Radical College Football Realignment - A Different Approach

So I've clearly had an obsession with college football realignment scenarios over the years; I've created more proposals than I can count at this point. Today I bring forward a new scenario, one that's based on a new gimmick - universal 13-game regular season schedules.

Before I dive in, let me review my key priorities when creating these scenarios:

• Conferences that are based on historic rivalries and conference affiliations, geography, and program strength.
• Single round-robin conference scheduling, forgoing the need for unbalanced schedules and divisions, protected rivalries, or conference championship games.
• A postseason system that respects the historic role of bowl games while still producing a clear national champion.

The second point seems to create a natural limit to conference size: if schools need to play a single-round robin schedule, then conferences need to realistically be no bigger than 10 schools to allow a 9-game conference schedule in a 12-game season. However, a thought occurs to me: if we've gotten rid of conference championship games, there's no reason we couldn't lift the cap of regular season games to 13. After all, there is plenty of precedent for this (take a look at Hawaii for instance). Hell, the 2002 national champions, Ohio State, played a 13-game regular season (starting with a kickoff classic). A 13-game schedule allows for one extra conference game, thus enabling conferences to expand to 11 schools. This opens up a whole new realm of realignment scenarios.

And one such scenario is exactly what I'm putting forward here. The framework is simple: 12 conferences of 10 or 11 schools, playing 9- or 10-game single round-robin conference schedules within a 13-game regular season schedule. The 12 conferences are divided into two tiers of six each: automatic qualifiers (the "power" conferences) and non-automatic qualifiers (non-"power" conferences). Yes, I'm bringing back the BCS, albeit a modified version. The wrinkle here is that while there will still be five BCS bowls, they will now be followed by a plus-one #1 vs #2 national championship game, based on post-bowl rankings.

So, without further ado, here is the new conference alignment:

Automatic Qualifying Conferences

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

Pac-10
Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Arizona, Arizona State

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - that's essentially the approach I took with these two conferences. These are what I consider the "classic" alignments for these conferences. While I could have added another school to either conference, there were no other schools that ended up making sense here in the grand scheme of things; as we'll see below, Penn State notably is integral to another conference. Biggest benefits of these alignments: 1) the Big Ten actually has 10 schools again; 2) the imbalance between the Big Ten East and Big Ten West is eliminated; 3) the California schools are not split between divisions.

SEC
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU

Moving to an 11-team alignment resolves a long-standing problem for me: where to put South Carolina. South Carolina really does work well in the SEC in my eyes, and their inclusion here does not disrupt the power structure of the conference in a meaningful way. Otherwise this is essentially the "classic" SEC alignment of the '70s and '80s. No rivalries are split by divisions, which is a big plus for a conference chock-full of them.

ACC
Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami (FL)

The ACC tends to be a challenging conference in these scenarios, and greatly benefits from the 11-team alignment. This is actually the roster the ACC had for exactly one season - 2004 - following the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech but prior to Boston College joining. The ACC is by far the conference most improved by the removal of divisions, with its ridiculous Atlantic/Coastal split. This particular alignment is great because it keeps the Virginia-Virginia Tech and Miami-Florida State rivalries together. Also of note: the return of Maryland.

Big 11
Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

This to me is where things really start to get interesting. Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas A&M are all restored to their rightful home, rekindling traditional conference rivalries with Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas respectively. Arkansas feels like a natural fit, rejoining three former SWC rivals; their presence here also allows the SEC to stay at 11 without them. Meanwhile, capping this conference at 11 fixes one of the biggest problems with the old Big 12: the imbalance between the North and South divisions.

Big East
Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple*, Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Army*, Navy*, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova, Georgetown

What college football realignment scenario is complete without bringing back the Big East? I really like this version. Six of the eight founding football members are here, excluding Miami and Virginia Tech, who I feel do fit better in the ACC. Notre Dame and Penn State take their place as the anchors of the conference, and frankly both are stronger historically, have better rivalries, and are closer geographically (while Notre Dame is obviously in the Midwest, it is culturally a Northeastern school). I like having the trio of UConn, Rutgers and Temple together; even though they are the weakest AQ schools in this alignment, their location in the major New York and Philadelphia media markets provides a lot of value. Army and Navy round out the conference nicely, bringing plenty of tradition in the form of their own rivalry game and their respective rivalries with Notre Dame. Of note: the Backyard Brawl is back as a conference game.

