# College Football realignment **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394 "2002-10-22T16:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/1 "2002-10-22T16:17:28Z")
If I had the power to realign US college football D-1 conferences, here’s how I’d do it. (I’m using current confernece names for conience). Big East Army BC Syracuse Temple Rutgers UConn Georgetown Villanova Seton Hall Notre Dame St. John’s Big 10 Pitt Penn St Michigan Michigan St Indiana Purdue Northwestern Illinois Ohio St Minnesota Wisconsin Iowa Iowa St Big 12 Oklahoma Oklahoma St Texas Texas A&M Texas Tech Missouri Kansas Kansas St TCU SMU UTEP Baylor Rice Tulsa Houson WAC Idaho Idaho St Montana Montana St Utah Utah St Weber St New Mexico New Mexico St Colorado Colorado St Arizona Arizona St Wyoming BYU Air Force UNLV Nevada Fresno St SJSU SDSU Sacramento St Portland St E Washington N Arizona S Utah Hawaii SEC Florida Florida St Miami Georgia GA Tech Clemson South Carolina Tennessee Vanderbilt Alabama Auburn LSU Arkansas Mississippi St Ole Miss ACC VA Tech Virginia West Virginia UNC NC St Duke Wake Forrest E Carolina W Carolina Maryland Pac-10 Washington Wash St Oregon Oregon St USC Cal-Berkley UCLA Stanford C-USA Louisville So Miss UAB Arkansas St Tulane Memphis La Tech Cent FL Middle Tenn St La-Monroe La-Layfyette No Texas E Kentucky W Kentucky Navy MAC Marshall Cincinnati Akron Ohio Miami-OH Bowling Green Toledo Kent St N IL W MI E MI Cent MI E IL S IL W IL Indiana St IL State Ball St Dayton ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/2 "2002-10-25T18:00:06Z")
Obviously I’ve pretty much eliminated the need for I-AA. (and yes, I am posting solely to get this to the top). ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/3 "2002-10-25T20:47:28Z")
BTW, thanx Munch. I wanted to get schools with teams that goegraphically make the most sense. I wanted schools in the same school in the same conferences, where feasible, w/o ruining major conferences’ history’s. I also wanted uniformity in b-ball and football. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/4 "2002-10-25T20:48:32Z")
Duh! Schools in the same STATE in the same conference. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/5 "2002-10-26T06:08:40Z")
Do you talk to yourself like this, often? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/6 "2002-10-26T23:46:10Z")
I can edit my posts so I need to. BTW, I’d move Marshall into the ACC. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/7 "2002-10-26T23:46:24Z")
I can’t edit my posts so I need to. BTW, I’d move Marshall into the ACC. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/8 "2002-10-27T04:31:15Z")
I see your vision of the Big East doesn’t give Notre Dame much competition. Sort of a “Big Wuss” division? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/9 "2002-10-27T12:36:22Z")
Is the Big 10/11 going to be the Big 10 or The Big 13? ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/10 "2002-10-28T08:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Big Cheese \* > \*\*Is the Big 10/11 going to be the Big 10 or The Big 13? \*\* Not to mention the **Pac-8**. ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/11 "2002-10-28T14:15:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cyberhwk \* > \*\*Not to mention the **Pac-8**. \*\* Which is in fact what the Pac-10 used to be, until the Arizona schools joined in the late 70s or early 80s (not sure exactly what year). ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/12 "2002-10-28T17:52:24Z")
Big 11 (what Big Ten really is) becomes Great Lakes Conference, Big XII becomes Big XV. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/13 "2002-10-28T20:48:30Z")
and why, exactly, was this needed? I like the Pac 10 just how it is, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/14 "2002-10-29T02:19:17Z")
You’ve got 28 teams in the WAC! What up with that? They only play eleven games a season. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/15 "2002-10-29T20:21:14Z")
Way to divide up WAC: Four Corner rivalries plus Weber St., Idaho rivals, Montana rivals. rest get own conference. Way to divide up MAC (which is just as unwieldy): Ohio and Michigan schools in one conference, Illinois and Indiana schools in another. BTW, check out my b-ball thread if you wanna see HUGE conferences! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/16 "2002-10-29T20:25:01Z")
