The teams are seeded by the committee. Your ideas could be used (with full credit) in a subsequent column. What college football would gain from this realignment: uniformity; conference championships that truly matter; increased access to a more lucrative playoff; a more level playing field for the little guys; renewed regional identity; cherished rivalries preserved, restored—and, in some cases, forced into permanent existence. In the face of conferences sitting out the 2020 season and the craziness that has been this year, is there any surprise that the subject of conference realignment is surfacing again. Realignment leaves behind maybe Big East's best program. A few weeks later, AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said there were no immediate plans to replace UConn. Instead of having to fight its way through eternal Big Ten roadblock Ohio State for a playoff bid, Penn State has a clearer path. (Relegation/elevation can be revisited every three seasons.). Schools out west would no longer have to worry whether their league was strong enough to compete for a playoff spot. The TV networks wouldn’t much like it, either. Cincinnati - This may be viewed as a shocker, but Cincinnati would immediately enter the Big 10 as a more valuable asset than Nebraska. Any matrix evaluating Athletics, Academics, and Demographics      (Access to Top Tier athletes and students) favors Cincinnati over Nebraska. Notre Dame - An obvious answer, but the time to strike is now. NCAA Division I conference realignment refers to changes in the alignment of college or university athletic programs from one National Collegiate Athletic Association athletic conference to another. Staggering revenue shares based on competitive success is one option that could make the deal more palatable to the establishment schools. © 2020 ABG-SI LLC. When you have every advantage, giving some of them up is counterintuitive. (If you’re concerned about a proliferation of mismatches in this conference alignment, you haven’t been paying attention. There is a reason why so many Sun Belt and Mid-American Conference games are played midweek, and why other leagues are fighting for airtime on off-brand networks—those programs don’t do big ratings.

The consideration would have to be that the good outweighs the bad, and I believe it does. Same with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and others. Notre Dame can benefit from conference affiliation, specifically, a      conference championship game. A 120-school ecosystem, with 11 current FBS members relegated to FCS and one elevated from that level. There will be no conference championship games. The complaints about conference schedules would disappear. Ten leagues, each with 12 members, each designed to maximize proximity and reduce travel demands and costs. The BIG 10 can provide member schools more funding, resources, and prestige both Academically and Athletically, than any other conference. There are no more than eight Power 5 programs in a single new conference, and no fewer than four. But in this model, they have to go somewhere to maintain FBS membership. (For one thing, some of them would have to change their names.) The Atlantic Coast Conference wandered nearly 1,000 miles inland.

(Another area.Nebraska was woefully negligent of capitalizing on as a BIG 10 member). They are a better overall profile fit with the Mid-Atlantic or Yankee Conference, but for geography’s sake, they are where they are. As for regional identity: This isn’t solely about making travel easier and safer for athletes and more affordable for athletic directors, although both factors are more significant now than at any time this century. But what better incentive to improve than being able to play in the same leagues together—with the same access to the playoff? Yes, the BIG 10 would poach an ACC member, but ultimately each school will have to make that decision. There’s no way the Fighting Irish will willingly give up independence to join a conference alongside Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Marshall. Without divisions, there is no luck of the draw in cross-divisional opponents. **Don't fret Nebraska fans, your University andStates' lack of loyalty won't exclude you entirely.

Brian Kelly just signed.an extension. All 10 conference champions, plus two at-large teams chosen by a selection committee, advance to the expanded College Football Playoff. GO BEARCATS The Southeastern Conference expanded into Texas and Missouri.
Roundtable: Breaking Down SI's Reimagining of College SportsHypothetical Conference Realignment Finds Maryland in Familiar TerritoryA Look at Duke's New Home in Pat Forde's RealignmentWhat Would SI's Hypothetical Realignment Mean for LSU? And the endless carping from conferences that play more league games than others would be silenced. What about Cincinnati?