Conference Shakeup: Back to the Drawing Board

Conference realignment promises to once again wreak havoc across the country, spawning monster conferences that continue to undermine regional allegiances — and logic.

A few years ago, the Big East ravaged Conference USA by adding Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Louisville and South Florida. The resulting basketball powerhouse regularly puts eight or nine teams in the NCAA Tournament. But Big East opponents often must travel hundreds of miles to play opponents, and teams rarely play one another more than once during the regular season.

Now, the Pac-10 is looking to take apart the Big 12 in a form of conference cannibalism. Colorado is packing its bags and on its way. The Big Ten has Nebraska on board. Yes, that means the Big Ten has 12 members while the Big 12 is left with 10. Oh, but the ridiculousness is just beginning.

Colorado jumped at the chance to move to the Pac-10 before the Big 12’s meat and potatoes bolts and leaves the Buffaloes roaming a conference ghost town with Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa State. The Pac-10’s primary expansion target is Texas, which likely would be accompanied by Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Baylor. The Bears aren’t a guarantee, but Texas state officials probably would insist that all their schools go to the same loving home.

That super-conference, the Pac-16, would reach from Spokane, Wash., to College Station, Texas — a distance of more than 2,000 miles. Granted, Washington and Texas A&M would probably only travel to the other one’s home once every two or three years. But that’s a ridiculous amount of territory for 16 teams to cover. Travel costs would rise, and coaches would need to recruit a much broader segment of the country.

But the fun continues. The Big 12 refugee camp would include Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. Iowa State and Missouri could be natural targets for the Big Ten. If not, the Mountain West might come calling. Perhaps the craziest rumor out there is that Kansas and Kansas State could join forces with the Big East, especially if the Big Ten grabs Notre Dame and Rutgers. Who wouldn’t love to see the Jayhawks and Connecticut Huskies go toe to toe every season? But the teams would be traveling nearly 1,500 to make that happen.

Oh, the insanity. Why don’t we just start over? Imagine if we took the top 112 programs — with a focus on college basketball and a nod to college football — and realigned them into eight 14-team conferences. But let’s set a ground rule based on common sense: All teams must reside within roughly 500 miles of the conference’s headquarters — or within two states of that headquarters. That two-state rule facilitates the Pacific Coast Conference.

After we move around teams, we need to revise the schedule, too.

• All eight conferences feature two seven-team divisions. Divisional opponents play one another twice each year (12 games).
• Every conference team plays the seven teams from the other division once each year (seven games), alternating home games each season.
• In addition to the 19 conference games, each team may schedule 10 non-conference games. Five of those games must be against teams outside the Power 112, and two of those five must be on the road. Teams that fail to comply lose a scholarship for the next season. Hit ’em where it hurts.

Without any further ado, here’s my realignment plan.