What would college conferences look like if we started from scratch?
Let’s pretend for a minute that we live in a world where college sports conferences have never existed.
Let’s pretend that every game played to date has been done with every school playing as an independent. They scheduled the same regional rivals every year, but they never officially formed conferences until now.
It’s an interesting exercise because it allows us to break free from groupings that made sense years ago but don’t necessarily make sense now, like Vanderbilt playing in the SEC.
Conferences aren’t only about TV ratings, though that’s certainly the driving force behind most conference moves these days.
On a more basic level, they’re about uniting schools with common interests, such as their views on academics, how many sports to sponsor and how much emphasis to put on football. And, of course, conferences are about how much revenue the schools can generate together.
I tried to imagine how it would play out if conferences never existed before today, but were suddenly allowed to be formed. Here’s what I came up with:
Northeast Conference (10 schools)
Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia
This conference includes a mix of public and private schools that have two things in common: Elite academics and a commitment to success in many sports. They also all draw a ton of students from the heavily-populated region between Boston and Washington, D.C.
These schools’ most recent U.S. News rankings range from No. 9 (Duke) to No. 63 (Penn State and Rutgers). Nine of the 10 schools offer at least 24 sports; the one exception is Maryland (20 sports), which gets a pass for a couple reasons: It’s situated between two major cities in a state that bridges the Northeast and the South Atlantic, and the Terps have a proven track record of success in a whole bunch of men’s and women’s sports.
There’s tremendous revenue potential here with some big-time football brands and top basketball brands, and a presence in a whole bunch of major media markets.
Eastern Conference (10 schools)
Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
Another strong academic conference, this one puts less emphasis on a full athletic department and more emphasis on football (or, in Syracuse’s case, men’s basketball).
These schools’ most recent U.S. News rankings range from No. 28 (Florida) to No. 79. The number of sports they offer ranges from 17 (Georgia Tech) to 23 (NC State).
This conference could offer a bunch of great football match-ups every year, plus it would basically own the entire football-crazed Atlanta market.
Midwest Conference (10 schools)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin
This tight-knit geographic conference is made up of 10 schools that have a lot in common. They’re all midwestern schools, they’re all members of the American Association of Universities, and nine of the 10 fund between 20 and 24 sports. The only one that doesn’t is Kansas (18 sports), but the Jayhawks sneak in thanks to their men’s basketball caché, rivalry with Mizzou, and presence in the Kansas City market.
Fellow AAU member Iowa State, which offers 18 sports, just missed the cut here because it simply doesn’t add anything this conference doesn’t already have.
This group would have a stronghold on several quality media markets and could create great matchups with its strong football and men’s basketball brands.
Southern Conference (12 schools)
North: Arkansas, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
South: Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee
Academics isn’t of the utmost importance to the schools in this conference, as their most-recent U.S. rankings range from No. 99 (Auburn) to No. 187 (Louisville and Oklahoma State). Neither is putting together a full athletic department, as 10 of the 12 sponsor between 18 and 21 sports (Louisville sponsors 23 and Kentucky sponsors 22).
Oklahoma State edged out Mississippi State for the final spot. Mississippi State ranks 196th in the latest U.S. News rankings, fields only 17 sports, and plays in one of the most-remote areas of the country.
This conference could drive major revenue thanks to a bunch of big-time football brands and a few major basketball brands.
Western Conference (12 schools)
East: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Utah
West: California, Oregon, Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Washington
Similar to the Northeast Conference, this conference would host elite academic schools that are committed to success in many sports.
These schools’ most recent U.S. News rankings range from No. 6 (Stanford) to No. 117 (Arizona State). Eleven of the 12 offer at least 20 sports; Colorado (17 sports) slips in thanks to respectable academics and the fact that it’s the flagship school in a state that a lot of these other schools draw students from.
There’s great revenue potential here with some big college football brands, strong Olympic sports, and a presence in almost every major media market west of the Mississippi River.
Scholar’s Conference (9 schools)
Baylor, BYU, Northwestern, Rice, SMU, TCU, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
All nine schools are private schools with strong academics and large endowments. Their most-recent U.S. News rankings range from No. 9 (Northwestern) to No. 83 (TCU). They have a lot in common with each other, but not a lot in common with the large public schools that make up most Division I conferences.
Unlike Duke, Stanford and Notre Dame, which landed in other conferences, these schools don’t have the same commitment to producing a full athletic department. Aside from TCU, which funds 21 sports, the other eight schools fund between 15 and 19.
The brand value of BYU, Northwestern and the Texas schools could create some legitimate revenue opportunities. (And perhaps some other academically-strong private schools, like Georgetown and Villanova, would want to join as non-football playing members.)
Power 5 schools in need of a home (9 schools)
UCF, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Oregon State, Washington State, West Virginia
Most of the schools in this group fall short in academics (only Iowa State and UCF rank better than 162nd in the most-recent U.S. News rankings), and/or field a small athletic department (Iowa State and West Virginia sponsor the most sports, with 18).
Iowa State is clearly the most attractive school in this group, but it has the unfortunate position of being the less attractive of two flagship schools in a remote state with a small population.
