missouri, which would play Iowa State every other year, defaults biennually (effectively adding 0.5 default).

Texas and Texas A&M would alternate between playing Arkansas on all odd years. Thus on odd years, one defaults; on even years, both default (effectively adding 1.5 defaults).

Altogether, there are 10 Big 12 defaults, of which 0.5 are played against the Sun Belt (one in odd years, zero in even).

The remaining 9.5 defaults are against the Southwest Conference, which means that there is a maximum of 9/10 games between the B12 and SWC. Accounting for the 0.5, when Missouri plays Iowa State, Missouri State would play Southeast Missouri State (FCS).

Finally, the SWC has three fixed non-affiliate G6-P6 games against the SEC/MWC: Memphis (vs. Ole Miss), New Mexico State (vs. New Mexico) and Tulane (vs. LSU). These games comprise 2 annual games.

BEAST-SKY: The least of all P6-G6 affiliations, there is a maximum of six games between the BEAST and SKY, suitable given the conferences center on opposite coasts.

The six BEAST teams which default are Central Florida, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, and whichever team (of Syracuse/Temple) does not play Buffalo.

There are seven SKY teams which default: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Portland State and the two teams (of North Dakota/North Dakota State/South Dakota/South Dakota State) which don’t play Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In addition to the fixed non-affiliate crossover between Idaho and Washington State, one additional SKY default would play the P12.

Three SKY teams would play the B1G: two of North Dakota/North Dakota State/South Dakota/South Dakota State against Minnesota/Wisconsin, and Northern Iowa (vs. Iowa/Iowa State).

Finally, Southern Illinois plays a rotational MAC team.

V. G6–G6 Crossover Games

Similar to II, G6 conferences would be paired for an annual series of crossover games, which could/should be accompanied by conference rivalry trophies. The pairings, and number of such annual crossovers are:

SBT / SWC (11)
MAC / AAC (11)
MWC / SKY (12)

There are three games which usurp the position of the G6-G6 crossover game, thus preventing all three matchups from having 12 annual games:

Georgia Southern (SBT) vs. Appalachian State (AAC)
Akron (MAC) vs. Youngstown State (FCS)
SMU (SWC) vs. TCU (B12)

Furthermore, there are four games which are fixed within the G6-G6 crossovers.

Arkansas State (SBT) vs. Memphis (SWC)
Louisiana Tech (SBT) vs. Tulane (SWC)
Ohio (MAC) vs. Marshall (AAC)
Boise State (MWC) vs. Idaho (SKY)

SBT-SWC: Per above, there are three SBT teams (Arkansas State, Georgia Southern and Louisiana Tech) and three SWC teams (Memphis, SMU and Tulane) which have fixed matchups, either as part of the SBT-SWC or not.

Remaining are nine teams from both the SBT and SWC. The two conferences are broken into the following pods:

SBT–1: Louisiana (1), Louisiana-Monroe (2), Southern Mississippi (3)
SBT–2: UAB (4), South Alabama (5), Troy (6)
SBT–3: Georgia State (7), Middle Tennessee State (8), Western Kentucky (9)
SWC–1: Houston (1), Rice (2), Texas State (3)
SWC-2: New Mexico State (4), UTEP (5), UTSA (6)
SWC-3: North Texas (7), Tulsa (8), Missouri State (9)

The 9-year team rotations (same for both conferences), as well as 18-year pod rotations (home/away) are as follows:

1s: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…
2s: 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 9, 7, 8…
3s: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4, 8, 9, 7…
4s: 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
5s: 9, 7, 8, 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5…
6s: 8, 9, 7, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4…
7s: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3…
8s: 6, 4, 5, 9, 7, 8, 3, 1, 2…
9s: 5, 6, 4, 8, 9, 7, 2, 3, 1…
B1G–1: HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA…
B1G–2: AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH-AHA-HAH…
B1G–3: HAH-AHH-AAH-AHA-HAA-HHA…
B12–1: AHA-AHA-HHA-HAH-HAH-AAH…
B12–2: AHA-HAH-HAH-HAH-AHA-AHA…
B12–3: HAH-HAA-AHA-AHA-AHH-HAH…

VI. G6 Game 12

With just three exceptions of the 72 G6 teams, Game 12 represents an open week for scheduling flexibility, be it against the P6, G6 or FCS.

Most commonly, the G6 schools would reach out to the FCS to schedule a home game.

Air Force, Utah State and New Mexico are the three G6 teams with fully committed 12 game schedules. As both Air Force (Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy) and Utah State (Beehive Boot) are part of triangular rivalries with two P6 schools, one such game occupies the Game 12 spot.

Meanwhile, the Rio Grande Rivalry between New Mexico and New Mexico State is preserved. For New Mexico State, the game occupies the P6-G6 crossover spot; however, for New Mexico, it falls as Game 12, as New Mexico maintains its other significant rivalry against Arizona in the P6-G6 spot.

Sample Schedules:

For sample four-year schedules for each of the realigned 12 FBS conferences, click: SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Sun Belt, Mid-American, Mountain West, American Athletic, Southwest, and Big Sky.

Scheduling Protocol Summaries:

Non-FBS teams above: (150) Pennsylvania, (151) Princeton, (160) Indiana State, (164) Southeast Missouri State, (168) Youngstown State

Summary:

The foundational intention of HK3 is to avert several undesirable changes percolating within college football, chiefly the consolidation of conferences and tripling of the college football playoff, via the introduction of the synergistic proposals to college football: conference realignment structure, ongoing scheduling protocol, and revised postseason format.

This scheduling protocol is dependent upon the conference realignment structure, but then enabling of the enactment of the proposed two-phased BCS-CFB postseason.

Together with the revised postseason, the HK3 scheduling protocol would achieve that which an expanded postseason strives to achieve, but within the confines of what makes college football unique and exceptional — the regular season and bowl system.