Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to realign every school in D-I into more sensible conferences.

You should realign schools along these lines:

- I-A Football
- I-AA Football
- Everything but Football (I-AAA)

You can have Football Only leagues composed of schools in I-AAA leagues.
Plus, you can move schools up from the D-II, D-III, NAIA, and/or JUCO ranks.

Example (which you may have seen in the dream conference thread a few weeks ago):

I-A

Atlantic Coast:
Coastal
=======
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami (FL)
Virginia Tech
*West Virginia

Central
=======
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Wake Forest

Big East:
East
====
*Army
*Boston College
Connecticut
*Navy
Rutgers
*Temple

West
====
Cincinnati
Louisville
*Marshall
Pittsburgh
South Florida
Syracuse

Big Ten+2:
East
====
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue

West
====
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
*Missouri
Northwestern
Wisconsin

Big 12:
North
=====
Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Nebraska
Oklahoma

South
=====
*Arkansas
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
*Texas Christian
Texas Tech

Mid-American:
East
====
Akron
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Ohio

West
====
Ball State
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Western Michigan

Pacific-12:
North
=====
*Brigham Young
Oregon
Oregon State
*Utah
Washington
Washington State

South
=====
Arizona
Arizona State
California
UCLA
Southern California
Stanford

Southeastern:
East
====
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
West
====
Alabama
Auburn
Louisiana State
*Memphis
Mississippi
Mississippi State

Southwest (Formerly Conference-USA):
Gulf
====
UAB
Central Florida
East Carolina
Southern Mississippi
Tulane
Tulsa

Texas
=====
*Baylor
Houston
*North Texas
Rice
Southern Methodist
Texas-El Paso

Western Athletic (Formerly Mountain West)
Mountain
========
Air Force
Colorado State
New Mexico
*New Mexico State
*Utah State
Wyoming

Pacific
=======
*Boise State
*Fresno State
*Hawaii
*Nevada
UNLV
San Diego State

Independent (Football Only):
Notre Dame

I-AA

Atlantic-10 (football and all-sports structures are merged):
*Albany
*Central Connecticut
Fordham
*Georgetown (Football Only)
LaSalle
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Richmond
*Stony Brook
Villanova (Football Only)

Big Sky:
Eastern Washington
*Idaho (I-A Downgrade)
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Portland State
Sacramento State
*Southern Utah
Weber State

Big South (New):
Austin Peay
Charleston Southern
Davidson (Football Only)
Gardner-Webb
Jacksonville
Morehead State
VMI

Colonial:
North
=====
*Bucknell
*Colgate
*Holy Cross
*Lafayette
*Lehigh
*Northeastern
South
=====
Delaware
Hofstra
James Madison
*Johns Hopkins (D-III upgrade)
Towson
William & Mary

Gateway (New):
Duquesne
Eastern Illinois
Grand Valley State (D-II Upgrade)
Illinois State
Indiana State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Southwest Missouri State
Western Illinois
Youngstown State

Great West (Football League):
UC Davis
Cal Poly
Northern Colorado
San Diego
San Jose State (I-A downgrade)

Ivy:
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Yale

Mid-Eastern:
Delaware State
Hampton
Howard
Morgan State
North Carolina A&T
Norfolk State
South Carolina State
*Winston-Salem State (D-II upgrade)

North Central (New):
(All members are D-II and D-III upgrades)

Minnesota-Duluth
Minnesota State-Mankato
Nebraska-Kearney
Nebraska-Omaha
North Dakota
North Dakota State
St. Thomas (MN) (D-III)
South Dakota State
Wisconsin-Stevens Point (D-III)

Northeast (Football Only):
East
====
Iona
Marist
Monmouth
Sacred Heart
St. Peter's
Wagner

West
====
Butler
Dayton
Drake
Robert Morris
St. Francis (PA)
Valparaiso

Ohio Valley:
Eastern Kentucky
Jacksonville State
Murray State
*North Alabama (D-II upgrade)
Samford
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee-Martin
Tennessee Tech

Southern:
Appalachian State
Chattanooga
Citadel, The
*Coastal Carolina
Elon
Furman
Georgia Southern
*Liberty
Western Carolina
Wofford

Southern Intercollegiate (New):
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Kentucky State (D-II Upgrade)
Savannah State
Tennessee State
Tuskegee (D-II Upgrade)

Southland:
*Louisiana-Monroe (I-A downgrade)
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Sam Houston State
Southeastern Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin
Texas State

SWAC:
Alcorn State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Grambling State
Jackson State
Mississippi Valley State
Prairie View A&M
Southern University
Texas Southern

