Super Conference Option 2

A while back before any of us knew what the college football playoff would look like, I cautioned that we should be realistic about it. In this article I said that it won't solve everything. That was way back in December 2013 and early returns and rankings look like I am right. Controversy is sure to follow, but is there a better solution? Expanding the playoffs is truly not the answer so I came up with two other options. So this option is my 3rd. This is the 2nd Super Conference Option, but my third option overall.

Option 1
Option 2

This option is very similar to Option 2. In fact, you could say it's the same thing. There is one major difference though, in this scenario the Big 12 beats the ACC to the punch and expands to 20 first. This is actually started by the Big 10 who takes Virginia and Duke. Therefore, the conferences align differently and different teams will be left out. The rivalries will also shift slightly as a result, but here are the ground rules again.
"4 conferences
20 teams
2 divisions in each conference
9 intra-division matchups
1 rotating opponent from the other division
1 cross-division rivalry game
1 out of conference rivalry game
These rivals will be posted in parentheses next to the teams below
Some teams are without a true cross division rival, so I will have to make up a rivalry."

BIG Conference (Formerly Big 10)
Eastern Division
Boston College      (Notre Dame, Miami)
Duke                     (Northwestern, North Carolina)
Indiana                  (Purdue, Vanderbilt)
Maryland               (Nebraska , North Carolina State)
Ohio State              (Michigan, Cincinnati)
Penn State              (Iowa, Temple)
Pittsburgh               (Wisconsin, West Virginia)
Rutgers                  (Minnesota, Louisville)
Syracuse                 (Illinois, Tennessee)
Virginia                  (Michigan State, Virginia Tech)
Western Division
Illinois                   (Syracuse, California)
Iowa                      (Penn State, Iowa State)
Michigan                (Ohio State, Stanford)
Michigan State        (Virginia, Oregon)
Minnesota               (Rutgers, UCLA)
Nebraska                 (Maryland, Oklahoma)
Northwestern           (Duke, Washington)
Notre Dame             (Boston College, Southern Cal)
Purdue                     (Indiana, Arizona)
Wisconsin                (Pittsburgh, Arizona State)

The first strike against a former Power 5 conference in this scenario is Duke and Virginia leaving the ACC for the Big 10. After that major coup, Notre Dame decides to join the Big 10 figuring the ACC is done for. Once the Group of 5 leaves for the Big 10, Syracuse, BC, and Pitt are practically begging to join the Big 10.

Let's look at the updated Ohio State schedule and see how the Big 10 improved. Actual opponent in parentheses unless it is the same opponent.

8/30 Ohio State @ Boston College (@Navy)
9/6   Virginia @ Ohio State (Virginia Tech)
9/13  Syracuse @ Ohio State (Kent State)
9/27  Cincinnati @ Ohio State
10/4  Ohio State @ Maryland
10/18 Rutgers @ Ohio State
10/25 Ohio State @ Penn State
11/1  Ohio State @ Pittsburgh (Illinois Home)
11/8  Ohio State @ Duke (@ Michigan State)
11/15 Ohio State @ Minnesota
11/22 Indiana @ Ohio State
11/29 Michigan @ Ohio State

You add a road game under this scenario for Ohio State and you replace Virginia Tech, Kent State, and Illinois with Virginia, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. Those are all upgrades in my opinion. The one downgrade may be Duke v. Michigan State, but that is highly debatable as Duke is a quality opponent. Then Ohio State will likely have to face Michigan State in the title IF they win this side.

Liberty Conference (Formerly Big 12)
Eastern Division
Central Florida       (Baylor, East Carolina)
Cincinnati              (Iowa State, Ohio State)
Clemson                (Texas, South Carolina)
Florida State           (Oklahoma, Florida)
Georgia Tech          (Texas Tech, Georgia)
Marshall                 (Kansas, Kentucky)
Miami                    (Kansas State, Boston College)
Temple                   (TCU, Penn State)
Virginia Tech          (Boise State, Virginia)
West Virginia          (Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh)
Western Division
Baylor                    (Central Florida, Houston)
Boise State              (Virginia Tech, UNLV)
Iowa State                (Cincinnati, Iowa)
Kansas                     (Marshall, Missouri)
Kansas State             (Miami, Colorado)
Oklahoma                 (Florida State, Nebraska)
Oklahoma State         (West Virginia, Oregon State)
TCU                         (Temple, Southern Methodist)
Texas                        (Clemson, Texas A & M)
Texas Tech                (Georgia Tech, UTEP)

The Big 12 acts first to expand in this scenario to get to a stronger 20 than the ACC so they are the automatic qualifier. The first team they add is Boise State adding them to their stable of classic Big 12 teams to form a Western division. They then need to add 9 teams East to go with WVU. They add Central Florida, Cincinnati, Marshall, and Temple also within the first week. They are prepared to add more mid majors, but not wanting to be left out of the playoff, FSU, Clemson, and Georgia Tech decide to bring along Miami and Virginia Tech and head to the Big 12. Realizing 12 is stupid to have as the name for a conference with 20 teams, they finally change the conference name. The new Liberty Conference ends up being the strongest conference of all.

