Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde took on the task of realigning the college football landscape. You can read the full story here. Forde’s reasoning for realignment is simple: the current picture makes no sense geographically. It also does not support a competitive landscape for all schools. This is a cause that BYU fans could support. Let’s take a look at BYU’s new home in Pat Forde’s realignment proposal.
First things first, here are the highlights of his realignment proposal:
- “An ecosystem of 120 schools, with 11 current FBS members relegated to FCS and one elevated from that level. Congratulations to the State of North Dakota; condolences to UTEP, State of Texas, UTSA, South Alabama, Louisiana-Monroe, Bowling Green, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Carolina Coast, Troy, and Liberty (descent / elevation can be revisited every three seasons).
- Ten leagues, each with 12 members, each designed to maximize proximity and reduce travel demands and costs. All of the current conference structures are broken and reassembled. There are no more than eight Power 5 programs in a single new conference, and no fewer than four. And there are no independents, yes, Notre Dame is at a conference.
- In soccer, each school will play a full round-robin schedule plus a game without a conference (without FCS opponents). The non-conference opponent will be locked up for a minimum of four seasons before there is an option not to participate to schedule someone else. There will be no conference championship games.
- The conference’s 10 champions, plus two overall teams chosen by a selection committee, advance to the expanded college football playoff. The teams are seeded by the committee. The top four receive a first-round goodbye, while Seeds 5–8 receive Seeds 9–12 at their local stadiums the first weekend of December. The quarterfinals are played next week in the home seed stadiums 1–4. The semifinals and the championship game are conducted under the current CFP format.
- There will still be bowl games for teams that don’t make it to the PPC. Only less, which nobody should care about.
- The conferences will also work for basketball and other sports; in fact, it will be better for non-income related sports in terms of travel cost savings. The 230 non-FBS shows that are part of NCAA Division I will remain more or less aligned where they already are, with a few exceptions. “- Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated
This is what the 10 conferences would look like:
In Forde’s proposal, BYU would be in a 12-team conference with the following schools:
- Air Force
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Boise state
- BYU
- Colorado
- Colorado State
- New Mexico
- UNLV
- Utah
- Utah State
- Wyoming
From a rivalry perspective, this is the best scenario for BYU. the Cougars would play their three rivalry games annually: Utah, Utah State, and Boise State. BYU could also revive old relationships with schools like Colorado Sate, Wyoming, UNLV, and New Mexico. BYU and Arizona have played great games in the last 15 years, that’s a matchup that could turn into a rivalry over time.
This scenario would be very intriguing from the perspective of the college football playoffs. In Forde’s plan, the conference champion would win an automatic bid for the college football playoff. This proposed conference would be difficult, but not impossible, for BYU to win. They would not have to compete against a power like USC or Oregon annually.
Additionally, this conference would boost BYU’s recruiting profile. In today’s landscape, the P5 tag is king. A level playing field would assist BYU on the recruiting path.
In this scenario, who would you miss playing more?
What would be the biggest drawback?
Would you miss independence?
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