* YOUR Realignment Top 10s: Best, Worst, Like to See

Quinn · **Joined:** Thu Oct 17, 2002 8:05 am **Posts:** 3757

I'm putting together (3) separate pieces for the News section and want your feedback:

1) Top 10 BEST Realignment Moves:
Go by memory or take a look at the Wikipedia listings for each conference and give your thoughts of what moves you think were the best over the past, say, 25 years or so.

2) Top 10 WORST Realignment Moves:
Using the same resources, discuss the moves you see as the WORST or those that make no sense.

3) Top 10 Realignment Moves You Want To See:
Discuss any moves you would like to see because they just make the most sense.

I already have most of the ideas for each, but really want to get some perspective from you guys. I can GUARANTEE that some of your picks will be included in the top 10 for each, replacing one that I have in mind.

So have fun and feel free to list AS MANY as come to mind.

In fact, feel free to list YOUR TOP TENS!

Quinn · **Joined:** Thu Oct 17, 2002 8:05 am **Posts:** 3757

wbyeager · **Posted:** Tue May 19, 2009 9:44 pm

Here are 10 moves I'd like to see:

1) The CAA move to FBS - Temple is already there; Charlotte and Georgia State intend to upgrade; Delaware, Appalachian State, and Georgia Southern may not be far behind; Massachusetts, Old Dominion, and a couple others are certainly capable of making the move if they get their finances in order. The current Atlantic 10 and CAA are disparate messes that ensure instability in both FCS and FBS.

2) The Big East losing the football schools and Notre Dame, and adding St. Louis, Xavier, and Dayton. The 16-team Big East is too big for its own good.

3) The "new" Big East adding Memphis and Central Florida.

4) Notre Dame joining the Big Ten for all sports.

5) UTEP joining a BCS Mountain West.

6) Conference USA adding Charlotte, Western Kentucky, and Louisiana Tech. Marshall and East Carolina don't deserve to be on an island.

7) The Sun Belt adding Texas State, UTSA and Lamar.

8) The Southland adding UTPA, New Orleans, and UALR. The Southland would only have a net loss of 1 football member (Texas State), so why pass on these schools? UALR and UNO are in good markets, and UTPA would make an excellent travel partner for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

9) North Dakota and Denver joining the Summit.

10) The Atlantic Sun admitting Centenary and Houston Baptist, using the former to keep its automatic bid.

Fresno St. Alum · **Posted:** Tue May 19, 2009 10:13 pm

The way the A-Sun is set up now Centenary & HBU are way too far west to join.

1. Big 10 gets Notre Dame
2. BE splits Bball gets Xavier, St.Louis, & Butler, Fb gets UCF & ECU
3. C-USA gets W.Kentucky, S.Alabama, UTSA
4. MWC goes to 12 with Boise St., Fresno St., UTEP
5. WAC gets Montana, Montana St., UC Davis
6. Sun Belt gets Texas St., Georgia Southern, Appalachian St., Lamar
7. Big Sky gets Denver, S.Utah, C.Washington
8. SLC gets UTPA, C.Oklahoma, Tarleton St.
9. SoCon gets C.Carolina & Jacksonville St.
10. Summit gets Houston Baptist & N.Dakota

JPSchmack · **Joined:** Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:21 pm **Posts:** 851

My 10?

1. Notre Dame the Big Ten;

2. Colorado and Colorado State join the Pac 12;

3. Arkansas replaces CU in the Big XII; Tulane replaces Arkansas in the SEC;

4. The football teams leave the Big East to form the Eastern 12 with Temple, Memphis, UCF, East Carolina.

5. The Big East adds Xavier, Dayton, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, Richmond for a 12-team basketball league.

C-USA, Mountain West, WAC and Sun Belt peacefully re-aligning into three 12-team conferences by geography

6. Mountain West: BYU, Utah, SDSU, UNLV, Wyoming, Air Force, Utah St, Nevada, Boise St, Idaho, San Jose St, Hawaii, Fresno St (yeah, that's 13)

7. Conference USA: Houston, Rice, Tulsa, SMU, TCU, North Texas, Texas St, La Tech, Ark St, UTEP, New Mexico, New Mex St

8. Sun Belt: Marshall, Charlotte, So Miss, UAB, MTSU, WKU, Troy, So Ala, FIU, FAU, ULL, ULM... with UNO and UALR moving to the Southland.

