Recently, the University of Connecticut accepted an invitation to re-join the Big East Conference. This is good news for their basketball programs–especially the women who are 102-0 in league play and haven’t lost a conference game since March 4, 2013 at Notre Dame in their previous league–who were beginning to wallow away in obscurity before March Madness.
The only problem is that this leaves UConn football without a home and the AAC has already said it does not want them as a football-only member. What will happen? In all likelihood, the Huskies will go independent for pigskin but I’m taking this opportunity to finish conference realignment once and for all.
The first move is to send a whole bunch of underachieving teams back to FCS, including:
UMass
UConn
Buffalo
North Texas
UTSA
UTEP
Rice
Akron
Kent State
Eastern Michigan
Texas State
Tulane
MTSU
Charlotte
Old Dominion
Liberty
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Coastal Carolina
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama
New Mexico State
Wyoming
New Mexico
UNLV
San Jose State
Apologies to anyone who is offended by this decision or if you went to any of these schools. Poor UConn set this plan in motion and ended up falling back to the FCS level. Hey, I’m just doing what’s best for the game. I took the teams who really haven’t achieved anything of note at the FBS level and decided to move them down. Perhaps you can quibble with a couple (I feel mildly bad about Tulane I guess) but what is done is done.
The final conference alignment is far from complete. I am leaving the Power 5 teams plus BYU and Notre Dame alone and creating a new league above FCS and below FBS called the College Football Division.
Welcome to CFD!
48 teams!
4 conferences of 12 teams!
Plucking the good FCS teams up to a new league!
American Rust Conference
Temple
Navy
Army
Miami (OH)
Ohio
Bowling Green
Toledo
Ball State
Cincinnati
Youngstown State
Delaware
Villanova
The best of the MAC, plus Cincinnati and Youngstown State combines with a little bit of an East Coast flavor to create a strong Atlantic to Mid Atlantic alliance.
I’m sure Cincinnati will feel like they are the cream of the crop in this new conference but watch out for Villanova with a newer high profile.
The Land Conference
NIU
Montana State
Montana
North Dakota State
South Dakota State
Eastern Kentucky
Central Michigan
Western Michigan
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Memphis
Arkansas State
Five programs move up from FCS to CFD to create a conference with the newest feel. Just like the league’s name this conference is wide open in competition. Although, Memphis is over there all cocky thinking they will go undefeated. Let’s wait until you visit the Fargodome once there, Memphis.
The Southbestern Conference
UCF
USF
East Carolina
FIU
FAU
App State
UAB
Troy
Southern Miss
James Madison
Richmond
Louisiana Tech
The South’s newest best conference coalesces together like Voltron. Right now, this league thinks–nay knows–it’s better than the ACC and has its sights set on becoming stronger than the SEC. This will fuel talk radio from Virginia to Florida for decades to come.
The Mostly Mountains Conference
Boise State
Utah State
Air Force
Colorado State
Fresno State
Nevada
Hawaii
SDSU
Eastern Washington
Houston
SMU
Tulsa
The WAC is back, except better! Every team in the new Mostly Mountains Conference was in the old WAC with the exception of Eastern Washington and Houston, two fine additions.
In the CFD the winners of each conference will be put up to a vote by the media to declare a National Champion. Just kidding, there will be a playoff. This is the worst post of my career, I am sorry.
I like that you included the Sartre quote in the MMC logo there. Nice little touch.
Enlighten me?
I’m just gonna take the compliment and move on.
Woof poor Georgia Southern. You’ve got a high standard for “underachieving” if a team coming off a 10-3 season with a bowl win falls on your list! I’d find a way to shove them into that SBC, I think they’re going to be consistently among the more impressive crummy DI programs for the next decade.
I love that this plan keeps Boise State out of the DI ranks. All their fans can complain every year when they go 12-0, and all the DI fans can complain about their complaining. I’ve missed that the past few seasons. For some reason, swapping UCF for Boise just hasn’t quite done it for me.
Georgia Southern was an oversight, should’ve bumped them up due to their old FCS success.
Live and learn.
Heh the only reason I even know anything about them is because of how much everyone associated with that program hates BVG. ND fans might dislike him and blame him for 2016. But GSU fans/administrators/former coaches absolutely despise him and truly wish horrible things upon him. So I follow them for fun.
I am puzzled that you included James Madison and Troy. What have they ever done in football? James Madison has been good in basketball.
Well, JMU has been one of the more consistent FCS teams in the past decade and won a national title in 2016, and have victories against FBS teams (ECU and Va Tech, I believe). So if he’s moving teams up from FCS to a middle division, they’re a good one to choose.
^Sure, but like, OTHER than that.
James Madison is one of the best FCS teams, for sure. Also, reports are that they are eyeing UConn’s vacant spot in the AAC.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/movin-on-up-elite-fcs-program-reportedly-eyeing-uconns-vacated-aac-spot/
I still prefer the idea of trimming the FBS to like 80 teams and creating 5 16-team mega-conferences based on geographic location, each with two divisions. Put all the teams on an equal level, 8 team playoff with the 5 conference champs and 3 at large.
Something like this?
ACC plus Notre Dame, Appalachian State
Big 12 plus Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulsa, Southern Miss
Big Ten plus Miami (OH), Central Michigan
Pac-12 plus BYU, Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State
SEC plus UCF, USF
Yeah something like that. I’d be up for some pretty serious realignment that might break up our current conferences, but I’m not a person who’s super attached to history/tradition when it comes to this stuff
If you are going to go to 5 mega conferences, why not just go to 8 conferences with 10 teams. Each conference plays round robin. Then has 3 nonconference games. Kill the conference championship game. The 8 winners go to the playoffs. The playoffs will generate more than enough revenue to make up for losing the conference championship game.
We might even see a rebirth of real out of conference games. Since they essentially wouldn’t count for getting to the playoffs, we could see more Bama-ND and less Bama-SW Alabama St.
With 16 team conferences, you play your 7 and then a rotating two from the other ‘half’ of the conference. Alabama has not played Georgia in the regular season in over a decade. Wake and UNC play every year, sometimes as a nonconference game. Both are ridiculous. Play your entire conference each year.
Of course, it also means we are not independent any more. As an East Coast alum, I like our ACC affiliation, more games close by. I would be less happy in a reformed Big10 although I suppose if you start from scratch it could be done in a very interesting fashion.
YES THE WAC IS BACK