Conference musical chairs is about to start back up. The way things are moving it looks like CFB will someday end up being a league like the NFL. How would things shake out if a Mega-Conference were created?

Let's explore:

1. How many schools would be in the mega-conference.
2. Which schools would they be?
3. What would the structure of the conference look like (divisions, pods, etc.)?

I'll start...

1. 40 schools.

I went with 40 because it seems best to have a number divisible by 4 for scheduling and playoff purposes.

2. Now comes the fun!

Shoe-Ins:
ACC - Florida State, Miami, Clemson
B1G - Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, USC
Big12 - None
PAC - None
SEC - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas
INDY - Notre Dame

Safe Bets:
ACC - UNC, Virginia Tech
B1G - Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, UCLA, Washington
Big12 - Arizona State, Colorado
PAC - None
SEC - Auburn, Texas A&M
INDY - None

Decent Chance:
ACC - UVA
B1G - Wisconsin
Big12 - Utah
PAC - None
SEC - Ole Miss, Kentucky, S. Carolina
INDY - None

This leaves 8 more spots for everyone else to vie for. That would be an interesting battle royale!

Edit: I forgot to include Auburn in the Safe Bet category.

Thought this was a post about My Wives!
Tech gets in. Money talks.

Big 12-0 said:

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Thought this was a post about My Wives!
Tech gets in. Money talks.

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I would give Tech a solid shot at the final 8.

Top Contenders:
Arkansas
Texas Tech
Oklahoma State
Arizona
Pitt
West Virginia
Mississippi State
Washington State
Stanford
Cal
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
Louisville
NC State

GTFO:
Religious Schools other than Notre Dame
Directional Schools
City Schools other than those listed

k state

and if money talks (as tech is finding out in real time) don't count out byu

Texas velvet maestro said:

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k state

and if money talks (as tech is finding out in real time) don't count out byu

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K-State and Iowa State aren't bringing any eyeballs.

you said the virginia cavaliers for example, have a "decent chance. I think k state is a bigger ticket. they probably have a similar enrollment w k-state having a better football rep.

Texas velvet maestro said:

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you said the virginia cavaliers for example, have a "decent chance. I think k state is a bigger ticket. they probably have a similar enrollment w k-state having a better football rep.

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K-State is better in every football metric. Virginia has 5 million more pairs of eyes. I prefer K-State but I don't think it's going to be decided by football cred alone.

The only Big XII team with genuine visibility is BYU. It would still be a stretch to include them in any mega-conference. None of the other conference members add anything other than regional diversity.

So lets map this out now:

North:
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Vacant9
Vacant10


South:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas A&M
Vacant10

East:
Clemson
Florida State
Miami
North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Vacant7
Vacant8
Vacant9
Vacant10

West:
Arizona State
Colorado
Oklahoma
Oregon
Texas
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington
Vacant10


Who takes the vacant spots?

For me it would be:

North: Illinois and Indiana
South: Arkansas
East: Louisville, NC State, Pitt, West Virginia
West: Oklahoma State

You have vacancies because there are really only 32 programs that command value to be included in such a league.

Big12 - Arizona State, Colorado

Colorado? They lost the moneymakers IIRC.

South Platte said:

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You have vacancies because there are really only 32 programs that command value to be included in such a league.

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So a 32 team conference might look like this:

North:
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin

South:
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Ole Miss
Tennessee
Texas A&M

East:
Clemson
Florida
Florida State
Miami
North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech

West:
Arizona State
Oklahoma
Oregon
Texas
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington

Yep, that's it.

Utah, BYU, Stanford, Cal . . . 2 from those 4. Not sure it makes a ton of difference.

I actually agree with your money talks comment, but it's how much money can tech bring to the ncaa and espn- I.e,eyes on tvs in larger markets, etc. not money paid to a softball player and an OL. I see how it is meaningful to tech, but not how it benefits espn of ncaa.