Sun Belt (I-A downgraded league):
Arkansas State
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Louisiana-Lafayette
*Louisiana Tech
Middle Tennessee
Troy
Western Kentucky

I-AAA

American Catholic (New):
Atlantic
========
Georgetown
Providence
St. John's
St. Joseph's
Seton Hall
Villanova

Midwest
=======
Dayton
DePaul
Detroit
Marquette
Notre Dame
Xavier

American South (New):
Arkansas-Little Rock
Centenary
Lamar
New Orleans
Oral Roberts
South Alabama
Texas-Arlington
Texas-Pan American
Texas-San Antonio
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Atlantic Sun (Merger of current league with old Big South):
East
====
Campbell
*High Point
*Kennesaw State (D-II upgrade)
Mercer
*UNC Asheville
*Winthrop
West
====
*Alabama-Huntsville (D-II upgrade)
Belmont
*Birmingham-Southern
Lipscomb
*North Florida (D-II upgrade)
Stetson

Big West (Formerly West Coast):
*Denver
Gonzaga
Loyola Marymount
*Northern Colorado
*Pacific
Pepperdine
Portland
Saint Mary's
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Clara
*Utah Valley State

Central Atlantic (New):
North
=====
Drexel
George Mason
George Washington
UNC Wilmington
Old Dominion
Virginia Commonwealth

South
=====
Charlotte
College of Charleston
Davidson
East Tennessee State
Georgia State
UNC Greensboro

Horizon (New):
Chicago State
Cleveland State
IPFW
IUPUI
Loyola of Chicago
Northern Kentucky (D-II upgrade)
Oakland
Wright State

Metropolitan (New):
Fairfield
Fairleigh thingyinson
Iona
Long Island
Manhattan
Marist
St. Francis (NY)
St. Peter's
Wagner

Missouri Valley:
East
====
*Butler
Evansville
*Illinois-Chicago
*Valparaiso
*UW-Green Bay
*UW-Milwaukee

West
====
Bradley
Creighton
Drake
*UMKC
*Saint Louis
Wichita State

Pacific Coast (Formerly old Big West):
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
*UC San Diego (D-II upgrade)
UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly
Cal State-Fullerton
Cal State-Northridge
Long Beach State
*San Jose State (see Great West note)

Patriot (New):
American
Coppin State
Longwood
Loyola (MD)
Maryland-Baltimore County
Maryland-Eastern Shore
Monmouth
Mount St. Mary's
Radford
Rider
Robert Morris
St. Francis (PA)

Yankee (Formerly America East):
Binghamton
Boston University
*Canisius
Hartford
*Niagara
*Quinnipiac
*Sacred Heart
*St. Bonaventure
*Siena
Vermont

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Here is a new addition for the Souther or Sun Belt IAA.

Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta is a DII school of 17,000 students that will be applying to upgrade to DI in January. The Atlanta Journal Constitution says that football may be in the picture. This is a former JC that is now one of the most successful DII non-football programs in the country. They have won NCAA DII in baseball, men's basketball and men's and women's soccer. If they add football this could be another DIAA power like Georgia Southern.

I actually have them in my example, but I've put them in the Atlantic Sun for now.

If you'd like to join in, you can cut, copy and paste my example and use it as a guide. Make sure it's original though.

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Only problem with putting Kennesaw State into the Atlantic Sun is that they are probably going to add DIAA football. So based on this I think they need to go somewhere elses

Here are some statistics that can help you with the realignment. You can pick the number of teams you want in the top division and adjust your realignment to fit based on attendance.
First the tip of the hat to GunnerFan for his post on the 2003 Attendance thread in the general forum on this site. Thank you GunnerFan! Here is my breakdown of his post.

Total Over Over Over Over Under
30 25 20 15 15
BCS 63 56 61 63 63 0
IND* 2 1 2 2 2 0
MWC 8 5 6 7 8 0
C-USA 11 6 8 11 11 0
WAC 10 2 3 7 10 0
MAC 14 0 2 6 8 6
SBC 9 0 0 1 4 5
Totals 117 70 82 97 106 11

*IND GunerFan list IND's as ND, CT, and Navy. ND is BCS, so I put them there. CT will go to the BE (BCS), and Army will become IND. Hopefully someone will update GunnerFan's great post for the new changes.

Note: with this list, and with reference to GunnerFans post, you can use existing conferences and only have to realign the margins. (i.e. MAC and SBC conferences.)

FBfan

I've began to work on this some, but it's taking me a lot of time to complete. I will reveal the finished product though when I am done.

Hey DawgNDuckFan, how far are you in your realignment of Division I? Just wondering that's all.

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Not so much as an update, but a bump...

