How College Football Realignment Should Have Looked
By Brett Daniels
College Football has been going through conference realignment since the sport's inception in the late 19th century. The SEC has added and subtracted teams since 1940 (want to win a bar bet? Name the 3 teams that have left the SEC. Georgia Tech, Tulane and Sewanee). The Big 8 and Southwest conferences merged to become the Big 12. The Pac 12 (RIP) started life as the Pac 8.
The biggest wave of realignment occurred between 2010-2014 with the SEC expanding to 14 schools (added Missouri and Texas A&M), the Big 10 expanding to 14 schools (adding Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers), the ACC growing to 15 schools (losing Maryland and adding Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Miami), the Big 12 contracted to 10 teams (losing Colorado to the Pac-12 and Nebraska to the Big 10), and the Pac-10 moving to 12 teams (added Colorado and Utah). All was quiet for a few years and then the bombshells of 2021 went off with Texas and Oklahoma announcing a move to the SEC and the Big 10 countering with the additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. The Big 12, to remain a viable conference, added Houston, BYU, Utah, and Central Florida. Not to be outdone, the ACC added SMU, Cal and Stanford to expand to 18 teams. It didn’t have to be this complicated. Below are how the conferences should have looked after realignment
Oct 21, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos (1) runs the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. © Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
ACC
Current Teams: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Wake Forest, SMU, California, Stanford
Who Should Be In: Boston College, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Rutgers, Miami, UCF, USF, Syracuse, UConn, Temple, Duke, Wake Forest, James Madison
You could rename this conference the Big East and no one would argue. All these teams are on or near the Atlantic Coast and in the same time zone. UCF, USF, and Miami give the conference a Florida presence. The Backyard Brawl between Pitt and WVU would be a conference game. This conference would also excel in men’s basketball.
Dec 29, 2022; Bronx, NY, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (8) throws the ball during the first half of the 2022 Pinstripe Bowl against the Syracuse Orange at Yankee Stadium. Kaliakmanis left the game after an injury on the play. © Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Big 10
Current Teams: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon
Who Should Be In: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Iowa State, Purdue, Indiana, Missouri, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati
Perhaps the biggest bombshell in this realignment scenario is Notre Dame joining a conference. It almost happened in 1999 when the Big 10 invited the Irish to join. The process went right up to the end when the Board of Trustees decided to remain independent in football. Notre Dame would join the ACC in all other sports and has a scheduling agreement for football. Missouri has never been a cultural fit in the SEC and would be a better fit in the Big 10, as would Louisville and Cincinnati. The addition of Iowa State preserves the CyHawk Rivalry.
Nov 12, 2022; Waco, Texas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats safety Kobe Savage (2) makes an interception against the Baylor Bears during the first half at McLane Stadium. © Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Big 12
Current Teams: Baylor, BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Who Should Be In: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, SMU, Houston, TCU, Tulsa, Tulane, Baylor, Texas Tech
The Southwest Conference and Big 8 rekindle old rivalries in the new look Big 12. Tulsa and Tulane are current Group of 5 teams that fit well culturally and in style of play with many Big 12 teams.
Nov 19, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores defensive back Jaylen Mahoney (23) linebacker De'Rickey Wright (43) and safety Maxwell Worship (21) celebrate after an interception during the second half against the Florida Gators at FirstBank Stadium. © Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
SEC
Current Teams: Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt, South Carolina
Who Should Be In: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Florida State, UNC, NC State, Georgia Tech
Geographically and culturally, this makes the most sense of any conference. Texas A&M and Missouri were never natural additions to the conference, Arkansas has become an SEC school since joining in 1992, but is a better cultural fit in the Big 12. Clemson and Florida State should have been SEC schools from the beginning.
Sep 17, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) carries the ball against the Fresno State Bulldogs in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
PAC 12
Current Teams: Washington State, Oregon State
Who Should Be In: USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, California, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, BYU, San Diego State, San Jose State, Fresno State, Boise State
Welcome back to life Pac 12! Don’t screw it up this time. All these schools are good geographical and cultural fits and they'd be preserving rivalry games.
The 16-team conferences would have a uniform scheduling model of 9 conference games (3 permanent rivals, the other 12 team would rotate home/away every two years. Teams would play home and away against every school in the conference once every 4 years). The other 3 games would be against Power 5 teams from other conferences.
Teams that didn’t make the cut for one of the 16 team super conferences would be in a division with current FCS teams.
Jan 9, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; The College Football National Championship trophy at press conference at JW Marriot Houston by the Galleria. © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
How the College Football Playoff would work under this scenario would be up to the conference commissioners and university presidents. Realistically, anything from 4 to the current 12 team model would work.