While Notre Dame obviously loses its independent status by joining the Big East, this is probably the best conference scenario you can come up with for them. Four of its biggest rivals would be conference games here: Pitt, Boston College, Army and Navy, while the rest of the games would strengthen the school's Northeast ties. The Irish can also still play three non-conference games in this scenario, potentially against USC, Stanford, and a Big Ten opponent to preserve its other biggest rivalries; Notre Dame can afford to play a strong non-conference schedule, with the weaker conference games against UConn, Rutgers and Temple. (Penn State, for its part, gets Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia as major conference rivals now.)

The Big East does retain its basketball pedigree in this scenario; Temple, Army and Navy are here for football only, while Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and Georgetown are still non-football members. The 13 basketball schools are well-positioned to play an 18-game conference schedule by playing 6 home-and-home matchups and 6 single matchups a year.

Non-Automatic Qualifying Conferences

WAC
BYU, Utah, Wyoming, Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State, New Mexico, UTEP, Baylor, TCU, SMU

Nine of these schools played together simultaneously in the WAC from 1996-99; however, this is a much tighter geography than that version, whose collapse led to the birth of the MWC. The two new schools here, Colorado and Baylor, are both left out of the Big 12 to allow for the Big 11 alignment described above. Colorado actually has geographic rivalries with Colorado State and Utah here, which it lacked in the Big 12, while Baylor stays together with SWC rivals TCU and SMU. Also of note: the Holy War restored as a conference game.

Now, this would be a somewhat controversial alignment, as four schools here currently play in Power Five conferences but would lose that status; Colorado and Baylor might be particularly unhappy, as longstanding major conference programs. On the flip side, this is one hell of a non-power conference. Colorado, BYU, and SMU have all won national championships; Utah and TCU both won BCS bowls; Utah and Baylor both won Power 5 conference championships this season. This conference would almost certainly be "BCS-busting" on a regular basis.

Metro
Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Houston, North Texas, Tulsa, Tulane, Southern Mississippi, UAB, Central Florida, South Florida, Wichita State, VCU

Seven of the eleven football schools currently play in the AAC (along with Wichita State for basketball), though this conference has a much more coherent geography. Louisville was a founding AAC member before leaving for the ACC, while North Texas and UAB are future members. Seven of these programs played in the Missouri Valley Conference when it sponsored football (including Wichita State), while eight played in the non-football Metro (including VCU). All eleven football schools have played in CUSA at some point. The Metro name seems appropriate here, as all but Southern Miss play in major urban areas.

This is another likely "BCS-buster" conference: Cincinnati is in the CFP this year; Memphis, Houston, and UCF have also all played in New Year's Six bowls; Louisville won two BCS bowls.

Basketball-wise, the 13-team conference would use the same scheduling format described above for the Big East.

Big West
Hawaii, San Diego State, Fresno State, San Jose State, UNLV, Nevada, Boise State, Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State

All of these programs played football in the Big West at one point or another, except Hawaii, who is actually a current non-football member. The Big West joins the Big Ten and Pac-10 as the only 10-team conferences in this alignment. Idaho is restored as an FBS school, giving Boise State an in-state rivalry. Of note: the entire West division of the MWC is represented here. Boise State is clearly the strongest program here, and the most likely BCS-buster.

Sun Belt
UTSA, Texas State, Rice, Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Troy, South Alabama

Atlantic South
Marshall, Liberty, Old Dominion, Appalachian State, Charlotte, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic, Florida International

The rest of the current Sun Belt and CUSA schools are divided up geographically between these two conferences, along with Liberty and ECU (joining old rivals App State and Marshall). Several ascendant programs can be found here, including UTSA, Louisiana, App State, and Coastal.

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

The weakest conference, this is essentially the current MAC minus Buffalo, excluded to get the MAC down to 11 schools.

Independents
Buffalo, Massachusetts

These are the only two FBS schools left without a conference home. Both schools would likely  struggle to fill a full 13-game schedule. I anticipate a lot of matchups against MAC, Big East, and FCS schools.

Bowl Games

The bowl games effectively fall into five categories. The first are the BCS bowls. The champions of the six AQ conferences get bids to designated games, while the next four highest ranked schools get at-large bids. As noted above, the rankings are rerun after the bowl games, and the #1 and #2 teams would then play each other in a national championship game played in Los Angeles. Compared to the current playoff system, this makes more bowls and schools relevant for the championship, likely three or four games in a given year. Non-AQ schools who make a BCS bowl would also get a legit shot at getting to the top two and playing for a title if they can beat an AQ champion.

