Hey all. Long time reader, first time poster and I am more than prepared to get flamed for this posting.
After all this realignment nonsense I started thinking how to “fix” college football. What started with great tradition and rivalries has degenerated to a full on greed spree by a few schools. So here is my fix. I am more than aware that this will never happen, but it’s fun to think about.
Conferences: First, a commissioner for college football would be set up. All 125 FBS schools (including future members Georgia St., Old Dominion, North Carolina at Charlotte and to make it an even number I pulled up Sam Houston St) would be delegated into eight regional football only conferences of sixteen schools each. The Big XII, ACC, Sun Belt, etc would continue to exist for Olympic sports. This would be similar to football in the state of Iowa with the exception of the eastern Class 4A schools. Each conference was created to:
1) Retain regional rivalries for fans/ allow travel distance
2) Create leagues that span north-south to provide every team recruiting access to the fertile south
3) Keep each league as competitive as possible without destroying regional cohesion.
(Don’t hate on the names too much. I’m not that creative) Great West Conference
BCS:8
FBS:7
Pod A: Washington, Washington St., Idaho, Boise St.
Pod B: Oregon, Oregon St., Nevada, UNLV
Pod C: California, Stanford, San Jose St., Fresno State
Pod D: Hawai’i, Southern Cal, San Diego St., UCLA
InterMountain Conference
BCS:8
FBS: 8
Pod A: BYU, Utah, Utah St., Wyoming
Pod B: Air Force, Colorado, Colorado St., Nebraska
Pod C: Arizona, Arizona St., New Mexico, New Mexico St.
Pod D: Kansas, Kansas St., Texas Tech, UTEP
Heartland Conference
BCS:10
FBS: 6
Pod A: Southern Methodist, Minnesota, UTSA, Wisconsin
Pod B: Iowa, Iowa St., North Texas, Texas St.
Pod C: Baylor, Missouri, TCU, Tulsa
Pod D: Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Sam Houston St.
Big Rivers Conference
BCS: 10
FBS: 6
Pod A: Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Northern Illinois, Texas A&M
Pod B: Louisiana St., Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt
Pod C: Arkansas, Arkansas St., Illinois, Louisiana- Monroe
Pod D: Houston, Indiana, Louisiana- Lafayette, Purdue
Gridiron League
BCS: 8
FBS: 8
Pod A: Alabama, Auburn, Ball St., Western Kentucky
Pod B: Notre Dame, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, Tulane
Pod C: Kentucky, Louisville, South Alabama, Troy
Pod D: Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Southern Miss, UAB
East Central Conference
BCS: 8
FBS: 8
Pod A: Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Florida St., Toledo
Pod B: Georgia St., Miami- OH, Michigan, Ohio St.
Pod C: Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Georgia, Georgia Tech
Pod D: Florida, Michigan St., Ohio, Western Michigan
Appalachian Sun Conference
BCS: 9
FBS: 7
Pod A: Akron, Kent St., Penn St., South Florida
Pod B: Central Florida, Marshall, Pittsburgh, West Virginia
Pod C: Old Dominion, South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Pod D: Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina- Charlotte, Wake Forest
Costal Conference
BCS: 9
FBS: 7
Pod A: Boston College, Florida Atlantic, UConn, UMass
Pod B: Army, East Carolina, Florida International, Syracuse
Pod C: Buffalo, North Carolina St., Rutgers, Temple
Pod D: Duke, Maryland, Miami, Navy
TV royalties: Dispersed evenly between every school. This levels the playing field for between the “haves and have nots” and would eventually elevate some of the lower tier FBS schools to a more equal footing.
Scheduling: Twelve game season with nine conference games. Each team would play the three other teams in their Pod annually. I tried to break each Pod into two BCS schools and two lower tier schools. Each school would play two of the schools in each of the other three Pods in their conference in a home and away series. This would alternate with the other schools every two years. Non-conference games would be scheduled by a committee headed by the commissioner. Since the “cupcake games” would be scheduled into the conference games, the committee would be charged with matching schools of similar stature with their peers from the other conferences (ex. Oregon-Alabama, Sam Houston St.-Georgia St.).
Playoffs: Top four teams from each conference based on selection by a playoff committee. While there are certainly conferences that would be stronger than others on a given year (The Western Conference and the Midwestern Conference would be tough in this case), a selection committee provides the fairest way to select the best teams. First two rounds hosted on campus, quarter and semi-finals hosted at former mid-tier bowls (Holiday, Capital One, Gator, Cotton, etc) with the national championship rotated between the Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Orange and Fiesta.
Yep, it will never happen because CFB has become nothing but AD’s chasing money. However, it would make the game more interesting. Flame away, CFers!
Equal revenue sharing amongst 125 schools? No way this will ever happen. 64 teams split into a more geographic divisions? Doubt that too but would be preferred over the non sense that is happening now. I know we are feeling better about the big 12 now and all but the big ten power grab makes me nervous. The PAC 12 already showed their cards and preference. The ACC isn't just going to accept defeat. Time for the big 12 to do something. I don't buy the we are happy at 10 bit
No offense, but I don't see one "Pod" thats entertaining. I'd find college football to be extremely boring and all of the hard work and years of winning that the "big time teams" have accomplished would be shredded to zip, notta, nothing because of equal revenue sharing. Theres nothing wrong with having powerhouse teams, and teams that aren't so "powerhouse" because thats what fan support, donating money, great coaching, etc. gives you. I don't want Sam Houston State of North Texas to be on the "same level" as Oregon, Alabama, USC, etc. Why so socialist? College football is a capitalist ideology and thats how it should stay. Equality would make college football very boring. My 2 cents.
I've done something similar before. It's certainly an interesting idea. I pray that at some point we will get a 16 team playoff and that will essentially end the conference realignment.
No offense, but I don't see one "Pod" thats entertaining. I'd find college football to be extremely boring and all of the hard work and years of winning that the "big time teams" have accomplished would be shredded to zip, notta, nothing because of equal revenue sharing. Theres nothing wrong with having powerhouse teams, and teams that aren't so "powerhouse" because thats what fan support, donating money, great coaching, etc. gives you. I don't want Sam Houston State of North Texas to be on the "same level" as Oregon, Alabama, USC, etc. Why so socialist? College football is a capitalist ideology and thats how it should stay. Equality would make college football very boring. My 2 cents.
Probably because he's a godless commie and wants to undermine everything that is right and good about America. OR he's not thinking about politics but actually thinking about ways to resolve some of the issues that cause a lot of frustration for us fans of the game.
Great work Mr. Rebuilder! I would love to see this come to pass. Thank you for sharing.
I've done something similar before. It's certainly an interesting idea. I pray that at some point we will get a 16 team playoff and that will essentially end the conference realignment.
I think I remember seeing that. Did you post that here sometime last year before football season started? Can you tell me where I can find it or can you repost it here? I like seeing ideas for alternatives to what we have now. It infuriates me to no end how if you lose 1 game before November, you can play in the NC, but if you lose in November, you are a worthless loser and a fraud and have no business playing in a BCS game.
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Originally Posted by simply1 
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