OT: Off-the-wall conference realignment idea ...

[michnittlion]

It's the off-season and actual football remains 84 days away still, so a question.

If in 10-15 years a school HAS to be a member of a conference to get college football playoff access, would a conference like below be one that is desirable to Notre Dame? Or would you prefer the currently-constituted ACC?

14 teams. Only 8 conference games apiece. Each team thus gets 4 OOC games, allowing ND to still play Navy and USC annually, plus 2 others.

Division 1 (old B1G): Maryland, Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
Division 2 (ND + old ACC): Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia

Just shooting ideas into the wind, the long-term possibility of a B1G split came up during my lunch wlork conversations. Though I know ND wants no part of the B1G as currently constituted, I do wonder if some subset of ACC + B1G schools would be desirable conference-mates.

 

[NDSMC78]

Not interested. And not remotely likely to even be proposed.

 

[NDEwing18]

It's the off-season and actual football remains 84 days away still, so a question.

If in 10-15 years a school HAS to be a member of a conference to get college football playoff access, would a conference like below be one that is desirable to Notre Dame? Or would you prefer the currently-constituted ACC?

14 teams. Only 8 conference games apiece. Each team thus gets 4 OOC games, allowing ND to still play Navy and USC annually, plus 2 others.

Division 1 (old B1G): Maryland, Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
Division 2 (ND + old ACC): Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia

Just shooting ideas into the wind, the long-term possibility of a B1G split came up during my lunch wlork conversations. Though I know ND wants no part of the B1G as currently constituted, I do wonder if some subset of ACC + B1G schools would be desirable conference-mates.

Why would this conference be formed? In other words, why would certain Big Ten teams leave the conference that they have been members of for nearly, if not at least, a century?

Notre Dame fans who want Notre Dame to be independent aren't waiting for the "perfect" conference to join. They don't want a part of any conference. You could take the most attractive schools in college football and form a conference, and ND fans who want independence would frown on it.

 

[michnittlion]

Why would this conference be formed? In other words, why would certain Big Ten teams leave the conference that they have been members of for nearly, if not at least, a century?

Two thoughts why it might be formed:

(1) Big Ten eastern schools (the B1G center-of-gravity is definitely shifting east) realizing they have most of the conference's power and don't necessarily have that much in common with schools from the corn-states of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

(2) A purely hypothetical world where Independent teams no longer have access to the college football playoff. Such a scenario may not be probable, but it's not possible.

Anyway, it's a long-shot, but number (2) above is hardly inconceivable come the latter half of the 2020s.

 

[NDSMC78]

Two thoughts why it might be formed:

(1) Big Ten eastern schools (the B1G center-of-gravity is definitely shifting east) realizing they have most of the conference's power and don't necessarily have that much in common with schools from the corn-states of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

(2) A purely hypothetical world where Independent teams no longer have access to the college football playoff. Such a scenario may not be probable, but it's not possible.

Anyway, it's a long-shot, but number (2) above is hardly inconceivable come the latter half of the 2020s.

Actually, it's extremely unlikely. No thanks.

 

[57Patrick]

If ND were to join a conference, I would hope it would be a truly national conference. I would hope there would be academic quality as well as national appeal. I prefer to stay independent, but just think of the money ESPN would pay a super conference that had say 48 schools from across the nation divided into 4 divisions of 12 or (4 divisions of 14). The conference has a divisional playoff resulting the the national champion. You could lose the Ole Ms, Ms Sts of the SEC; The NC St, Wakes of the ACC; The TCUs of the Big 12 etc. for each of the Power 5. Many of the Power 5 schools do little to bring in TV revenue. I hope this never happens, but unfortunately college football is all about the $$$.

 

[topdecktiger]

Two thoughts why it might be formed:

(1) Big Ten eastern schools (the B1G center-of-gravity is definitely shifting east) realizing they have most of the conference's power and don't necessarily have that much in common with schools from the corn-states of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

(2) A purely hypothetical world where Independent teams no longer have access to the college football playoff. Such a scenario may not be probable, but it's not possible.

Anyway, it's a long-shot, but number (2) above is hardly inconceivable come the latter half of the 2020s.

Actually 1) is not close to being true. You sort of invented that yourself. No way Minnesota & Wisconsin get dropped, simply due to TV markets. Nebraska also would never get dropped due to name value.

That said, taking your initial idea on its face, you still have several problems. Northwestern makes no sense. The logical choice would be Illinois. Neither program is demonstrably better than the other. Northwestern is a relatively small private school, whereas Illinois is a state flagship school. That would be the better choice, in terms of TV (which IS important).

Along those lines, you have some redundancies. Rutgers and Syracuse both bring the NYC market, and little else. You cut one of the two loose, and make a play for a team with a better market or name value. Same for Miami and Florida St. Both have the same market. Cut one of those two (probably Miami) and grab another market, say North Carolina. Also, Virginia Tech is a much better choice that UVA. Same market, but Virginia Tech clearly has the better program. The only possible reason to include UVA is for market, but you get that with Virginia Tech.

However, in reality, if the playoffs forced a move, Notre Dame would just join an existing conference.

 

[end_23]

It's the off-season and actual football remains 84 days away still, so a question.

If in 10-15 years a school HAS to be a member of a conference to get college football playoff access, would a conference like below be one that is desirable to Notre Dame? Or would you prefer the currently-constituted ACC?

14 teams. Only 8 conference games apiece. Each team thus gets 4 OOC games, allowing ND to still play Navy and USC annually, plus 2 others.

Division 1 (old B1G): Maryland, Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
Division 2 (ND + old ACC): Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia

Just shooting ideas into the wind, the long-term possibility of a B1G split came up during my lunch wlork conversations. Though I know ND wants no part of the B1G as currently constituted, I do wonder if some subset of ACC + B1G schools would be desirable conference-mates.

Huh? And what are you smoking?

 

[twalsh]

It's the off-season and actual football remains 84 days away still, so a question.

If in 10-15 years a school HAS to be a member of a conference to get college football playoff access, would a conference like below be one that is desirable to Notre Dame? Or would you prefer the currently-constituted ACC?

14 teams. Only 8 conference games apiece. Each team thus gets 4 OOC games, allowing ND to still play Navy and USC annually, plus 2 others.

Division 1 (old B1G): Maryland, Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers
Division 2 (ND + old ACC): Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia

Just shooting ideas into the wind, the long-term possibility of a B1G split came up during my lunch wlork conversations. Though I know ND wants no part of the B1G as currently constituted, I do wonder if some subset of ACC + B1G schools would be desirable conference-mates.

If it comes to that we will just join the ACC. Nobody has to be involved in that decision but us.

 

[IrishBlooded]

Why would the B1G break up? It is arguably the most profitable conference in the country right now.

Your scenario is as likely as Gandolf starting at QB for the Chicago Bulls in the ACC next year to prepare for the World Cup.