2023-08-21 15:24:43
What would the CFB look like geographically?
August 21, 2023
Photo: Wikipedia
Currently the College Football is experiencing a strange stage where regionalization no longer matters so much, tending to a greater professionalization of collegiate sports in the US. Realignment is a common event for the NCAA and generated especially by this sport, having an exodus of teams every few years to different conferences.
This year we will see the removals of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Oregon y Washington from Pac-12 (the first four will go to the Big 12the last two to Big Ten), and of Oklahoma y Texas what will happen from the Big 12 to the SEC. In addition, we will see the first seasons on FBS of Jacksonville State y Sam Houston Statewhich will pass from FCS to the C-USA.
And just as we saw a 40-team NFL, in the next note we will see what a CFB geographically organized. Rules:
The current ten conferences (ACC, American, Big Ten, Big 12, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, SEC, and Sun Belt) will be maintained. In addition, there will be an independent team since there are 133 teams in College during the 2023 season. There will cease to be a Power 5 and there will be a Power 4, where each conference will be guaranteed a place in a NY6 Bowl. The NY6 Bowls will be 4. The three that maintain direct contracts with conferences (Orange Bowl with the ACC; Rose Bowl with the Big Ten and Pac-12; and the Sugar Bowl with the Big XII and SEC), in addition to the Fiesta Bowl. These 4 Bowls will be assigned according to closeness geographic location to each Power 4 conference. For conference setup some teams could be in others instead of those to which they are closest geographically. But this was so to prioritize two factors: Maintain certain key rivalries such as “The Game” between Michigan and Ohio State. So that each conference can have at least two divisions.
Power 4
Big 12 Conference
Members:
North East Division:
Illinois Fighting Illini
Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa State Cyclones
Northern Illinois Huskies
Northwestern Wildcats
Our Lady Fightning Irish
South West Division:
As the one with the highest percentage of teams currently in the Power 5 (10 of 12 teams and Notre Dame) has, the new incarnation of the Big 12 has interesting stories to tell.
By the side of the North East Division the state of Illinois contributes its three teams adding to Our Lady (from the state of Indiana), and also annually guarantees the duel between Cyclones y Hawkeyes for him Cy-Hawk Trophy.
On South West Division we must say that it recalls the best moments of the Big 12. With the return of two founding members in Missouri y Nebraska (who participated until the 2011 and 2010 season respectively), which with the universities of the state of Kansas They are four of the six teams that were formerly in the Northern Division; and we close with the pair of of Oklahoma to miss the Big 12 prior to the realignment of the 2010’s.
The new one Big 12 You will have your place guaranteed to the Fiesta Bowlwhich is held annually in the State Farm Stadium (home of the Arizona Cardinals) located in Glendale, Arizona.
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Members:
Indy-Kent Division:
Ball State Cardinals
Indiana Hoosiers
Kentucky Wildcats
Louisville Cardinals
Purdue Boilermakers
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Oh-Penn Division:
Cincinnati Bearcats
Marshall Thundering Herd
Miami (OH) RedHawks
Penn State Nittany Lions
Pittsburgh Panthers
Temple Owls
Con 7 teams who are currently in Power 5 conferences, the revamped MAC goes from being the lowest point of the FBS to be among the select group of four.
By the side of the Indy-Kent Division the teams of each state (except Notre Dame for Indiana) comprise it. A division armed almost exclusively with rivalries: The Bourbon Barrel between Indiana and Kentucky; Old Oaken Bucket between Indiana and Purdue; and the most important of the division, the Governor’s Cup between Kentucky and Louisville.
The Oh-Penn Division has not only a national champion in Penn Stateif not that it has both internal and interdivisional rivalries: Cincy and Miami (OH) for the Victory Bell; Cincy and Pittsburgh for the River City Rivalry; and the return from 2019 of the The Keystone Classic between Penn State and Pittsburgh, talking about divisional rivalries; counting the interdivisional we add The Keg of Nails between Cincy and Louisville.
the renewed MAC You will have your place guaranteed to the Sugar Bowl, which is held annually at Caesars Superdome (home of the New Orleans Saints) located in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Members:
California Division:
California Golden Bears
Fresno State Bulldogs
San Diego State Aztecs
San Jose State Trojans
Stanford Cardinal
UCLA Bruins
USC Trojans
North Division:
Boise State Broncos
Nevada Wolfpack
Oregon Ducks
Oregon State Beavers
UNLV Rebels
Washington Huskies
Washington State Cougars
The Pac-12 Its days are numbered in reality with the massive exodus that the conference is having (where it lost eight of its 12 members by 2024: two -UCLA and USC- announced their departure in 2022; while the remaining six did so this 2023) , but here the Pac-12 is more alive than ever, and enters the Power 4.
Starting with the California Division (composed exclusively of the seven members of the state of the FBS) we maintain history with national champions such as USC y UCLAnews with the last season of Fresno Stateand potential beyond football as it can offer San Diego State with the Basketball. USC-Stanford, USC-UCLA, UCLA-Cal, and SDST-Fresno State are the rivalries we could certainly enjoy.