I may be adding as much as 10 teams to my proposed realignment of D-I.

I'll let you know when I have the finished result ready.

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Well here it is, the updated version of my D-I realignment. Basically I've added 10 teams (Including Canadian ones) and realigned a few conferences so a high-level basketball-1st conference on the West Coast can be feasible.

I-A (No Change)

Atlantic Coast:
Coastal
=======
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami (FL)
Virginia Tech
*West Virginia

Central
=======
Duke
Maryland
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Wake Forest

Big East:
East
====
*Army
*Boston College
Connecticut
*Navy
Rutgers
*Temple

West
====
Cincinnati
Louisville
*Marshall
Pittsburgh
South Florida
Syracuse

Big Ten+2:
East
====
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue

West
====
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
*Missouri
Northwestern
Wisconsin

Big 12:
North
=====
Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Nebraska
Oklahoma

South
=====
*Arkansas
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
*Texas Christian
Texas Tech

Mid-American:
East
====
Akron
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Ohio

West
====
Ball State
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Western Michigan

Pacific-12:
North
=====
*Brigham Young
Oregon
Oregon State
*Utah
Washington
Washington State

South
=====
Arizona
Arizona State
California
UCLA
Southern California
Stanford

Southeastern:
East
====
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

West
====
Alabama
Auburn
Louisiana State
*Memphis
Mississippi
Mississippi State

Southwest (Formerly Conference-USA):
Gulf
====
UAB
Central Florida
East Carolina
Southern Mississippi
Tulane
Tulsa

Texas
=====
*Baylor
Houston
*North Texas
Rice
Southern Methodist
Texas-El Paso

Western Athletic (Formerly Mountain West) :
Mountain
========
Air Force
Colorado State
New Mexico
*New Mexico State
*Utah State
Wyoming

Pacific
=======
*Boise State
*Fresno State
*Hawaii
*Nevada
UNLV
San Diego State

Independent (Football Only):
Notre Dame

I-AA

Atlantic-10 (football and all-sports structures are merged):
*Albany
*Central Connecticut
Fordham
*Georgetown (Football Only)
LaSalle
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Richmond
*Stony Brook
Villanova (Football Only)

Big Sky:
Eastern Washington
*Idaho (I-A Downgrade)
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Portland State
Sacramento State
*Southern Utah
Weber State

Big South (New):
Austin Peay
Charleston Southern
Davidson
Gardner-Webb
Jacksonville
Kennesaw State (D-II upgrade)
Morehead State
VMI

Colonial:
North
=====
*Bucknell
*Colgate
*Holy Cross
*Lafayette
*Lehigh
*Northeastern

South
=====
Delaware
Hofstra
James Madison
*Johns Hopkins (D-III upgrade)
Towson
William & Mary

Gateway (New):
Duquesne
Eastern Illinois
Grand Valley State (D-II Upgrade)
Illinois State
Indiana State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Southwest Missouri State
Western Illinois
Youngstown State

Great West (New):
UC Davis
Cal Poly
Central Washington (D-II Upgrade)
Northern Colorado
San Diego
San Jose State (I-A downgrade)
Simon Fraser (NAIA/CIS)
Western Washington (D-II Upgrade)

Ivy:
Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
*McGill (CIS Upgrade)
Pennsylvania
Princeton
*Toronto (CIS Upgrade)
Yale

Mid-Eastern:
Delaware State
Hampton
Howard
Morgan State
North Carolina A&T
Norfolk State
South Carolina State
*Winston-Salem State (D-II upgrade)

North Central (New):
(All members are D-II and D-III upgrades)
Minnesota-Duluth
Minnesota State-Mankato
Nebraska-Kearney
Nebraska-Omaha
North Dakota
North Dakota State
St. Thomas (MN) (D-III)
South Dakota State
Wisconsin-Oshkosh (D-III)
Wisconsin-Stevens Point (D-III)

Northeast (Football Only):
East
====
Iona
Marist
Monmouth
Sacred Heart
St. Peter's
Wagner

West
====
Butler
Dayton
Drake
Robert Morris
St. Francis (PA)
Valparaiso

Ohio Valley:
Eastern Kentucky
Jacksonville State
Murray State
*North Alabama (D-II upgrade)
Samford
Southeast Missouri State
Tennessee-Martin
Tennessee Tech

Southern:
Appalachian State
Chattanooga
Citadel, The
*Coastal Carolina
Elon
Furman
Georgia Southern
*Liberty
Western Carolina
Wofford

Southern Intercollegiate (New):
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Kentucky State (D-II Upgrade)
Savannah State
Tennessee State
Tuskegee (D-II Upgrade)