Rose Bowl (Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA): Pac-10 vs Big Ten
Fiesta Bowl (Cardinals Stadium - Glendale, AZ): Big East vs At-Large
Cotton Bowl Classic (Cowboys Stadium - Arlington, TX): Big 11 vs At-Large
Sugar Bowl (Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, LA): SEC vs At-Large
Orange Bowl (Dolphin Stadium - Miami Gardens, FL): ACC vs At-Large

National Championship Game (Los Angeles Stadium - Inglewood, CA) - #1 vs #2

For the rest of the bowls, order of preference is based on descending order through the rankings to produce the strongest matchups. Every AQ conference is guaranteed at least two bowl berths against other AQ schools, as follows:

Citrus Bowl (Citrus Bowl - Orlando, FL) - SEC vs Big Ten
Hall of Fame Bowl (Tampa Community Stadium - Tampa, FL) - SEC vs Big Ten
Peach Bowl (New Atlanta Stadium - Atlanta, GA) - SEC vs ACC
Gator Bowl (Jacksonville Municipal Stadium - Jacksonville, FL) - Big East vs ACC
Tangerine Bowl (Citrus Bowl - Orlando, FL) - Big East vs AQ At-Large
Alamo Bowl (Alamodome - San Antonio, TX) - Big 11 vs Pac-10
Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas Stadium - Paradise, NV) - Pac-10 vs Big 11

Each non-AQ conference is also guaranteed at least one berth against an AQ school, with designated matchups as follows:

Holiday Bowl (Aztec Stadium* - San Diego, CA) - Big West vs Pac-10
Sun Bowl (Sun Bowl - El Paso, TX) - WAC vs Big 11
Music City Bowl (The Coliseum - Nashville, TN) - Sun Belt vs SEC
Bluebonnet Bowl (Texans Stadium - Houston, TX) - Metro vs Big East
Motor City Bowl (Lions Stadium - Detroit, MI) - MAC vs Big Ten
Queen City Bowl (Panthers Stadium - Charlotte, NC) - ASC vs ACC

Non-AQ schools also have designated bowl berths against other non-AQ schools. Note that the Aloha Bowl gives preference to Hawaii as its Big West representative:

Heart of Dallas Bowl (Cotton Bowl - Dallas, TX) - Metro vs WAC

Liberty Bowl (Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium - Memphis, TN) - Metro vs Sun Belt/ASC/MAC/Ind.
Copper Bowl (Arizona Stadium - Tucson, AZ) - Big West vs WAC
Aloha Bowl (Aloha Stadium* - Honolulu, HI) - Big West vs MAC
Independence Bowl (Independence Stadium - Shreveport, LA) - Sun Belt vs ASC

Lastly, both the WAC and Metro get bowl berths against at-large opponents, AQ or non-AQ:

All-American Bowl (New Birmingham Stadium - Birmingham, AL) - Metro vs At-Large

New Mexico Bowl (University Stadium - Albuquerque, NM) - WAC vs At-Large

The bowl games are mostly based on the most prestigious and longest-running games and sites, and are mainly based at NFL and non-campus stadiums across the Sun Belt (south of the 36th parallel). Bowl sites in northern cities, non-football facilities, and on-campus stadiums, as well as duplicate bowls in the same city, are mostly eliminated, with a few notable exceptions.

Overall, the number of bowl games is significantly cut down, with only 25 bowls and 50 bids. Eligibility is tightened by requiring seven wins against FBS schools. If a conference cannot fulfill its designated tie-ins, those bids can be replaced by at-large schools. Reaching a bowl game would be a more significant accomplishment than it is today; only about a third of schools would make a bowl game, compared to two-thirds now. Again, the goal here is to make the postseason feel a bit more meaningful and return to its original role as a showcase of the nation's best programs.

Notes: Bowls and stadiums are referred to by their non-sponsored names. Aztec Stadium and Aloha Stadium are currently under construction.

A Different College Football Alternate History: The Magnolia Conference

It's summer, which means it's time for me to put forward yet another college football realignment proposal. This time we'll be exploring a scenario in which a Magnolia Conference came together in the 1960s. The overall framework is straightforward: every conference has between 8-11 schools and currently plays a round-robin conference schedule (with one exception). There are no conference championship games. Each conference has a designated tie-in to a bowl game for its champion. After the bowl games, the top two teams (as determined by adding the points in the AP and Coaches polls) play each other in a national championship game.

