Chip Kelly recently said something recently that many of us had said for years. He mentioned that all major football programs should be independent like Notre Dame. That concept should have universal support and is something that many of us have been asking to happen for a long time. There is absolutely no reason to not do this and I have outlined below how it could work...
If you took the top 80 college football programs in the country and separated them into 16 regional pods of 5 those would be teams that always play each other. Additionally, you would have one rivalry that was outside of their pod for a locked opponent. Then you could have one rival from the next 80 for one Tier 2 game per school. Each team would have 6 locked opponents every year this way and the other 6 would rotate every year. Every team in the top 80 would play 11 games against other top 80 teams. Right now, less than half of P5 teams play 10 games against the Power 5 (which is essentially what the top 80 would be). Better games and better chance at protecting regional rivalries under this scenario. The top 80 would play for the national championship each year and the next 80 would play for a chance to make the top 80 the following year. EVERY GAME COUNTS under this scenario.
The top 80 would be chosen by their tv viewership under the initial model. Below is 16 regional pods of 5 featuring this top 80. Western Kentucky (78) and UTSA (79) were replaced by SMU (83) and Vanderbilt (82) to avoid any current Power 5 from being left out of the initial top 80 teams. In parenthesis is each teams non-pod rivalry and rival from the next 80. The next 80 are the current remaining FBS teams, teams that made the FCS playoffs, and the FCS schools with the largest stadiums. This division would be known as 1-AA, while the top 80 would be 1-A.
Pod 1
Alabama (LSU) (UAB)
Auburn (Georgia Tech) (South Alabama)
Houston (TCU) (Sam Houston)
Rice (Texas A&M) (Texas State)
SMU (Baylor) (Louisiana Monroe)
Pod 2
Florida (Georgia) (Georgia Southern)
Florida State (Clemson) (Jacksonville State)
Miami (Boston College) (Miami Ohio)
UCF (Colorado State) (Florida International)
USF (Tulane) (Florida Atlantic)
Pod 3
Georgia (Florida) (Troy)
Georgia Tech (Auburn) (Georgia State)
Tennessee (South Carolina) (Middle Tennessee)
Memphis (Mississippi) (Mercer)
Vanderbilt (Army) (Chattanooga)
Pod 4
Michigan (Ohio State) (Central Michigan)
Michigan State (Penn State) (Eastern Michigan)
Minnesota (Iowa) (Western Michigan)
Wisconsin (Illinois) (Youngstown State)
Northwestern (Purdue) (Southern Illinois)
Pod 5
Ohio State (Michigan) (Toledo)
Cincinnati (Rutgers) (Ohio)
Navy (Maryland) (Air Force)
Army (Vanderbilt) (Albany)
Louisville (Kentucky) (Bowling Green)
Pod 6
Texas (Oklahoma) (UTSA)
Texas A&M (Rice) (UTEP)
TCU (Houston) (Delaware)
Texas Tech (Colorado) (Texas Southern)
Baylor (SMU) (North Texas)
Pod 7
Notre Dame (Southern Cal) (Ball State)
Indiana (Duke) (Kent State)
Purdue (Northwestern) (Villanova)
Illinois (Wisconsin) (Northern Illinois)
Kentucky (Louisville) (Western Kentucky)
Pod 8
Arkansas (Kansas) (Arkansas State)
LSU (Alabama) (Louisiana Tech)
Mississippi (Memphis) (Southern Mississippi)
Mississippi State (Missouri) (Mississippi Valley State)
Tulane (USF) (Louisiana)
Pod 9
California (Washington) (Fresno State)
San Jose State (Boise State) (San Diego State)
Southern California (Notre Dame) (Hawaii)
Stanford (Arizona State) (Yale)
UCLA (Oregon) (Sacramento State)
Pod 10
Colorado (Texas Tech) (Jackson State)
Colorado State (UCF) (Wyoming)
Oklahoma (Texas) (Tulsa)
Oklahoma State (Iowa State) (Lafayette)
Nebraska (Kansas State) (Nicholls)
Pod 11
Oregon (UCLA) (Gardner-Webb)
Oregon State (Arizona) (Austin Peay)
UNLV (BYU) (Nevada)
Washington (California) (Harvard)
Washington State (Utah) (Penn)
Pod 12
Iowa (Minnesota) (Drake)
Iowa State (Oklahoma State) (Montana State)
Kansas (Arkansas) (North Dakota State)
Kansas State (Nebraska) (South Dakota State)
Missouri (Mississippi State) (South Dakota)
Pod 13
Maryland (Navy) (Liberty)
Virginia (North Carolina) (James Madison)
Virginia Tech (Syracuse) (Old Dominion)
Wake Forest (NC State) (Appalachian State)
West Virginia (Pittsburgh) (Marshall)
Pod 14
Clemson (Florida State) (Furman)
South Carolina (Tennessee) (Coastal Carolina)
Duke (Indiana) (Richmond)
North Carolina (Virginia) (East Carolina)
North Carolina State (Wake Forest) (Charlotte)
Pod 15
Boston College (Miami) (UMASS)
Penn State (Michigan State) (Temple)
Pittsburgh (West Virginia) (Akron)
Rutgers (Cincinnati) (UCONN)
Syracuse (Virginia Tech) (Buffalo)
Pod 16
Arizona (Oregon State) (New Mexico)
Arizona State (Stanford) (New Mexico State)
Boise State (San Jose State) (Idaho)
BYU (UNLV) (Montana)
Utah (Washington State) (Utah State)
Under this scenario Florida State's 6 locked opponents would be Florida, Miami, UCF, USF, Clemson, and Jacksonville State. Protecting all of the schools main rivals and giving exciting matchups in USF and UCF that we don't get to see every year, but should. The other 6 opponents would change each year.
