CFB restructuring

I would like to preface this posting series by stating that I sincerely thought that this was an original idea when I put it together, but it has been brought to my attention that the folks at ESPN gave it a go.  However, I prefer my structure to theirs so I am going to post anyway.  

I mean after all, I am smarter than they are right?  

The traditional conference structure of college football is flawed.  I don't know many who would argue against the point.  The inflexible team system prevents improving teams from receiving the spoils that their gains should entitle them, and forces fans to watch imbalanced games as the conference leaders crush the also-rans.  

My proposed answer to this is to restructure the nation's D-1 football teams as follows.


1. 8 geographic regions.
    a. This will save money in travel for the schools and eliminate a lot of the overly long road trips.
    b. This will also keep a good number of the conference rivalries in place.

2. Each region will contain two "leagues"
    a. The "major" leagues will contain the top 7 teams in the region
    b. The "minor" leagues will contain the remainder of teams, 7 or 8 teams depending on the region

3. At the end of a reason, the leagues will reorganize
    a. The top 2 teams from the "minor" will move to their region's "major" league.
    b. The bottom 2 teams from the "major" league will take their place in the "minor" league.

4. Scheduling
    a. Each league will play a round-robin schedule
    b. Each team will play at least 2 games against teams from other regions at their corresponding league level
    c. The winners from each "major" league will qualify for placement in the Championship series

5. Championship series
    a. The Championship will be a 7 game/8 team single-elimination tournament
    b. The payments from these games will be distributed among the 8 teams who made the series
        1. Round 1
            a. Winner:60%
            b. Loser: 40%
        2. Round 2
            a. Winner: 50%
            b. Loser 30%
            c. 2 losing teams from that branches Round 1 games receive 10% a piece
        3. Round 3 (Championship Game)
            a. Winner: 45%
            b. Loser: 25%
            c. 6 losing teams from the first 2 Rounds receive 5% a piece

As you can see, this setup will allow for teams to improve and move into the equivalent of the BCS conferences and garner the big paydays which are necessary for them to sustain their progress.  Further, this restructuring would provide a natural opportunity for a championship tournament to be put in place.

Above is a map of the regions I propose with the teams color coded to represent their current associations.
Read More to Review the proposed Regions





Region 1: North East

MAJOR

1. Penn State
2. West Virginia
3. Pittsburgh
4. Connecticut
5. Boston College
6. Buffalo
7. Virginia

MINOR

1. Maryland
2. Rutgers
3. Navy
4. Akron
5. Kent State
6. Army
7. Temple
8. Syracuse

The Northeast is not the deepest region in the nation, with 2 of the service academies in the minor league, likely for the duration.  However, it will be tough to argue with the winner of the league getting a shot.  This a perfect illustration of the point of this restructure.  Even with a shallow region, you still get to pick from Penn State, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, UConn, and Boston College.  Even in a down year like this year, that is a solid core.  And then you look at likely Maryland and Rutgers replacing Buffalo and Virginia with occasionally Akron or one of the other teams stealing a spot.  And teams like Syracuse have a chance to win a few games and keep their fans interested.









Region 2: Southeast

MAJOR

1. Florida
2. Miami
3. Georgia
4. South Florida
5. Florida State
6. Georgia Tech
7. Auburn

MINOR

1. South Carolina
2. Southern Mississippi
3. Clemson
4. Central Florida
5. Troy
6. Florida Atlantic
7. Tulane
8. Florida International

Wow, this region is loaded.  Easily the best of the bunch when an unbeaten Auburn Tiger team is the worst of your "Majors".  For that matter, the "Minor" league has possibly as many as 4 bowl teams in it.  Forget the competition up top, just imagine the year that C.J. Spiller would have if he got to play the teams in that "Minor" League and got to avoid FSU, Miami, and Va. Tech.  Whoever survived this league, would likely be the favorite for the national championship, that is assuming that they were not the walking wounded.  Forget the SEC, this is murderer's row.


