Redesigning College Football Conferences
As a relatively new college football fan, I had to learn about the very confusing “power 5 conferences”. These five conferences vary in size from ten to fourteen teams, and while they’re loosely based on geography (The SEC for the South, the Big 10 or “B1G” for the Midwest/Mid-Atlantic, the Big 12 for the Mid/Southwest, the PAC 12 for the West, and the ACC for all around the East Coast), there’s a lot of contradictions. Why does the Big 12 have just 10 teams? Why does the Big 10 have 14 teams? Why are there independent teams? How in the heck is West Virginia in the same conference as Texas? Enough is enough! I’m going to redesign the power 5 conferences, in order to make much more sense. Here are my guidelines going in:
- Make geographical sense. Since these conferences were designed to have specific regions in the first place, I want to fix the errors that NCAA has made over the years.
- Create compelling match-ups. Since the teams in their own conferences have to play each other every year, it makes sense to create the best rivalries possible. I wanted to keep historical rivalries going strong, while also celebrating new ones in the process.
- Since these conferences are so large, I’m doing what many of them do already, and divide them further into two divisions (ie. 7 teams in the SEC east, 7 teams in the SEC west). Those divisions will always play each other annually, along with one other team from the other division within the conference annually (the school in the parenthesis), and other schools in the opposite division on a rotational basis. I know this sounds confusing, but it will make sense when you see it.
- Generate cash. Since the sports industry boils down to a business, I want to make sure all five of the conferences make a good deal of cash, to keep things fair. Be on the look out for the media markets of each conference, and you’ll see what I mean.
- Do away with the independent teams. They create an unfair advantage by letting a select few play whoever they want. Not in my conference realignment!
For reference, her’s what the current Power 5 landscape looks like:
I see a lot of room for improvement. With all of that out of the way, lets get started. We begin with the new PAC 12…
The new PAC 12:
PAC 12 North —
Oregon (Arizona)
Oregon St. (Arizona St)
Washington (SDSU)
Washington St. (BYU)
Stanford (USC)
Cal Berkeley (UCLA)
PAC 12 South —
USC (Stanford)
UCLA (Cal)
Arizona (Oregon)
Arizona St. (Oregon St.)
San Diego St. (Washington)
Brigham Young (Washington St.)
What’s new — I removed Colorado and Utah, and replaced them with San Diego St. and Brigham Young University.
Why — Geographically, having Colorado and Utah in the Pacific 12 made so little sense, so it was an easy choice to give them the ax. I added San Diego St. from the lower ranked Mountain West conference, because they’re often a good team playing in a huge media market. Adding the Aztecs made too much sense to not do. Brigham Young was a trickier. Removing them from their independent status was good, but I couldn’t find a great conference for them given they’re remote location and they’re religious beliefs. The PAC 12 seemed like the only logical place for them in the Power 5, so they’re awkwardly placed here. But hey, nothing says West Coast politics like conservative Mormonism!!!
Other schools in consideration — UN Las Vegas, Hawaii, Boise St. Moving onto the Big 12…
The new Big 12:
Big 12 North —
Utah (Houston)
Colorado (TCU)
Kansas (Texas A&M)
Kansas St. (Baylor)
Nebraska (Texas)
Oklahoma St. (Oklahoma)
Big 12 South —
Oklahoma (Oklahoma St.)
Texas (Nebraska)
Texas A&M (Kansas)
Texas Christian (Colorado)
Baylor (Kansas st.)
Houston (Utah)
What’s new — I made the Big 12 have 12 teams again! I added Colorado and Utah from the PAC 12, brought back Nebraska after their stint in the B1G and Texas A&M from the SEC, and brought in Houston from the AAC. In order to have room for all of this, I had to relocate West Virginia and Iowa St., and I demoted Texas Tech away to a lower conference.
Why — Besides having the conference having 12 schools again, I wanted to put Texas’ top five NCAA programs into one conference for ultimate Lone Star showdowns. That’s why Texas A&M is back, and Houston was elevated to the power 5 after their terrific season last year. Colorado and Utah feel more at home here in Middle America then in the PAC 12, as does Nebraska. I know the Big 12 South makes Oklahoma look like the misfit toy; but remember that Oklahoma’s rivalry with Texas schools is huge, plus they still play Oklahoma St. every year under these guidelines. The Big 12 North looks a bit too spread out for my taste, but that's what happens when Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah are so isolated from over universities. Overall, I think this new Big 12 succeeds both geographically and having a good line up of teams.
Other schools in consideration — Texas Tech, BYU, New Mexico, Southern Methodist, North Dakota St. Now onto the new SEC…
The new SEC:
SEC East —
Florida (LSU)
Florida St. (Ole Miss)
Georgia (Alabama)
South Carolina (Arkansas)
North Carolina St. (Mississippi St.)
Clemson (Auburn)
Vanderbilt (Tennessee)
SEC West —
Tennessee (Vanderbilt)
Alabama (Georgia)
Auburn (Clemson)
Ole Miss (Florida St.)
Mississippi St. (NC St.)
