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
