FBS Conference Shuffling

[ST_Lawson]

New rumor (still just a rumor) that the Big 10 will add Clemson, Florida State, Oregon, and Washington, with an announcement coming sometime this week.

[sealhall74]

New rumor (still just a rumor) that the Big 10 will add Clemson, Florida State, Oregon, and Washington, with an announcement coming sometime this week.


 

Must be shooting for an even 20.  Some teams you probably play in football about once every 3 years that way.  The mere notion of having a true conference champion is muddied.
 

[ST_Lawson]

Re: PAC teams to Big 12 - Arizona Board of Regents (oversees both AZ and AZ State) meeting tonight, Big 12 members to vote as soon as tomorrow to bring in both teams. I wouldn't be surprised if Utah is also in on the deal.

[ST_Lawson]

sealhall74

New rumor (still just a rumor) that the Big 10 will add Clemson, Florida State, Oregon, and Washington, with an announcement coming sometime this week.





 

Must be shooting for an even 20.  Some teams you probably play in football about once every 3 years that way.  The mere notion of having a true conference champion is muddied.
 

Screw it...combine all the rumors, go for a 24-team Big 10 (Big 24?), organized in four pods of 6 teams each. Teams play the other 5 teams in their "pod", plus like 4 other games rotating around (maybe 1 of those games is a "protected rivalry" that they play every year). Big 10 Championships becomes a 4-team bracket.

Big 10 East Division
Maryland
Rutgers
Penn State
Pitt
Clemson
Florida State

Big 10 Mid-East Division
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Indiana
Purdue
Notre Dame

Big 10 Mid-West Division
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern

Big 10 West Division
UCLA
USC
Oregon
Washington
Stanford
Cal

EDIT - better version

6 pods of 4 teams each:

• SW Division: UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal
• NW Division: Oregon, OR State, Washington, WA State
• Atlantic Coast Division: Maryland, Rutgers, plus two additional teams (pick your favorite rumor...UNC+Duke, FSU+Clemson, Pitt+VA)
• Mideast Division: Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
• Central Division: Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern
• Midwest Division: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

You play everyone in your pod every year (3 games), one team in each of the other pods every year (5 games), and maybe 1 non-pod "protected rivalry game" that is also played every year.

So, maybe Indiana wants to play Michigan State for the Old Brass Spittoon every year, despite being in different pods, or Michigan and Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug, but overall the pods preserve the vast majority of major rivalry games and longstanding series.

Just as an example, you could have Illinois play the following in a season: Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa (as non-pod protected rivalry), Stanford, Washington, Maryland, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
The next year they'd again play Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, and Iowa, but then UCLA, Oregon State, Rutgers, Michigan State, and Nebraska.With 4 teams in a pod, playing 1 team in a pod, you'd rotate through them all within 4 years.
 

[wiu712]

Fox Sports Radio reported today that the Big Ten is considering adding California and Stanford.

That would put the Big Ten into the Bay Area television market.

[ST_Lawson]

Ducks saw their shadow, two more weeks of realignment drama.

[ST_Lawson]

Ducks saw their shadow, two more weeks of realignment drama.


 

Then again...



And now I think we'll likely see AZ, AZ State, and Utah join the Big 12 in pretty short order, leaving Stanford, Cal, Washington State, and Oregon State as all that's left of the PAC, which is an interesting number.
If Cal and Stanford had also gotten invited to the Big 10 or something, I think we'd end up seeing the last two just join the MWC.
However, with the four of them left, they might be inclined to invite up a number of MWC teams to the PAC (maybe Boise State, San Diego State, UNLV, etc.) which would mean the MWC might be looking at the top of the FCS to fill it's ranks.

EDIT - and it sounds like Arizona is just working out the final numbers with the Big 12 (with talks ramping up with AZ State and Utah as well): https://www.espn.com/college-sports/sto ... ources-say

[sealhall74]

Ducks saw their shadow, two more weeks of realignment drama.





 

Then again...



And now I think we'll likely see AZ, AZ State, and Utah join the Big 12 in pretty short order, leaving Stanford, Cal, Washington State, and Oregon State as all that's left of the PAC, which is an interesting number.
If Cal and Stanford had also gotten invited to the Big 10 or something, I think we'd end up seeing the last two just join the MWC.
However, with the four of them left, they might be inclined to invite up a number of MWC teams to the PAC (maybe Boise State, San Diego State, UNLV, etc.) which would mean the MWC might be looking at the top of the FCS to fill it's ranks.

EDIT - and it sounds like Arizona is just working out the final numbers with the Big 12 (with talks ramping up with AZ State and Utah as well): https://www.espn.com/college-sports/sto ... ources-say



 

NCAA needs some sort of "no-poaching" rule.  Maybe something like any conference can invite in no more than 1 new member from the same different conference within a 3 year period for purposes of expansion.  Replacing lost members could be treated differently.
 
 
 

[ST_Lawson]

But the wheel keeps on turning...

[leatherneckcountry]

Kind of crazy if you asked me a couple years ago i would have said the big12 would be the conference to fold. The Pac12 thought they were better than everyone else and now it's biting them.