Why take manageably (?) sized conferences and make them unwieldy large?\* For instance, take the Big XII. Currently, you’ve got 2 divisions of 6 teams, the winner of each going to a conference championship. Each team plays everyone in their division every year, and rotates 3 teams from the other division each year, for a total of 9 conference games a year. This is simplicity at it’s finest. While I hate the Big XII and everything they stand for, they do have this conference thing down pat. Adding 3 teams to it does nothing but complicate things, destroy any semblance of parity, and makes inter-conference comparison nearly impossible. Conferences should be forced to have 10-14 teams each (no more, certainly no less), and have a conference title game. It’s completely hogwash when Northwestern wins the Big Ten because (a) they didn’t play Michigan or Ohio St. and (b) because there was no tie-breaker of common opponent (or NW had the same record against common opponents), the deciding factor was that Northwestern had gone the longest without a Rose Bowl. 28 teams in one conference is kooky talk. Putting teams like UTEP in a major conference do nothing but hurt UTEP and hurt the rest of that conference. Why? UTEP doesn’t want to be in a big conference. They don’t want to spend huge amounts of money trying to keep up with Texas, Oklahama and Nebraska. They don’t like being pummelled each year by Texas, Oklahoma or Nebraska. If they did, they’d play them (I know K-State would jump at the chance for another creampuff on their schedule). UT, OU and Neb. don’t want UTEP in their conference because they don’t want to give UTEP their hardearned bowl booty. Hell, they don’t even like giving Baylor their hardearned bowl booty each year, but they have to. You say you want uniformity, but this plan tosses uniformity right out the window and into a big pile of dog crap. I’ve known a lot of football players, and to a man, _none_ of them like their uniforms covered in dog crap. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/17 "2002-10-29T20:34:52Z")
Oops. Two more points. Also, you mention that you want to both keep teams in the same state, but also maintain existing conference rivalry. Then why did you put Notre Dame in the Big East? ND is in Indiana, along with Indiana and Purdue. They have an incredibly long-standing series with Purdue and Michigan St., as well as a fairly established rivalry with Michigan. There’s also a fair bit of history with Penn St., though not nearly to the extent as those other teams. They’ve play Pitt fairly regularly, so the move to the Big East isn’t so bad in that department, except for the fact that you moved Pitt to the Big Ten. Secondly, I forgot to make fun of my first sentence in the above post, which is, I believe, the most confusing thing I’ve ever written. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/18 "2002-10-30T04:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erictelevision \* > \*\*Way to divide up WAC: Four Corner rivalries plus Weber St., Idaho rivals, Montana rivals. rest get own conference. Way to divide up MAC (which is just as unwieldy): Ohio and Michigan schools in one conference, Illinois and Indiana schools in another. BTW, check out my b-ball thread if you wanna see HUGE conferences! \*\* What is/are the Four Corner rivalries? Please expand a little. And I saw your b-ball thread. I thought the schools were in one conference for all sports. For example, UCLA would not be in the Pac 10 in football, and the WAC in basketball. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/19 "2002-10-30T18:14:03Z")
For Corner States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona. If UCLA is in the WAC for b-ball, it shouldn’t off course. To Munch: ITA about ND, but wouldn’t you agree them in the “Big Ten” kills the Big East? ---
**Author:** ![Artermis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Artermis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artermis)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394/20 "2002-10-31T00:04:19Z")
Here while this is not perfect it is more balanced and would be much better, IMO. Big East Maryland Army Navy BC Syracuse Temple Rutgers Pitt Penn St Marshall VA Tech Virginia West Virginia Big 10 Michigan Michigan St Indiana Purdue Notre Dame Ohio St Cincinnati Akron Ohio Miami-OH Bowling Green Toledo Kent St W MI E MI Cent MI Indiana St Ball St Dayton Big 12 Oklahoma Oklahoma St Missouri Kansas Kansas St Iowa Iowa St Tulsa Colorado Colorado St SWC Houston Texas Texas A&M Texas Tech TCU SMU UTEP Baylor Rice No Texas WAC Idaho Idaho St Montana Montana St Utah Utah St New Mexico New Mexico St Arizona Arizona St Wyoming BYU Air Force UNLV Nevada N Arizona SEC So Miss UAB Arkansas St Tulane Alabama Auburn LSU Arkansas Mississippi St Ole Miss La-Monroe La-Layfyette La Tech ACC Florida Florida St Miami Georgia GA Tech UNC NC St Duke Wake Forrest E Carolina W Carolina Clemson South Carolina Cent FL Pac-10 Washington Wash St Oregon Oregon St USC Cal-Berkley UCLA Stanford Hawaii Fresno St SJSU SDSU Sacramento St Portland St E Washington C-USA Tennessee Vanderbilt Kentucky Louisville Memphis Middle Tenn St E Kentucky W Kentucky N IL Northwestern Illinois E IL S IL W IL IL State Minnesota Wisconsin Art [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-football-realignment/133394.md?page=2)