Here is how they would find the other 6 opponents. One random opponent will be selected each year for one opponent. Two pods will be randomly paired together each year to form the conference for that year for the other. If your out of conference rival ends up in your conference, then you get a second random game that year to make up for the missing game. The top team in each conference will get a home playoff game and the second place team in each conference will get a road playoff game. 8 conferences, 16 team playoff. More on relegation and promotion will come later in this post...For now, just think of the prospect of 8 corporately sponsored conferences that change each year. Inifinitely more money for those schools. We get excited about 60 million per school in the big two conferences, but each school easily takes home 100 million from the conferences that are sponsored. Think of how much each sponsorship would go for. Allstate, State Farm etc. would pay crazy money to have their name on a conference each week. Let's not lie to ourselves anymore about it being all about money. Let's capitalize on it. Here is how the conferences could look...
Allstate Conference
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Florida State
Houston
Miami
Rice
SMU
UCF
USF
AT&T Conference
Arizona
Arizona State
Boise State
BYU
California
San Jose State
Southern Cal
Stanford
UCLA
Utah
Capital One Conference
Boston College
Clemson
Duke
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Carolina
Syracuse
Cheez-It Conference
Maryland
Oregon
Oregon State
UNLV
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest
Washington
Washington State
West Virginia
Chic-Fil-A Conference
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Memphis
Missouri
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Dr. Pepper Conference
Arkansas
Colorado
Colorado State
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Tulane
Ticketmaster Conference
Army
Cincinnati
Louisville
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Navy
Northwestern
Ohio State
Wisconsin
VRBO Conference
Baylor
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Notre Dame
Purdue
TCU
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
This would be Florida State's Schedule
v. Clemson
@ Jacksonville State
@ Houston
v. UCF
@ Alabama
v. Auburn
@ Miami
v. Rice
@ SMU
v. Colorado
@ USF
v. Florida
The playoffs would be decided on the field. Top team in each conference gets a home playoff game. The second place team in each conference would be the road team. Final standings would be based on conference record. Overall record would be the first tie-breaker. Head to head would be the second tie-breaker. Third tie-breaker (if more than 2 teams tied) would be opponent winning percentage. The potential playoff 1st round would be
Oregon @ Florida State
Missouri @ Texas
Clemson @ Michigan
Southern Cal @ Mississippi
Oklahoma @ Utah
Ohio State @ Penn State
Notre Dame @ Georgia
Alabama @ Washington
The 2nd round, semis, and championship would take place at the classic bowl game settings they have always been held at. Teams would really have something to play for and it would be clear-cut who made it. Now comes the part where all the games matter....
That's right under this scenario you could make even the seemingly irrelevant game matter a great deal. Because the bottom two teams in each conference could be threatened with relegation. The top two in each 1AA conference would get to challenge a bottom two team from a 1A conference. For insance Liberty would have the opportunity to take one of the top 80 spots and have a shot at a national championship the following year. You could have Liberty v. Vanderbilt with a chance to be in the highest tier on the line. Suddenly a game without meaning has a ton of meaning.
Suddenly, all the games would have meaning again. Every school would make more money. It would not affect the other sports. All schools would have a fair shot. A whole lot better than making the sport more like figure skating. Football would once again be decided on the field and not be a committee.
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