College football has undergone drastic changes in just the past decade, and maybe more so in the past 4-5 years.
Some of those changes has seen a lot of conference affiliations change, conferences fade into the past and the destruction of longtime rivalry games.
Strangely enough, one of the key things to emerge from the chaos is an actual football playoff in Division I. Well, it's becoming more of an invitational for the Big 10, Big 12, and SEC, but that's another story for another day.
Here's an alignment that would make college football similar to that of college basketball, which involves automatic bids to conference champions and at-large bids to remaining teams.
The feeling here is by allowing more conferences, it provides better upward mobility for programs and a chance to turn things around. Because if you look at the "super conference" format and NIL system that is currently in place, many teams such as Northwestern, Purdue, or Rutgers are going to forever struggle to elevate their programs to the levels of Ohio State, Oregon or Michigan.
The playoff system would be similar to that of the I-AA/FCS system that includes 24 teams making the postseason.
So with 14 conferences, the champion from each would earn an automatic bid and that would allow 8 at-large bids to be handed out. This way you can ensure many of the powerhouse teams still make the playoffs.
Without making this long-winded, here's some major bullet points:
Each conference has a maximum of 10 teams.
The 12-game season format is kept to allow either three to four non conference matchups.
Conference championship games are eliminated, allowing for the extra playoff rounds and also keeping the safety of the players in mind from wear and tear on a long season.
Much of the conference alignment is based on pre-1993 alignment, with some exceptions. For example, South Carolina was independent in 1992, but were a member of the ACC from 1953-1970. Plus they're a natural fit for the ACC footprint and have established rivals in the conference. Same scenario for Penn State, who played as an independent from 1892-1992. Their rivalry games with Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia could be rekindled in a new Big East format.
Yes, Notre Dame is in a conference. And a good fit would be a Big East featuring longtime rival Boston College and reestablishing their series with Miami, Pittsburgh, and Penn State.
Geography was taken into account as much as possible.
Aligning teams based on competition level (i.e. mid-majors) was also taken in to account.
Bowl games could still be utilized for teams not qualifying for the playoffs.
American Athletic Conference (10 teams)
Army, Buffalo, Charlotte, East Carolina, Delaware, Navy, Rutgers, Temple, UConn, UMass
Atlantic Coastal Conference (10)
Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest
Big 10 Conference (10)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Big 8 Conference (10)
BYU, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Utah
Big East Conference (9)
Boston College, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Conference USA (10)
Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa
Mid-American Conference (10)
Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
Mid-South Conference (10)
Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Western Kentucky
Mountain West Conference (9)
Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, North Texas, Sam Houston State, Texas State, UTEP, Utah State, Wyoming
Southeastern Conference (10)
Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Southwestern Conference (10)
Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Rice, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas-San Antonio, Texas Tech
Sun Belt Conference (10)
Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, South Alabama, Troy
PAC 10 Conference (10)
Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State
Western Athletic Conference (8)
Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV
I'm sure many will disagree with this take, as many love the idea of super conferences and consolidating college football down to something similar to an NFL-style league.
And I know from a financial standpoint, the administrators in the power conferences want more games because it means more money for them. Plus, this is also a way for the elite programs, like Oklahoma, to avoid another Boise State from happening to them.
However the current system that is in place now, is not sustainable in the long term.
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