Now let's look at the Noles schedule to prove it's strength.
8/30 Florida State @ Oklahoma State (same game in Dallas)
9/6   Oklahoma @ Florida State (Citadel)
9/20  Clemson @ Florida State
9/27  Florida State @ Temple (@ North Carolina State)
10/4  Virginia Tech @ Florida State (Wake Forest)
10/11 Florida State @ Marshall (@Syracuse)
10/18 Cincinnati @ Florida State (Notre Dame)
11/1   Florida State @ Georgia Tech (@ Louisville 10/30)
11/8   Central Florida @ Florida State (Virginia)
11/15 Florida State @ Miami
11/22 Florida State @ West Virginia (Boston College Home)
11/29 Florida @ Florida State

There is no doubt that this schedule is more difficult. Georgia Tech is the 2nd best team in the ACC and the Noles would be playing them yearly. Adding Oklahoma to the schedule is no easy task. There is no more Wake Forest and Syracuse beatdown games either.

Pacific Athletic Conference (Formerly PAC 12)
Northern Division
BYU                         (UNLV, Mississippi State)
California                  (Stanford, Illinois)
Colorado                    (Fresno State, Kansas State)
Colorado State            (Nevada, Arkansas)
Oregon                       (Arizona, Michigan State)
Oregon State               (UCLA, Oklahoma State)
Utah                           (Houston, Alabama)
Utah State                   (UTEP, Memphis)
Washington                 (Southern Cal, Northwestern)
Washington State         (Arizona State, LSU)
Southern Division
Arizona                      (Oregon, Purdue)
Arizona State              (Washington State, Wisconsin)
Fresno State                (Colorado, Mississippi)
Houston                      (Utah, Baylor)
Nevada                       (Colorado State, Auburn)
Southern Cal               (Washington, Notre Dame)
Stanford                      (California, Stanford)
UCLA                         (Oregon State, Minnesota)
UNLV                         (BYU, Boise State)
UTEP                          (Utah State, Texas Tech)

The Pac 12 moves after the Big 12 and Big 10 get started, but does decent work in expansion again. Realizing they are moving to twenty and might need to change numbers again, they decide to drop the number and simply become the PAC. They also realize the Big 12 is sticking after they expand with some strong mid majors and decide to add their own mid majors, starting with BYU. Once BYU is in the fold, they add some other teams.

Let's look at Utah State's upgraded schedule to see the impact on a quality mid major.
8/31 Utah State @ UTEP (@ Tennessee)
9/6   Colorado @ Utah State (Idaho State)
9/13 Washington State @ Utah State (Wake Forest)
9/20 Utah State @ Arizona State (@ Arkansas State)
10/3 Utah State @ Oregon (@ BYU)
10/10 Washington @ Utah State (Air Force)
10/18 Utah State @ Colorado State
10/25 UNLV @ Utah State
11/1   Utah State @ Oregon State (@ Hawaii)
11/8   Utah State @ California (@ Wyoming)
11/22  Memphis @ Utah State (11/21 San Jose State)
11/29  Utah @ Utah State (@ Boise State)

Utah State actually adds a bye week on 11/15 since they have 13 regular season games. All teams that play Hawaii usually have 13 games. These guys would no longer be playing Hawaii and would no longer have the 13th game. Quality is added throughout the Utah State schedule as well as additional home games. This schedule is highlighted by trips to Arizona State and Oregon. This is a Utah State schedule I would like to see.

South Eastern Conference
Eastern Division
East Carolina             (Texas A & M, Central Florida)
Florida                      (LSU, Florida State)
Georgia                      (Auburn, Georgia Tech)
Kentucky                    (Mississippi State, Marshall)
Louisville                   (Missouri, Rutgers)
North Carolina            (Arkansas, Duke)    
North Carolina State    (Southern Methodist, Maryland)
South Carolina             (Mississippi, Clemson)
Tennessee                    (Alabama, Syracuse)
Vanderbilt                    (Memphis, Indiana)
Western Division
Alabama                  (Tennessee, Utah)
Arkansas                  (North Carolina, Colorado State)
Auburn                     (Georgia, Nevada)
LSU                         (Florida, Washington State)
Memphis                   (Vanderbilt, Utah State)
Mississippi                (South Carolina, Fresno State)
Mississippi State        (Kentucky, BYU)
Missouri                    (Louisville, Kansas)
Southern Methodist     (North Carolina State, TCU)
Texas A & M              (East Carolina, Texas)

The SEC is last to act in this scenario because they don't need to act. They are set up the best heading into the expansion. This conference knows it just needs to get to 20 and they will be set. They add East Carolina to expand into North Carolina first. After the ACC is picked apart they want the Tar Heels as well, but the Tar Heels get them to accept rival NC State along with them. Louisville is also added from the ACC and Missouri is flipped West. To strengthen the market in Texas, Southern Methodist is added along with Memphis. The SEC West is still much stronger than the East, but by adding North Carolina and Louisville, the SEC has added two schools that can compete for titles on that side of the conference from time to time.