Southland:
*Louisiana-Monroe (I-A downgrade)
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Sam Houston State
Southeastern Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin
Texas State

SWAC:
Alcorn State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Grambling State
Jackson State
Mississippi Valley State
Prairie View A&M
Southern University
Texas Southern

Sun Belt (I-A downgraded league):
Arkansas State
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Louisiana-Lafayette
*Louisiana Tech
Middle Tennessee
Troy
Western Kentucky

I-AAA

American Catholic (New):
Atlantic
========
Georgetown
Providence
St. John's
St. Joseph's
Seton Hall
Villanova

Midwest
=======
Dayton
DePaul
Detroit
Marquette
Notre Dame
Xavier

American South (New):
Arkansas-Little Rock
Centenary
Lamar
New Orleans
Oral Roberts
South Alabama
Texas-Arlington
Texas-Pan American
Texas-San Antonio
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Atlantic Sun (Merger of current league with old Big South):
North
=====
Belmont
*High Point
Lipscomb
*Longwood
*UNC Asheville
*Radford

South
=====
*Alabama-Huntsville (D-II upgrade)
*Birmingham-Southern
Campbell
Mercer
*North Florida (D-II upgrade)
Stetson

Big West (New):
UC Riverside
UC San Diego (D-II upgrade)
Cal State-Bakersfield (D-II Upgrade)
Cal State-Fullerton
Denver
Long Beach State
Loyola Marymount
Saint Mary's
Santa Clara
Utah Valley State

Central Atlantic (New):
North
=====
Drexel
George Mason
George Washington
UNC Wilmington
Old Dominion
Virginia Commonwealth

South
=====
Charlotte
College of Charleston
East Tennessee State
Georgia State
UNC Greensboro
Winthrop

Horizon (New):
Chicago State
Cleveland State
IPFW
IUPUI
Lindenwood (NAIA upgrade)
Loyola of Chicago
Northern Kentucky (D-II upgrade)
Oakland
Southern Indiana (D-II upgrade)
Wright State

Metropolitan (New):
Fairleigh thingyinson
Iona
Long Island
Manhattan
Marist
St. Francis (NY)
St. Peter's
Wagner

Missouri Valley:
East
====
*Butler
Evansville
*Illinois-Chicago
*Valparaiso
*UW-Green Bay
*UW-Milwaukee

West
====
Bradley
Creighton
Drake
*UMKC
*Saint Louis
Wichita State

Pacific Coast (New):
UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara
Cal State-Northridge
Gonzaga
Pacific
Pepperdine
Portland
San Francisco

Patriot (New):
American
Coppin State
Loyola (MD)
Maryland-Baltimore County
Maryland-Eastern Shore
Monmouth
Mount St. Mary's
Rider
Robert Morris
St. Francis (PA)

Yankee (Formerly America East):
East
====
Boston University
*Fairfield
Hartford
*MIT (D-III Upgrade)
*Quinnipiac
*Sacred Heart

West
====
Binghamton
*Canisius
*Niagara
*St. Bonaventure
*Siena
Vermont

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Very interesting stuff.

However, in light of Nevada's tremendous basketball success and the Pac10's current assembly of flagship state schools, I have to think they'd take Nevada over BYU.

Here's a link to my latest (and last) realignment of Division 1:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&selm=d4c791af.0411290807.1f308d6d%40posting.google.com&rnum=1

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Conferences can be arranged into neat 12 team packages and that is nice to do. In the real world though, it may work somewhat permanently for only the elite 1-A conferences containing long established, highly regarded, and stable schools.
Whatever level of 1-A or 1-AA, there will need to be a feeder conference or two to handle the transitional members. Colleges and Universities change over time in terms of student body size, sports emphasis, resources, etc.
One has to account for situations whereby schools such as Wichita State, Tampa, Long Beach State, Fullerton State, Vermont, Pacific, etc. dropped fb. On the other hand, one must account for those such as Georgia Southern and Villanova who renewed programs. There are also the upgrades such as Troy, Marshall, etc. Even now, there have been concerns that at places such as San Jose or Temple, football may be downgraded or dropped.

