Still hoping for geography to prevail...

As it turns out, I think we are headed to the 16-team super-conferences that many predicted. The Pac-16 looks to be a done deal, and I would venture to guess the ACC is only a few days behind, likely with UConn and Rutgers (how did I accidentally leave them out of the equation?!). Factor in the SEC, who is likely to pick up at least one more school (likely 3), and the Big 12 and Big East are, for all practical purposes,...done.

My concern now is with the remaining Big 12 schools, specifically the remaining teams from the North Division (K-State, KU, MIZZOU, ISU). I really hope they do not end up merging with the leftovers from the Big East if for no other reason than geography.

Outside of this little cluster, we would play the following schools in football: Baylor, TCU, Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Florida. For now, I will leave WVU out as I think it's likely they will be joining the SEC before long. Baylor and TCU make sense as they are 'throw backs' to the good ol' days when the Big 12 spanned the barren expanses of the Great Plains. One could argue Louisville and Cincinnati aren't that far away either, but not with Baylor and TCU. South Florida is a long shot regardless geographically speaking.

If these remaining schools should merge and form a new conference, regional rivalries and regional identity for this conference would be all but dead.

My hope? As the Big 12 dissolves with OU, OSU, TX, and TX Tech going to the Pac-16, my hope is that the SEC in addition to picking up TX A&M targets not only WVU, but also Louisville and Cincinnati and that the Big 10 would finally get on board and pick up the remaining North Division schools!

As for TCU and Baylor? I would like to see them form a smaller conference, one based on both academics and geography. In other words, why not Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, Houston (well, academically a bit to go), SMU, TCU, and Baylor? Throw in one or two more schools and you have yourself a conference!

It may not be perfect, but it's better than ignoring geography all together.

Blame Texas (Part II)...

News can change quickly. Shortly before I left for church tonight I saw something on the ESPN website that OU and others were thinking of bolting the Big 12 for the Pac 12. In light of these new developments, my previous post becomes all but obsolete (feel free to check it out if only to compare).

I'm a dreamer, an idealist, and I make no apologies for that. But I do recognize that things change. Rather than try for seven 16-team conferences, I've decided to go with five 16-team conferences along with four 12-team conferences.

Oddly enough, I think this one may actually be better. I figure the Big 12 is history and the ACC is likely to lose a few teams to the SEC, but will raid the Big East to make up for it.

So here goes...

ACC 16

NORTH SOUTH

BC UVA

Maryland Virginia Tech

Syracuse UNC

Pitt NC State

West Virginia Duke

UCONN Wake Forest

Army Miami

Navy East Carolina

BIG EAST (12)

Notre Dame* Providence

Cincinnati* St John's

Louisville* Setan Hall

Memphis* DePaul

Temple* Marquette

Georgetown* (I-AA) Villanova* (I-AA)

NOTE: For better or worse, I decided to make this primarily a basketball conference. Schools that currently have a football team are marked with a "*".

SEC 16

EAST WEST

Texas A&M South Carolina

Arkansas Clemson

LSU Georgia

Ole Miss Georgia Tech

Miss State Florida

Alabama Florida State

Auburn Kentucky

Vanderbilt Tennessee

SOUTHERN (12)

EAST WEST

Marshall UTEP

Western Kentucky NMSU

Middle Tennessee North Texas

Arkansas State Louisiana Tech

UAB Louisiana-Monroe

Troy Louisiana-Lafeyette

NOTE: These schools, quite frankly, are those that no one will miss.

COASTAL (12)

WESTERN EASTERN

Baylor Tulane

SMU Appalachian State (I-AA)

TCU Central Florida

Tulsa South Florida

Rice Florida International

Houston Florida Atlantic

NOTE: This is the one conference (along with the Big East) that I try to remain idealistic and create something new. Most of these schools are somewhat smaller, but pretty strong academically.

Also, Appalachian State is currently looking into a move to I-A, so that's where they fit in here.