By the side of the North Division the amalgamation between a large part of the Mountain West and the old North Division of the Pac-12. Boise State, which during the 2000’s and early 2010’s could have made the jump to the Power 5 and not look out of place, as well as those who were historically division candidates such as the Huskieslos Cougars and the Ducks. Keeping with the state rivalries (Nevada, Oregon and Washington) the division won’t be boring to watch.
And how could it be otherwise, the conference will continue to have its seat guaranteed Rose Bowlhistoric Bowl that is played in the stadium with the same name in the Californian city of Pasadena.
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Members:
AlGa Division:
Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn Tigers
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Troy Trojans
UAB Blazers
Florida Division:
Florida Gators
Florida Atlantic Owls
Florida International Panthers
Florida State Seminoles
Miami (FL) Hurricanes
South Florida Bulls
UCF Golden Knights
As the last Power 4 conference we have one that is especially intriguing due to its territoriality. The SEC will feature the 7 teams from the state of Floridain addition to combining those of the state of Alabama y GeorgiaThese three states being good houses that produce both collegiate and professional talent, and a clear demonstration that when talking about Football you always have to look south first.
The AlGa Division will have the Iron Bowla rivalry that consistently enters the Top 3 of the most important of CFB; the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry between Auburn and Georgia; Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate between Georgia and Georgia Tech; as well as Alabama-Georgia and Auburn-Georgia Tech.
9 years ago, the words “Kick Six” were engraved into the history of the Iron Bowl ???? pic.twitter.com/tous5VH000
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 30, 2022
Going down to the state of Florida we have one of the few rivalries between three teams, being the only one in which all its members are national champions, we are talking about the Florida Cup between the Gatorslos Hurricanes and the Seminoles. There are two curious facts about this rivalry:
The first is that in at least one of their national championships each university beat the other two and won the Florida Cup in addition to the national championship. This happened to him: Miami Hurricanes in 1987 (15 years before the establishment of this cup);
Florida Gators in 2008;
y Florida State Seminoles in it ’93, ’99 y 2013, being also the only one who achieved it in all his national championships. And the second is that Florida is the the only one who won the national final against one of the other two (in this case Florida State) in the season 1996.
In addition we will have Shula Bowl (so called because Shula is a longtime Miami Dolphins coach and college head coaches have ties to him) between FAU y FIU; and multi-sport rivalry”War on I-4” in between UCF y USFnamed after the highway interstate 4 passing through Orlando y Tampa (home of the Golden Knights and Bulls respectively)
He Orange Bowlwhich is played annually in the Hard Rock Stadium (located in Miami Gardens, Florida) will be home to the guaranteed seats of this powerful new SEC.
Group of 6
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Members:
North Carolina Division:
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Duke Blue Devils
East Carolina Pirates
NC State Wolfpack
North Carolina Tar Heels
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
SCar-Vir Division:
Charlotte 49ers
Clemson Tigers
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Liberty Flames
Old Dominion Monarchs
South Carolina Gamecocks
The first of two Power 5 conferences that fell. By keeping some of its current members, the new ACC loses its current status and downgrades a bit, but it will still give us interesting matches.
By the side of the North Carolina DivisionUNC will maintain its state rivals against Duke (Victory Bell), NC State and Wake Forest, as well as the latter two with each other. East Carolina will bring its rivalry with NC State for the Victory Barreland finally Appalachian State will involve its great present in the Sun Belt.
crossing to the SCar-Vir Division the big game of this will be the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina, the largest universities in the state; and then Coastal Carolina-Liberty would follow as the other divisional rivalry. Although interdivisionally the Battle of the Carolinas between UNC and SC.
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Members:
Central North Division:
Baylor Bears
North Texas Mean Green
SMU Mustangs
TCU Horned Frogs
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
UTEP Miners
Texas Division:
Houston Cougars
Rice Owls
Sam Houston State Bearkats
Texas Longhorns
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas State Bobcats
UTSA Roadrunners
The American will be remembered in this realignment for representing the most stereotypically American state, Texas. Made up of the thirteen teams from the state, plus Tulsa from the state of Oklahoma, the stars and stripes flag will fly high.
With the Central North Division we will have Baylor with their rivalries against TCU and TTU; SMU will contest the Iron Skillet before TCU, and the Safeway Bowl against North Texas; and finally TCU-TTU will face each other for the Saddle Trophy.
On the side of the named Texas Division Houston-Rice will contest the Bayou Bucket; Rice will face Texas; and finally it will be time to see one of the best rivalries of the old Big 12the one between Texas and Texas A&M, which was played for the last time in 2011 and which culminated in the Kicker kick of the Baltimore Ravens, Justin Tuckerfor the Longhorns to win 27-25.