Now let's look at Auburn's schedule since they are considered to have the toughest schedule in the country.
8/30   Arkansas @ Auburn
9/6     Memphis @ Auburn (San Jose State)
9/20   Auburn @ Missouri (9/18 @ Kansas State)
9/27   Auburn @ Southern Methodist (Louisiana Tech Home)
10/4   LSU @ Auburn
10/11 Auburn @ Mississippi State
10/25  South Carolina@ Auburn
11/1   Auburn @ Ole Miss
11/8  Texas A & M @ Auburn
11/15 Auburn @ Georgia
11/22  Nevada @ Auburn (Samford)
11/29  Auburn @ Alabama

The only replacements here are Memphis, Missouri, Southern Methodist, and Nevada for San Jose State, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, and Samford. You can argue that each of those is an upgrade and Nevada is a huge upgrade over Samford. This schedule is a win.

Final Wrap-Up

Under this scenario the two biggest snubs are Wake Forest and Connecticut based on their placement when the BCS scenario began. UCONN was left behind once again with no conference gaining a huge strategic advantage by adding them. Wake Forest was left behind because the SEC refused to add a 4th Carolina school and the ACC Schools that left for the Big 10 and Big 12 felt no loyalty toward Wake. As the weakest ACC school currently, I believe Wake would have to act first in a scenario such as this if it felt the ACC being picked apart.

I think I like this option better than the other Super Conference Option, but I am not sure if I like it better than the relegation option. I do like keeping the historic rivalries though. How bout' that last FSU-Canes game?
Which of the three options do you like best?
In my next piece, you can find out what happens to the service academies that get left out if they get left out. It is probably the best thing for those academies.
Have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!

-Noland

NCAA Championships By Conference (2013-2014)

There is a lot of talk about which athletic conference is the best in the country. Usually, it defaults to the SEC because of their recent dominance in football. That conference sure has been successful, but as I have argued on here I believe that talk is inflated. Historically, the SEC has overrated their value in the sports landscape and their success. They also tend to take credit for things they don't deserve (like Ole Miss taking credit for an Alabama National Title because SEC!). Now, usually I do not try to indulge this talk, but sometimes I do. However, the SEC claimed 7 National Titles for the academic year (2013-2014) when they won 6 in NCAA sanctioned sports. They are claiming a title in the non-sanctioned sport of equestrian. That is like the Pac 12 counting a title in Ultimate Frisbee because Colorado won. I'd count Frisbee before I counted Equestrian, but that's just me. What's to be expected though when Auburn and Alabama claim national titles that don't exist all the time? Right?

Anyways, I decided to use the SEC's measuring stick since they are counting titles for the 2013-2014 academic year. However, I am only counting sports that are sanctioned by the NCAA. In order to save you time, I have separated these titles by conference. Additionally, I have only counted the traditional power (BCS) conferences.

ACC (5 Championships)
Women's Golf - Duke
Men's Lacrosse - Duke
Women's Lacrosse - Maryland (Leaving for the Big 10)
Football - Florida State
Men's Soccer - Notre Dame

The ACC had a strong showing during this past academic year with 5 championships. Eventhough one of those championships was by a team that is leaving the conference for the Big 10 with 14 teams. Louisville, will be taking Maryland's spot in the ACC and has just as good a shot to compete for titles next season. More importantly though, Louisville is much more competitive than Maryland in revenue sports adding to the conferences overall profile.

Florida State's win in the biggest money generating sport was huge for the ACC. However, I must admit that the win alone did not meet my expectations for Florida State overall. I thought that FSU would deliver two National Championships and they were very competitive in several, but not champions. The closest team was the Women's Soccer team that lost the championship to UCLA. Close doesn't count though and FSU fell short of my prediction. Can't complain about being champs in the greatest sport though.

Finally, Duke was huge this past year. They won the most championships in the conference with 2 and got much better in football. The Blue Devils took Johnny Football to the limit in the bowl game and reached the ACC Championship in Football for the 1st time in school history. Solid, but not spectacular year from the ACC as a whole.