GREAT LAKES 16 (BIG 10)

EAST WEST

Northwestern Nebraska

Illinois Minnesota

Indiana Wisconsin

Purdue Iowa

Michigan Iowa State

Michigan State Mizzou

Ohio State KU

Penn State K-State (please...!!!)

NOTE: If Pitt, Syracuse, or Rutgers is chosen as a member, K-State will be scraping the bottom conference wise.

FRONTIER (MOUNTAIN WEST & WAC) (12)

COASTAL MOUNTAIN

Hawai'i Boise State

San Diego State Idaho

Fresno State Wyoming

UNLV CSU

Nevada-Reno Air Force

Utah State New Mexico

PAC 16

COASTAL MOUNTAIN/PLAINS

Washington Arizona

Washington State Arizona State

Oregon CU

Oregon State Utah

Cal OU

Stanford OSU

UCLA Texas

USC Texas Tech

ps--the MAC remains the same (minus losing Temple as their 13th team) since no one cares about them. Although I'm not sure where UMASS fits in when they're to join next year.

Blame Texas...

I know it's been a while, but there's nothing like conference realignment to get me back to posting.

A little over a year ago, I remember being upset with Nebraska announcing they had intentions of leaving the Big 12. At the time this struck me as an unnecessary move to seek greener pastures where they might dominate once again in football. I was a fan of the Big 12, in part because of the geography of the conference, and didn't like the thought of a school disrupting it by leaving (other then ISU or, to a somewhat lesser degree, CU).

Then I read the reasons why Nebraska was leaving, largely Texas' greed and unwillingness to compromise, and I thought a move to the Big 10 was a wise one.

The Big 10 (now 12) is rather unique in that they have very high academic standards (AAU membership is a prerequisite for joining the conference), a competitive tradition in athletics, and a dedication to keeping things on par as much as possible. It's the last point that really sets the Big 10 apart--schools receive an equal sharing of revenue generated from athletics regardless if it's Michigan, Ohio State, or Northwestern.

Contrast this with how Texas is treating the other members of the Big 12 and why wouldn't a school choose to leave?

Now it seems almost a given that Texas A&M will also be leaving the Big 12, also because of Texas, setting off a new round of conference realignment. Because the SEC and Texas are of the same warped thinking when it comes to things such a geography and any realistic possibility of maintaining rivalries, it looks as if we're headed into an era of 16 team conferences.

I've attempted to create 7 such conferences based on, in large part, a longing for some degree of regional geography to play a factor in conferences. Although geography played a major role in the creation of these conferences, it was not the only factor as academics, athletics, and rivalries also factored in.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this.

ps--the MAC was demoted to D-IAA status.

ACC (16)

NORTH SOUTH

Boston College UVA

UConn Virginia Tech

Maryland UNC

Rugers NC State

Army Wake Forest

Navy Duke

West Virginia Appalachian State (I-AA)

Marshall East Carolina

ADDED: UCONN, Rutgers, Army, Navy, West Virginia, Marshall, East Carolina

ADDED (but currently I-AA...): Appalachian State

DROPPED: Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson

NOTES: A respectable conference academically (although adding Marshall hurts); a power to be dealt with in basketball.

BIG EAST 16

NORTHERN SOUTHERN

Cincinnati LA-Layfette

Louisville LA-Monroe

Western KY Tulane

Memphis Southern Miss

Vanderbilt South Florida

Middle TN Central Florida

UAB Florida International

Arkansas State Florida Atlantic

ADDED: LOTS!

DROPPED: LOTS! (note: non-football schools were not taken into consideration)

NOTES: These are the leftovers. Once the conference realignment dust settles, the Big East will be on par with the current WAC or (at best) Mountain West.

Academically this is a mix of the good (Tulane, Vanderbilt), the bad (ok) (Louisville, Cincinnati), and the ugly (I'm talking about you Arkansas State!). This is what you get when you draw from the leftovers.

SEC 16

WEST EAST

LSU Florida

Arkansas Georgia

Mississippi South Carolina

Mississippi State Tennessee

Alabama Georgia Tech

Auburn Clemson

Kentucky Florida State

TX A&M Miami

ADDED: TX A&M, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, Miami

DROPPED: Vanderbuilt (what are they doing in this conference anyway?)