Louisiana St. (Florida)
Arkansas (South Carolina)
What’s new — I added North Carolina St., Clemson, and Florida St. from the ACC, in order to replace Kentucky, Missouri, and the aforementioned Texas A&M. The SEC east has all three new teams, and I moved Tennessee to the SEC West to replace Texas A&M.
Why — Holy moly, what geographical harmony! Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas A&M always looked so geographically mismatched to me, so adding three schools from Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina was a joy. The match-ups make a lot of sense too. Florida St. matches up great with Florida, as does Clemson with South Carolina, and Tennessee with the SEC West. NC state may feel like an odd choice, but I wanted to add at least one North Carolina team to compliment the twin South Carolina schools. I almost dumped Vanderbilt for being so bad, but I didn’t want to ruin the historical integrity of the SEC’s origins. I also almost added UNC Chapel Hill to the SEC. You’ll see why I didn’t in the ACC section.
Other schools in consideration — North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Miami, Central Florida, Georgia Tech, Memphis. Next up is the B1G…
The new Big 14: (That’s right, the Big 14. Because there are 14 teams)
Big 14 East —
Maryland (Iowa St.)
Penn St. (Minnesota)
Ohio St. (Mizzou)
Michigan (Wisconsin)
Michigan St. (Iowa)
Indiana (Purdue)
Notre Dame (Illinois)
Big 14 West —
Illinois (ND)
Purdue (Indiana)
Minnesota (Penn St.)
Wisconsin (Michigan)
Missouri (Ohio St.)
Iowa (Michigan St.)
Iowa St. (Maryland)
What’s new — I added Notre Dame because of my rule against independent teams, as well as adding Iowa St. and Missouri to the Big 14, after I removed them from the Big 12 and the SEC, respectively. To make room for the three new teams, I had to remove Rutgers, bring Nebraska back to the Big 12, and demote Northwestern to a group of five conference.
Why — Again, geographic ease is the name of the game here. Putting Iowa St. in the same division as Iowa made perfect sense, Missouri looks much less isolated then it was in the SEC, and Notre Dame fits into a conference with two other Indiana teams. I almost cut Maryland in favor of Pitt or West Virginia due to geographical reasons, but the Terps bring in so much money from the Baltimore/DC media market, so I made the business decision to keep them here. I almost kept Rutgers for the NYC media market, but I didn’t think they were a good fit in both geography and the caliber of play that the new Big 14 has. I feel sort of bad for demoting a historical Big 10 school in Northwestern, but there was just wasn’t room for them anywhere else. After all, Iowa st. has to go somewhere, right?
Other schools in consideration — Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, Syracuse, Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Temple, Central Michigan. Finally, we’ve reached the ACC…
The new ACC:
ACC North —
Pitt (Georgia Tech)
Syracuse (Duke)
Kentucky (Virginia)
Louisville (Virginia Tech)
West Virginia (North Carolina)
Rutgers (Miami)
Connecticut (UCF)
ACC South —
Miami (Rutgers)
Georgia Tech (Pitt)
North Carolina (WVU)
Duke (Syracuse)
Virginia (Kentucky)
Virginia Tech (Louisville)
Central Florida (Uconn)
What’s new — A whole lot. I added in Kentucky from the SEC, Rutgers from the B1G, West Virginia from the Big 12, and promoted Uconn and UCF from the group of five conference, the AAC. In order to orchestrate all of this, I had to relocate NC St., Clemson, and Florida St. to the SEC, and drop down perennial cellar dwellers Wake Forest and Boston College to the aforementioned AAC. I also got rid of the garbage “Atlantic” and “Coastal” divisions, and made them just North and South like the PAC 12 and the Big 12.
Why — I admit, I took some creative liberty in what should be considered “Atlantic Coastal”, by adding in West Virginia and Kentucky. However, the ACC has historically been considered a “basketball conference”, where football takes a back seat to basketball. I made the business decision of taking this to the next level. North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Uconn are all amazing basketball schools, so putting them all here into the ACC will be great for both business and competition. I almost moved UNC into the SEC over NC St., but I couldn’t dare to break up UNC and Duke’s basketball rivalry. UCF may feel like an odd choice here (especially after how bad they were last season), but they’re in a great media market, and they have a decent basketball team. Plus, I sort of felt bad for Miami for making them the lone Florida school, so adding UCF made a lot of sense to me. Elevating Uconn works here to, because they’re often considered to be “New England’s” college football/basketball team, which means more fans and more cash for the ACC.
Other schools in consideration — Wake Forest, Boston College, Florida St., Maryland, Navy, Temple, Delaware, East Carolina, Massachusetts, Penn St.
Well, there’s my NCAA conference realignment guide. While these decisions are far from perfect, I think I made the conferences better at being geographically regional, as well as producing a lot more cash. College sports is a billion dollar industry, so I wanted to make sure that all power 5 conferences got a good share of the wealth. Disagree with my choices? Talk about your ideas in the comment section below! Thanks for reading, and be sure to stick around here on The Phanzone for more fun and informative sports articles!
