Monday, November 30, 2020

Scheduling for the Alternate History Scenario

Here's a look at what current scheduling would look like for the alternate history scenario previously laid out:

Regular Season

Five conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, and SEC) have ten schools and are able to play a nine-game single-round robin conference schedule. All five conferences play three non-conference games.

The American South Conference, with only nine schools, plays an eight-game single-round robin conference schedule. Each school plays four non-conference games.

The Big 12 and Sun Belt conferences each have two six-team divisions. Schools play the other five schools within their division each year; the six schools from the other division rotate to fill the four remaining conference games. Both conferences play three non-conference games.

The MAC, SWC and WAC each have two seven-team divisions. Each team plays the other six schools in its division each year; the seven teams from the other division are rotated to fill the three remaining conference games. All three conferences play three non-conference games.

Prominent Non-Conference Games

The following non-conference games are played annually prior to rivalry week: Florida - Miami (FL), Florida State - Miami (FL), Iowa - Iowa State, Notre Dame - Navy, Army - Air Force, Navy - Air Force, Brigham Young - Utah State, Utah - Utah State, New Mexico - New Mexico State, New Mexico State - Texas-El Paso

Rivalry Week

The weekend following Thanksgiving serves as rivalry week, the final week of the regular season. The current schedule is as follows for each conference:

Big East: Boston College - Syracuse, Connecticut - Rutgers, Pittsburgh - Penn State, Notre Dame - Miami*

ACC: North Carolina - Duke, North Carolina State - Wake Forest, Clemson - South Carolina

SEC: Alabama - Auburn, Mississippi - Mississippi State, Tennessee - Vanderbilt

Big 12: Texas - Texas A&M, Oklahoma - Oklahoma State, Colorado - Nebraska, Kansas - Kansas State, Missouri - Iowa State, Arkansas - Texas Tech

Big Ten: Michigan - Ohio State, Minnesota - Wisconsin, Purdue - Indiana, Illinois - Northwestern, Michigan State - Iowa

Pac-10: Washington - Washington State, Oregon - Oregon State, California - Stanford, California-Los Angeles - Southern California*, Arizona - Arizona State

SWC: Baylor - Texas Christian, Central Florida - South Florida, Southern Methodist - Rice, Houston - Tulsa, Cincinnati - Memphis, 

WAC: Brigham Young - Utah, New Mexico - Texas-El Paso, Nevada - Nevada-Las Vegas, Air Force - Colorado State, Fresno State - San Jose State, Boise State - San Diego State

Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic - Florida International, East Carolina - Marshall, Charlotte - Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee - Western Kentucky, Arkansas State - North Texas

ASC: Appalachian State - Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern - Georgia State, Texas-San Antonio - Texas State

MAC: Ball State - Northern Illinois, Central Michigan - Eastern Michigan - Western Michigan***, Miami (OH) - Ohio, Akron - Kent State, Bowling Green - Toledo, Temple - Massachusetts

Independents: Army - Navy

Non-Conference: Maryland - West Virginia, Virginia - Virginia Tech, Georgia - Georgia Tech, Florida - Florida State, Kentucky - Louisville, Louisiana State - Tulane, Notre Dame - Southern California**, Wyoming - Utah State, Hawaii - New Mexico State, Alabama-Birmingham - Troy, Southern Mississippi - Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe - Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama - Liberty

*Odd-numbered years only; played before rivalry week in even-numbered years
**Even-numbered years only; played before rivalry week in odd-numbered years
***Two of these three teams play each other on a rotating basis; the third plays Buffalo in a cross-divisional game.

Conference Championships

The weekend after rivalry week serves as conference championship weekend, with the following games being held:

Big 12 Championship (Arlington, TX): Big 12 North #1 vs Big 12 South #1

WAC Championship (Las Vegas, NV): WAC East #1 vs WAC West #1

SWC Championship (New Orleans, LA): SWC East #1 vs SWC West #1

MAC Championship (Detroit, MI): MAC East #1 vs MAC West #1

Sun Belt Championship (Nashville, TN): Sun Belt East #1 vs Sun Belt West #1

December Bowl Games

The following non-major bowls are held between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, excluding Christmas Day and Sundays:

Hall of Fame Bowl (Tampa, FL): SEC #2 vs Big Ten #2

Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX): Pac-10 #2 vs Big 12 #2

Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL): ACC #2 vs Big East #2

Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, NV): WAC #2 vs SWC #2

Bluebonnet Bowl (Houston, TX): SWC #3 vs Big 12 #3

Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA): SEC #3 vs ACC #3

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX): WAC #3 vs Pac-10 #3

Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN): Big Ten #3 vs Big East #3

Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN): SWC #4 vs SEC #4

Aloha Bowl (Honolulu, HI): WAC #4 vs Big Ten #4

Tangerine Bowl (Orlando, FL): ACC #4 vs Big East #4

Copper Bowl (Tucson, AZ): Pac-10 #4 vs Big 12 #4

Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA): Sun Belt #1 vs At-Large

All-American Bowl (Birmingham, AL): American South #1 vs At-Large

Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI): MAC #1 vs At-Large

Note: Schools must have seven wins in order to be bowl-eligible. If a conference does not have enough bowl-eligible schools to fulfill its bid to a bowl game, that bid can be given to a bowl-eligible school from another conference.

Bowl Coalition Games

The following major bowl games are held on New Year's Day. If New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, then they are held on January 2nd:

Rose Bowl: Pac-10 #1 vs Big Ten #1

Holiday Bowl: WAC #1 vs At-Large

Fiesta Bowl: Big East #1 vs At-Large

Cotton Bowl: SWC #1 vs At-Large

Sugar Bowl: SEC #1 vs At-Large

Citrus Bowl: ACC #1 vs At-Large

Orange Bowl: Big 12 #1 vs At-Large

The six at-large bids are awarded to the six next highest ranked teams in the Bowl Poll, a simple adding of the points for each team in the AP and Coaches polls.

National Championship Game

After the bowl games, the Bowl Poll is recalculated based on the final AP and Coaches poll rankings. The top two teams then advance to the national championship game, to be held the first Saturday one full week after New Year's Day.



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