Here's a breakdown of each conference, including a rationale for their composition, an analysis of the conference, and an explanation of their bowl tie-in. (Note: an * means the school joins for football-only, while italics indicate basketball-only)

Magnolia Conference

Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Rice, SMU, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest

The original proposal for the Magnolia Conference consisted of the seven schools listed above that were in the SWC, SEC or ACC at the time. These schools were all more academically-inclined than some of their conference rivals, and felt that they were beginning to fall behind from a competitive standpoint. All but Georgia Tech was a private school. Although both Tulane and Georgia Tech did leave the SEC in the 1960s, this conference never came together. Had it done so, I suspect that Miami would have become the 8th member. It was an independent that would not otherwise have a natural home in this scenario. Like most of the other schools here, it's a private Southern school with a strong academic profile that's located in a major city. Miami had not yet become "The U", so joining a conference with this alignment would not have been viewed as a step-down in profile the way it would be today. 

From a competitive standpoint, Miami and Georgia Tech likely would have emerged as the two dominant programs in the conference. However, I suspect the other schools would have done reasonably well now that they are no longer in the shadows of the blue-bloods in their former conference. Stronger academic standards would also help keep the conference competitive. It's also quite likely that SMU doesn't pursue its slush fund scheme in this conference as opposed to in the SWC, preventing them from being subjected to the Death Penalty come the 1980s.

The Magnolia Conference champion would have gone to the Peach Bowl, given Georgia Tech being the Atlanta school. The Peach Bowl was first held in 1968, just a few years after the Magnolia Conference was proposed, so this timeline fits well.

Three conferences are directly affected by the creation of the Magnolia Conference:

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

Clemson, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

Losing both Duke and Wake Forest would have left the ACC with just six schools. There are two logical additions to bring the conference back to eight: West Virginia and Virginia Tech. Both were still members of the Southern Conference into the 1960s, the same conference the ACC was borne out of. West Virginia was an original finalist for being the eighth school, beaten out by Virginia. Virginia Tech joined the ACC decades later. Having just two North Carolina schools makes this a much more geographically balanced conference, which likely means that South Carolina doesn't leave the conference in the 1970s as they did in OTL.

On the field, this conference would not be as competitive in football as it is IRL. Although Duke and Wake Forest have not been major factors, the inability to add Georgia Tech - and by extension Florida State - leaves the conference without two of its major powers. It also means that the conference is in no position to expand further as they did in the 2000s and 2010s. Clemson and Virginia Tech would likely be left as the two marquee programs.

The ACC champion would be guaranteed a berth to the Citrus Bowl, which was the conference's tie-in from 1987-1991

Southeastern Conference (SEC)

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee

The SEC loses one additional school than it did IRL in the 1960s in the form of Vanderbilt. This opens the door for Florida State to replace them as the tenth school; FSU annually pursued admission during this time.

It seems unlikely that Florida State would have emerged as quite as big of a powerhouse as they actually did playing in this stacked conference. Also, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are hurt by the departure of Vanderbilt and lack of future expansion, with those three schools likely revolving at the bottom of the conference most years.

The SEC retains its traditional tie-in to the Sugar Bowl.

Southwest Conference (SWC)

Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, North Texas, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa

Ironically, it's likely that losing SMU and Rice would have greatly benefitted the SWC in the long run. At the time the conference would have been left with six schools. Houston would have joined as the seventh school just as they actually did, perhaps on a more accelerated timeline to replace Rice as the Houston school in the conference. The departure of SMU may well have opened the door to North Texas gaining entrance in the 1970s, which they sought aggressively IRL but were apparently blocked by SMU from doing so. An eight-team conference with just two private schools may have been more amenable to adding another private school - which in this scenario wouldn't have upset the public-private balance - in the form of Tulsa come the late 1980s after MVC football collapses. Tulsa allows the conference to reenter Oklahoma while also providing Arkansas with a closer conference road game. This, combined with the absence of the SMU scandal, may have been enough to keep Arkansas in the conference and prevent the collapse of the SWC in the 1990s.

From a competitive standpoint, the power structure of the conference is not dramatically changed. The three major programs - Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M - are still here. Arkansas probably fares better staying here than they did after joining the SEC. Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU would have been a solid mid-tier, while Houston, North Texas and Tulsa likely bring up the rear most years.

The SWC retains its traditional tie-in to the Cotton Bowl.

One other major conference would have been indirectly affected by the presence of the Magnolia Conference:

Big East Conference

Army*, Boston College, Georgetown, Navy*, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Syracuse, Temple*, UConn, Villanova

I've made a couple of presumptions about the trajectory of the Big East here. One is that Penn State is added in the 1980s, then joins for football once the conference starts sponsoring in the 1990s. Another is that the absence of Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia opens the door for the trio of Army, Navy (both for football-only) and Notre Dame instead, probably the only scenario in which those three schools join a conference together. Notre Dame finds itself in a conference with four major rivals (Army, Navy, Boston College and Pittsburgh) plus a number of other games on the East Coast and the ability to still schedule against USC, Stanford and/or a Big Ten team in non-conference play. This alignment is more cohesive and stable than the one in OTL, and combined with the lower stature of the ACC is more than enough to ensure the survival of the Big East to the present day.

