Doug proposes a let’s-do-it-and-get-it-over-with mega-conference realignment for college football that would get every Division 1A school into one of ten reasonably suitable groups, and throws in a possible playoff structure as a bonus. It’ll never happen, of course, since college football is not about feasibility or practicality, but it’s a cool idea anyway.
Two quibbles: I don’t think Tulane would be happy in the suggested “Deep South” conference, as all of the other schools are public. I’d swap them for ULa-Monroe in the revived SWC. Also, this setup effectively means no other school could make the jump to Div 1A, since there’d be no room for them anywhere. But those are minor points. I’d take this lineup over what we’ve got now in a heartbeat. Check it out.
I hear that Tom DeLay has a map ….
(Sorry, stealing your gag, Kuff.)
That’s OK. As a good liberal, I believe in recycling. 🙂
As we all know, there’s one reason you’ll never see this idea put into practice:
$$$MONEY$$$
Although, personally, I like the concept.
Thanks for the link. 🙂
Obviously, the plan has room for improvement — swapping teams at the edges of the conferences, etc. Heck, the Big XII might feel like kicking out Baylor & taking Colo. St.
You’re right about fixing I-A at 120, though from what I’m reading, it’s going to be quite difficult to make the jump in the future. All the new DI-A requirements (attendance, stadium size, etc.) will now have to be met in advance and for several years running. There would still be the possibility of moving up if another program is decertified (as is possible for some schools like SJSU).
Never going to happen. The big conferences select new members based on how much TV revenue they can pull in.
Personally I would advocate a system more like how European soccer leagues operate. Every so often they demote teams that aren’t up to standard and elevate teams that play above standard.
So every few years or so you flush out the Baylors, Vanderbilts, and Northwesterns from the big leagues and bring up a few top-performing mid-major teams to take their place. That way schools like Colorado State, BYU, or TCU have something to aim for. Any of these schools would be a far more worthy Big-12 member than Baylor.
Of course such a plan would never happen. But it would be fun to watch.
The other problem is that the conferences are not just for football, or even just for men’s sports. So you would really have to consider the school’s performance across all sports. And then what do you do with a school like Duke that does great in basketball but will never be able to run with the big boys in football?
In any event, you really don’t need to reorganize the conferences to have a legitimate national championship. The NCAA seems to be able to run a legitimate basketball tournament with the same mess of conferences that we have now.