9. The A-10 adds members:
URI, UMass, LaSalle, St Joe's, Hofstra, Fordham in the East. GW, George Mason, Siena, Niagara, Saint Louis and Butler in the West.

10. I win billions in the lottery and fund St. Bonaventure and Tulane so they can actually compete in those conferences.

JPSchmack · **Joined:** Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:21 pm **Posts:** 851

My Worsts:
#1 - Tulane leaving the SEC.

#2 - Louisville killing the Metro Conference.

I'd love to see how the conferences would be now if the Metro made the first move to 12 and a football championship instead of the SEC and Big XII.

The Metro was: Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville, Tulane, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Southern Miss, and South Carolina.

In 1990, with the idea of a football conference, the Metro met with Boston College, East Carolina, Miami, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, West Virginia for two days.

Miami was for it. But Louisville was opposed and killed it.

However, the Big East, Big XII, SEC and ACC realized what was happening.
The ACC scooped up Florida State.
The Big XII crippled the SWC
The SEC picked up South Carolina and Arkansas

Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati formed the Great Midwest. And the Big East ran with the idea and formed a football conference.

Let's say Louisville went along with the Metro all-sports conference:
NORTH: Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia Tech
SOUTH: Florida State, Miami, Tulane, Southern Miss, East Carolina, South Carolina.

They go to a championship game, make money and have #1 Miami, #4 Florida, #8 ECU in 1991.
Their basketball conference has six bids in 1992.

Other conferences respond. The SWC acts first, adding LSU, Tulsa (#21 in 1991) and UTEP.
EAST: Arkansas, LSU, Baylor, SMU, TCU, Tulsa
WEST: Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, Rice, Texas Tech, UTEP

The Big 8 adds BYU, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico

The SEC takes Clemson, Georgia Tech from the ACC and adds South Florida.
BLUE: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Florida, Clemson, South Florida,
YELLOW: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi St, Mississippi, Georgia, Georgia Tech

The ACC adds Syracuse, Boston College, Penn State, Rutgers, Temple and Buffalo.
NORTH: Virginia, Rutgers, Syracuse, Boston College, Temple, Buffalo
SOUTH: North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, N Carolina St, Maryland

What's left of the Big East adds Marquette, DePaul, Xavier, Dayton, Saint Louis, and St. Bonaventure
EAST: Villanova, Providence, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, UConn,
WEST: Marquette, DePaul, Xavier, Dayton, Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure

In 2003, the Pac 10 raids the Big XII of BYU and Utah, which in turn takes Tulsa and Colorado State from the WAC.
Penn State leaves the ACC for the Big Ten, Notre Dame finally joins the Big Ten.
After years of dominating the A-10, UMass upgrades to IA football and joins the ACC.

wbyeager · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 6:28 pm

My worst:

1) Tulane leaving the SEC.
2) The WAC going to 16. I guess this worked out OK for the Mountain West 8 (now 9), but just think at what the Big West (and even the Big Sky) could have been had this not happened.
3) Denver to the Sun Belt - Did DU really think that Idaho, New Mexico State, and Utah State would be in a league with Florida International and South Alabama for the duration? Going to the Mid-Con (now the Summit) as a travel partner for Southern Utah or eventual member UMKC (1999), on the other hand, would have been great foresight.
4) Charlotte and St. Louis to the Atlantic 10 - The Horizon League or Missouri Valley (especially the latter) would have been a better fit for St. Louis, and Charlotte hasn't exactly bonded that well with the rest of the A-10. If Charlotte had joined the CAA . . .
5) The CAA adding Northeastern - If the CAA had waited, they could have had a football conference without having to add a school that recently threatened to drop the sport. The CAA also wouldn't be staring down the prospects of a 14-team football conference had it not absorbed A-10 football. Georgia State and UNC-Wilmington can't be too happy about this either.
6) Chicago State going independent - The Cougars should have just taken their licks, and could have now been in a conference with schools in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and suburban Detroit (not to mention Macomb, IL). The Dakota four would likely be huddled together in the Great West.
7) Florida A&M moving up to I-A - we know how that worked out, didn't it?
8) Savannah State going Division I - so close, yet so far
9) Centenary leaving the TAAC - enjoying those trips to North Dakota and Utah?
10) Georgia Tech leaving the SEC - Exponentially less star-crossed than Tulane's departure, but the grass is clearly greener on the SEC's side of the fence.

* YOUR Realignment Top 10s: Best, Worst, Like to See

Who is online