Justin Tucker days until Texas football! pic.twitter.com/8zZecNYzcz
— Hook’em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) August 14, 2023
Big Ten Conference
Members:
Michigan Division:
Central Michigan Chippewas
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan State Spartans
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Western Michigan Broncos
Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio Division:
Akron Zips
Bowling Green Falcons
Kent State Golden Flashes
Ohio Bobcats
Ohio State Buckeyes
Toledo Rockets
West Virginia Mountaineers
The Big Ten is the second conference to drop, even with great rivalries in the middle. Starting with the Michigan Division you could create the Michigan Cup, which would be awarded to whoever beats three of the four state rivals; in turn we have Michigan MAC Trophy that faces Broncos, Chippewas and Eagles. In turn, three other traditional conference trophies would remain, these being the Paul Bunyan Trophy (Michigan-MSU), Little Brown Jug (Michigan-Minnesota), y Paul Bunyan’s Axe (Minnesota-Wisconsin).
Going south, the Ohio Division will only have the power to Ohio State, who will easily win the division every year. Bowling Green will maintain its two rivalries against Toledo and Akron, while the latter will do the same against Kent State. Of course, this conference will have to have interdivisional games to guarantee the greatest rivalry in this sport every year, the The Game between Michigan and Ohio State.
Conference USA (C-USA)
Members:
North Division:
Army Black Knights
Boston College Eagles
Buffalo Bulls
Syracuse Orange
UConn Huskies
UMass Minutemen
South Division:
James Madison Dukes
Maryland Terrapins
Navy Midshipmen
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Tech Hokies
Occupying the American Northwest is C-USA. With the North Division we’ll see Boston College take on Syracuse and its in-state rival UMass, and the latter will do the same against its rival UConn. By the side of the South DivisionMaryland will face Navy and Virginia, and the latter will play the Commonwealth Cup against their biggest rival, Virginia Tech. Like the Big Ten, the C-USA will have to play interdivision games to guarantee the Army-Navy Game and the delivery of Secretary’s Trophy.
????DRAFT 2023 – PICK 22 – BALTIMORE RAVENS????
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✅ Position: WR
???? University: Boston College#NFLDraft2023 #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/yZNoPfGE6V— No Huddle (@nflnohuddle) April 28, 2023
Mountain West
Members:
ArUtah Division:
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona State Sun Devils
BYU Cougars
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Utah Utes
Utah State Aggies
ColMex Division:
Air Force Falcons
Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado State Rams
New Mexico Lobos
New Mexico State Aggies
Wyoming Cowboys
The Mountain West will keep several teams and add their in-state rivals. By the side of the ArUtah Division highlight the state rivalries: Wildcats and Sun Devils will face each other in the Duel in the Desert by Territorial Cup; while in Utah the Beehive Boot entre Aggies, Cougars y Utes.
In addition, each of these three has a great rivalry with the other two: Aggies and Utes face each other in the Battle of the Brothers; The throphy The Old Wagon Wheel it is disputed between themselves Aggies and Cougars; and finally the most important rivalry of the three, the Holy War between Cougars and Utes, so named because BYU belongs to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church in English) and the University of Utah has a large population belonging to that church.
On the other hand the ColMex Division will feature all three Colorado universities and could establish a Colorado Cup among these, who already have their own rivalries such as the Ram-Falcon Trophy (AF-CSU) and etc Rocky Mountain Showdown by Centennial Cup (Colorado-CSU). On the other hand, New Mexico and NMST dispute the Rio Grande Rivalrywhile Wyoming will maintain its Border War and the dispute of Bronze Boot before CSU.
Other interdivisional rivalries are: Bridger’s Battle (Utah State-Wyoming); Rumble in the Rockies (Colorado-Utah) and Arizona-New Mexico.
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Members:
ArLou Division:
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas State Red Wolves
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana-Monroe War Hawks
LSU Tigers
South Alabama Cougars
Tulane Green Wave MissTen Division:
Jacksonville State Gamecocks
Memphis Tigers
Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Be Miss Rebels
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Tennessee Volunteers
Vanderbilt Commodores
Finally the Sun Belt will have an interesting number of teams to compete for their championship. The ArLou Division will feature the five teams from the state of Louisiana that will play against each other:
Battle on the Bayou by Wooden Boot (ULM-ULM).
Battle for the Rag by Tiger Rag (LSU-Tulane). In addition, LT rivalries will be held against ULL and ULM, as well as the Golden Boot at Arkansas and LSU.
The MissTen Division will have the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, the Mid-South Rivalry between Memphis and Ole Miss, and the rivalry between the Rebels and Commodores, to which is also added the Black and Blue Bowl between Tigers and Golden Eagles, to close the rivalries of the state of Mississippi. Tennessee, for its part, will find its rivalry against Vanderbilt.
And, as usual in recent conferences, we can see different interdivisional rivalries such as:
Nameless ones like Arkansas-Ole Miss; LSU-Mississippi State; Ole Miss-Tulane.
Paint Bucket Bowl (Arkansas State-Memphis).
Magnolia Bowl (LSU-Ole Miss).
Rivalry in Dixie (LT-Southern Miss).
Battle for the Bell (Southern Miss-Tulane).
And so we conclude with this massive realignment of the FBS and how it would look organized geographically.
Alvaro Towers Swanston
Thermo fan of Gymnastics and New England Patriots. Apostle of Belichick and Brady. The Bengals won a playoff game again before my team won a title again.
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