Penn State and Notre Dame would be the clear favorites to win this conference most years. Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Boston College form a solid second tier. Army and Navy bring tradition, although how successful they'd be on the field is a question mark. Temple, Rutgers and UConn bring up the rear.

The Fiesta Bowl is the Big East tie-in here. The Fiesta Bowl invited a number of Eastern schools to play in the game from the late 1970s through the early 1990s, including Penn State, Pitt, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

Three conferences would not be directly affected by the Magnolia Conference at the time, although their trajectories would be affected by this alignment as a whole:

Big Eight Conference

Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Big Ten Conference

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Pacific-10 Conference

Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State

The continued presence of the SWC keeps the Big Eight from morphing into the Big 12. The Big Ten does not add Penn State in the 1990s, nor does it expand to 14 teams in the 2010s. The Pac-10 still gains Arizona and Arizona State in the 1970s, but expands no further.

The traditional power structures of each of these conferences remains intact. It would be particularly interesting to see what Nebraska's standing would be today had the Big Eight stayed together.

These conferences retain their traditional affiliation with the Orange Bowl (Big Eight) and Rose Bowl (Big Ten and Pac-10).

The rest of this alignment falls into place as follows:

Western Athletic Conference (WAC)

Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Wyoming

Big West Conference

Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV

I've added another POD here, with a tighter geographic focus for each of these conferences. Utah State and New Mexico State join the WAC, and San Diego State stays in the Big West while Hawaii joins. Meanwhile, the SWC not collapsing prevents the WAC from overexpanding in the 1990s and keeps the conference alive though today. The Big West staying alive keeps Idaho from dropping down to FCS. 

Both conferences would have strong programs at the top, namely BYU and Utah in the WAC and Boise State in the Big West. 

The WAC would send its conference champion to the Sun Bowl, one of the oldest bowl games. The Big West, with San Diego State still here, would be able to play in the Holiday Bowl against the MAC.

Metro Conference

Charlotte, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, UCF, USF, VCU

The absence of schools like Georgia Tech, Florida State, Virginia Tech and South Carolina likely leads to a very different history for the Metro Conference. I expect that the conference stays together and eventually starts sponsoring football as the de facto replacement for Conference USA. Unlike CUSA, though, the Metro has a tighter geographic footprint and a more cohesive conference overall. Not being raided by the Big East (twice) helps immensely.

The four oldest programs here (Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis and Southern Miss) all have respectable football histories and would certainly be competitive in this alignment. UCF and USF should also be able to have success. Charlotte and UAB are by far the weakest programs, and are here mostly for basketball (although both fit the conference's profile well as public schools in large Southern cities).

The Metro champion goes to the Liberty Bowl, just as the CUSA champ did for many years.

Mid-American Conference (MAC)

Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan 

The MAC is little changed from its actual iteration, only dropping Buffalo so as to keep the conference contiguous and not require divisions and a conference title game. Still, with eleven schools this is the one conference unable to play a round-robin schedule. Each school instead has two protected rivals and rotates playing six of the other eight schools per year.

The MAC is clearly one of the weakest conferences here. None of these schools really qualify as consistent major powers.

The MAC would send its champion to the Holiday Bowl against the Big West, effectively creating a knock-off version of the Rose Bowl.

Atlantic South Conference (ASC)

Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Liberty, Marshall, Old Dominion

Sun Belt Conference (SBC)

Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy, UTSA, Western Kentucky

I'm not quite sure what the timeline is that leads to these two conference alignments, but frankly I don't care. The division here is purely based on geography. I do like the idea of reuniting former Southern Conference schools App State, East Carolina and Marshall in the same conference, along with a number of former Southland Conference schools in the other.

App State, Coastal Carolina and Liberty have all had success recently, as has Louisiana for the other conference. Still, these conferences are not particularly strong overall.

These conferences would have their champions play each other in the Independence Bowl. It seems especially fitting for the Sun Belt to play here, given that it was originally started to give the Southland Conference (here a de facto successor) a bowl berth.

Independents

Buffalo, UMass

These two Northeastern schools are the only two left out of this conference alignment, primarily because of not wanting to expand the MAC past 11 schools.