I-A Conferences

ACC - FSU, Miami (FL), GT, Clemson, UNC, NCSU, Duke, Wake, Va Tech, UVa, MD, BC
Big East - Central: Cincy, Lou, Pitt, WV, N Dame, Marquette*; Atlantic: CT, Rutgers, Syr, USF, ECU, St. John's*
Big XII - North: CO, CSU, KS, KSU, ISU, Nebr; South: Okla, Okla St, Baylor, TX A&M, TX Tech, Texas
Central 12** - West: Mizzou, Wisc, IA, IL, NW, East: IN, Pur, Ohio St, Mich, Mich St, Penn St
C-USA - South: Marshall, Memphis, UCF, UAB, USM, Tulane; North:UMass, JMU, Navy, Army, Del, Temple
MAC - West: NIU, Ball St, WMU, EMU, CMU, Toledo; East: Akr, Buff, Kent St, Ohio, Miami (OH), BGSU
MWC - TCU, SDSU, UNLV, Wyo, BSU, NM, BYU, Utah, AFA
SEC - West: Ala, Aub, Ark, LSU, MS, Miss St; East: Vandy, UK, Fla, UGa, SC, Tenn
Sun Belt - West: Ark St, UNT, ULL, ULM, LTU, UNO*; East: FAU, FIU, MTSU, Troy St, WKU, USA*
Pac 10 - WU, WSU, Ore, Ore St, Cal, Stan, UCLA, So Cal, Ariz, Ariz St
WAC - Far West: USU, Nev, SJSU, Fresno St, HI, ID, Southwest: Rice, Tulsa, Hou, UTEP, SMU, NMSU

*Non-football playing member
**Formerly the Big Ten
UMass, JMU, Delaware, WKU upgrade from I-AA
Big East would not use divisions for football

I-AA Conferences

Atlantic 12** - North: UNH, Maine, Hof, RI, Duqesne, La Salle; South: G'town, Wm & Mary, Liberty, V'nova, Rich, Towson
Big Sky - Mountain: Weber St, So Utah, ID St, No Ariz, Mont, Mont St; Pacific: Ea Wash, Sac St, Port St, San Diego, CP SLO, UC Davis
Ivy League - Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princenton, Yale
MEAC - North: Nor St, How, Cop St, Del St, Hamp, UMES; South: SCSU, NCAT, FAMU, Beth Cook, Morg St, Sav St
MVC - West: NDSU, SDSU, No IA, W Ill, So Ill, No Colo; East: Ind St, Drake, You St, Butler, Valp, Ill St
NEC - East: Robt Morris, St. Francis PA, Mon, Iona, St. P, Marist; North: Stony Brk, Wag, Sac Hrt, Alb, Northeastern, CCSU
OVC - North: EKU, SE Mo, EIU, Murr St, Mrhd St, GVSU; South: Jax St, Samf, TN Martin, TN St, TN Tech, Aus Peay
Patriot Holy Cross, Laf, Buck, Leh, Fordham, Colg; Blue: Co Car, Char So, Gard Webb, Presby, Amer, VMI
Southern - North: UTC, App St, UNCG, Elon, WCU, Dav; South: Fur, Jax, Citadel, C of Char, GA So, Woff
Southland - East: Central Ark, SE La, NW St, McN St, SW MO St, Nich St*; West: Tex St, UTA, SFA, SHSU, UTSA, Lamar
SWAC - Southern, PV, Gram, UAPB, TX So, AAMU, Jackson St, MVSU, Ala St, Alcorn St

*Non football playing member
**Formerly the Atlantic 10
Southland would not use divisions for football
Presby, Central Ark, GVSU, are upgrades from Division II
UTA, UTSA, Lamar add I-AA football

I-AAA Conferences

America East - UVm, Bing, BU, Hartford, UMBC, Quinn, FDU, LIUB, St. Francis NY, Mt. St. Mary's
Atlantic Sun - North: Campbell, ETSU, Longwood, Rad, UNCA, Winth; South: Belmont, Lipscomb, Kenn St, UNF, Mercer, Stet
Big West - Golden State: CSUN, UCI, UCSB, CSUF, LBSU, UCR; Frontier: UTPA, Denver, UVSU, Wich St, ORU, TX A&M CC
CAA - South: UNCW, UNCC, ODU, VCU, Geo Mason, GA St; North: Drexel, St. Joe's, St. Bon, Geo Wash, Seton Hall, Wm & Mary
Horizon League - West: UWM, UWGB, UIC, DePaul, Loy-Chi, St. L; East: Wright St, Det Mercy, IPFW, Xavier, Dayton, Clev St
MAAC - Niagra, Fairfield, Manhattan, Siena, Rider, Loyola MD, Canisius, Prov, High Point
MCC - Centenary, Bham So, Evans, Creigh, UMKC, IUPUI, Chi St, Bradley, Oakland, UALR
WCC - LMU, Gonzaga, Pepp, Pacific, Santa Clara, San Fran, St. Mary's, Portland

I think you're missing a member. Like Minnesota.

_________________
Do you ahhhhh......realign?

Oops. Not only that, I wasn't logged in either!