NOTES: Adding both TX A&M and Georgia Tech is a definite academic boost to an otherwise dismal academic conference (at least for major schools). Florida State and Miami, to a lesser extent, also help the conference academically.

GREAT LAKES 16

WEST EAST

Minnesota Indiana

Wisconsin Purdue

Iowa Michigan

Illinois Michigan State

Northwestern Ohio State

Nebraska Penn State

Iowa State Pitt

Notre Dame Syracuse

ADDED: Iowa State, Notre Came, Pitt, Syracuse

NOTES: One of the most stable and prestigious conferences, most schools long

to join a conference such as this.

There are several prerequisites to joining this conference, one of them is

to be a member of the Association of American Universities (Iowa State and Pitt

are current members). Nebraska recently lost their membership to this organization and may have not been admitted to the Big 10 had it taken place a year earlier.

Syracuse recently withdrew rather from the organization rather than face a situation similar to Nebraska's. But I think it is likely they will try to rejoin.

Notre Dame is a special exception since membership in AAU is based, in part, on research spending of which Notre Dame falls into a somewhat different category.

I don't think anyone really questions the quality of education at Notre Dame, so membership should be a foregone conclusion (plus they've been previously invited to join the Big 10).

See also Amendment to Great Plains 16

GREAT PLAINS 16

NORTH SOUTH

K-State Texas

KU Texas Tech

Missouri Baylor

OU TCU

Oklahoma State SMU

Tulsa Rice

Air Force Houston

New Mexico Louisiana Tech

ADDED: Tulsa, Air Force, TCU, SMU, Rice, Houston, Louisiana Tech

ADDED (but open to suggestions...): New Mexico, Louisiana Tech

DROPPED: Iowa State

NOTES: The demise of this conference saddens me. I really did like the set up of this conference for a number of reasons. Such is life.

As noted, Texas, along with the SEC, is what is to blame for this mess. Yes, CU may have left for the Pac-10 regardless, but Nebraska would likely still be a proud member of this conference if it weren't for Texas' greed.

Also, Louisiana Tech (possibly Houston) is a definite blow to an otherwise relatively stable academic conference (I'm aware OK State has a ways to go).

AMENDMENT: If the Big 12 should utterly collapse, my hope would be that K-State, KU, and MU be admitted into the Big 10 (Great Lakes 16) (with K-State invited even though it lacks AAU membership). I really don't see the Big East as a good conference for a number of reasons.

As for the others, having OU, Texas, and OSU/Texas Tech join the SEC makes sense.

There is the option of joining the Pac-16 for these schools, although it's a bit of a stretch because of the geography.

If push came to shove and Texas was forced to go independent or to form a new conference with the leftovers, I would not be sorry one bit.

FRONTIER

COASTAL MOUNTAIN

Hawai'i Boise State

Fresno State Idaho

San Diego State Idaho State (I-AA)

San Jose State Utah State

Cal Poly (I-AA) Wyoming

UC-Davis (I-AA) New Mexico

Sacramento State (I-AA) New Mexico State

Northern Arizona (I-AA) UTEP

ADDED: Basically a combination of what's left of the Mountain West and WAC plus UTEP.

ADDED (but currently I-AA...): Idaho State, Cal Poly, UC-Davis, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona (all are currently Big Sky)

DROPPED: Air Force, CSU, Nevada-Reno, UNLV

NOTES: This is a conference that may have to settle for 12 teams.

PAC-16

NORTH SOUTH

Washington Stanford

Washington State Cal

Oregon USC

Oregon State UCLA

Utah Arizona

BYU Arizona State

CU Nevada-Reno

Colorado State UNLV

ADDED: CSU, BYU, Nevada-Reno, UNLV

NOTES: I am well aware OU, TX, or some other combination from the Big 12 might be more realistic if the Pac-12 should go to 16, but I was trying to strengthen existing rivalries while maintaining academic standards (UNLV is the only one in my eyes that drops the ball in that respect)