American Athletic Conference (3 Championships)
Men's Basketball - UCONN
Women's Basketball - UCONN
Field Hockey - UCONN

The American Athletic Conference actually did pretty well on the championship front. This conference actually outperformed another power conference in the number of championships obtained. You will find that out later, but you will notice a trend in the national titles for the AAC. Every AAC title was won by UCONN. That's right, the UCONN Huskies won 3 National Titles in the 2013-2014 academic year. This school did a fantastic job in carrying the banner for the AAC. They owned the basketball world and showed up as big as possible in several sports. With UCONN tying a few other schools with 3 championships, the AAC should not be any more proud of UCONN. The question is whether UCONN will remain in the AAC much longer.

Big 10 (5 Championships)
Rowing - Ohio State
Fencing - Penn State
Men's Gymnastics - Michigan
Wrestling - Penn State
Women's Volleyball - Penn State

The Big 10 had a great year with 5 championships. They were led by a resurgent Penn State program that seems to have risen from the ashes of the scandal in a few sports. The Nittany Lions won 3 championships across their sports programs which is tied for tops in the country. Pretty amazing for a program that looked to be in shambles in the recent past. Their dominant volleyball team won another title and they were joined by Fencing and Wrestling on the championship front. A terrific season from Penn State.
The two other power programs from the conference (Michigan and Ohio State) also picked up a national title. Ohio State looks to be one of the favorites to play in the upcoming football playoff as well. The Big 10 is healthy as a conference on the championship front.

Big 12 (2 Championships)
Women's Gymnastics - Oklahoma (Co-Champion)
Rifle - West Virginia

The Big 12 struggled more than any other conference to get championships. These guys only picked up two championships for the entire conference and one of them was a split title. The other title was in rifle which many people didn't even know was a sanctioned sport. The Big 12 has got to pick it up. However, the Oklahoma football team is looking quite strong heading into the fall behind a big Sugar Bowl win over Alabama.

Pac 12 (10 Championships)
Men's Tennis - Southern California
Women's Tennis - UCLA
Outdoor Men's Track - Oregon
Women's Water Polo - Stanford
Men's Swimming and Diving - California
Men's Indoor Track - Oregon
Women's Indoor Track - Oregon
Women's Soccer - UCLA
Men's Water Polo - Southern California
Men's Cross Country - Colorado

The Pac 12 had a dominant 2013-2014 Academic Year. These guys won 10 championships for the conference during the year which was the most out of any conference. Three programs won multiple national titles out of the Pac 12. One of those programs tied for the most in the nation by winning 3 separate national championships. Absolutely tremendous year for the Pac 12 from top to bottom.

When most people think of the Oregon Ducks, they think of all the crazy uniform combinations that the football team wears. However, Oregon is the birthplace of Nike and it was born and breed because of track. It is one of the many reasons that Oregon's track team is consistently near the top. This year the track program was beyond awesome. Oregon track won three national championships this past academic year. The men won in both indoor and outdoor, while the women won indoor. Absolutely amazing year from Oregon track.
USC and UCLA were no slouches in the past academic year when it came to sports. Each of these programs picked up a pair of national championships. Seven national championships between three schools is absolutely an incredible feat. Those three schools won more national championships than any conference just by themselves. Don't look for them to stop either. Oregon and UCLA are both strong contenders for the newly created college football playoff.

SEC (6 Championships)
Baseball - Vanderbilt
Men's Golf - Alabama
Softball - Florida
Women's Track Outdoor - Texas A&M
Women's Gymnastics - Florida (Co-Champion)
Women's Swimming and Diving - Georgia

So, we see that the SEC won the 2nd highest number of championships as a conference. An absolutely amazing job by the SEC, but not the level that their fans are promoting. They should be thrilled that they won 6 championships and proud of the conference. Everyone should be celebrating the incredible season that Vanderbilt baseball had, but that is not how they roll in the SEC. This conference has to justify that it pummels the rest of the country. It is a strong conference and better than the competition most years, but let's take a chill pill.
The SEC's championship total was boosted by the ladies of the University of Florida. They won two national titles and did so in impressive fashion. (Side Note: Interesting how when FSU girls dominate Florida it is because they were a girl school and UF doesn't care, but when UF wins its parade time). Florida had a very strong year from their women's athletic program.
The biggest win for the SEC had to be Vanderbilt's baseball championship. That championship put the SEC total at 6 and allowed them to finish in second place ahead of the ACC. Had Vanderbilt lost to the Cavaliers, the ACC would have had 6 to the SEC's 5. That awesome series victory for Vanderbilt was the banner moment of the season for the SEC.

This conference will again be strong in the 2014-2015 school year. It has several championship contenders in several sports. Next year they may pass the Pac 12 in championships, but for this year the Pac 12 reigns supreme.

-Noland