Region 3: Pacific

MAJOR
1. Southern California
2. Boise State
3. Oregon
4. Calfiornia
5. Fresno State
6. Oregon State
7. Washington

MINOR

1. UCLA
2. Stanford
3. Nevada
4. Hawai'i
5. San Jose State
6. San Diego State
7. Washington State
8. Idaho

This is what the PAC-10 should be.  With up and coming Washington, Stanford, Oregon State, and UCLA fighting year in and out for the last 2 spots, this would be a wonderfully competitive league.  USC is the favorite but Boise, Oregon, and Cal are all collecting the kind of athletes that will give them the chance to compete.  Combined with top flight coaching staffs, this would be a fun conference to watch.  Not a off-week to be had or you will surely take a loss.


Region 4: Mountain

MAJOR

1. Texas Tech
2. BYU
3. Utah
4. Arizona State
5. Colorado
6. Arizona
7. Air Force

MINOR

1. UNLV
2. Colorado State
3. UTEP
4. Wyoming
5. New Mexico
6. New Mexico State
7. Utah State

This is the weakest of the regions.  There are a lot of teams rebuilding right now, but both Arizona schools, and Colorado schools have good staffs in place and should be solid sooner than later.  Texas Tech, BYU, and Utah would create a fun logjam at the top of this region.  Beyond that, this league would be full of shootouts as it is full of fun variations on the spread offense and very little defense.  Fireworks galore.


Region 5: South Central

MAJOR

1. Texas
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. TCU
5. Houston
6. Oklahoma State
7. Texas A&M

MINOR

1. Baylor
2. La. Tech
3. Rice
4. Tulsa
5. La. Lafayette
6. La. Monroe
7. SMU
8. North Texas

This is one of the strongest of the "Majors"  4 likely top 10 teams with 3 possibly top 5 teams.  It is not out of the question to have 6 of the 7 in the top 25 at the end of the year.  For that matter, that could very well be the case most years.  I don't expect that this will be one of the regions with a lot of movement, but watching the bottom couple in the "Major" fight to hold one will make for some vicious battles at the end of the year leading to some nasty trap games.  That sounds like a ton of fun to me.


Region 6: Eastern

MAJOR

1. Alabama
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. East Carolina
6. Kentucky
7. Wake Forest

MINOR

1. North Carolina State
2. Louisville
3. Vanderbilt
4. Duke
5. Marshall
6. Ohio
7. Middle Tennessee State
8. UAB

Well, if Virginia Tech is not tired of playing Alabama yet, they would be soon.  This Region does have some depth with NC State on the way up with Louisville and Vanderbilt potential bowl teams on a yearly basis.  Bama is, and as long as Saban is there will continue to be, the class of this Region.


Region 7: Central

MAJOR

1. Mississippi
2. Nebraska
3. Missouri
4. Iowa
5. Kansas
6. Minnesota
7. Illinois

MINOR

1. Arkansas
2. Northwestern
3. Mississippi State
4. Memphis
5. Kansas State
6. Iowa State
7. Northern Illinois
8. Arkansas State

This league one that really intrigues me.  It is one of the weakest at the top, but it full of solid teams.  I see this as the one that would have the most movement from year to year.  I have some doubts about whether Ole Miss is the best of the bunch, but I have no doubt that within a few years. Arkansas, Northwestern, Mississippi State, and Kansas State would be good enough to make an appearance in the "Major" league for this region.


Region 8: Great Lakes

MAJOR

1. Ohio State
2. Cincinnati
3. Michigan
4. Notre Dame
5. Wisconsin
6. Central Michigan
7. Michigan State

MINOR

1. Indiana
2. Purdue
3. Miami, OH
4. Bowling Green
5. Toledo
6. Eastern Michigan
7. Western Michigan
8. Ball State

With Michigan and Notre Dame on their way back up, this region looks very strong moving forward.  I don't know that combining the Big 10 and the MAC is how I would choose to build a power conference, but there is a whole lot of wins and history in this league.  The "Minor" may be as enjoyable as any to watch. 

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SUMMARY

I think this is the best idea that I have had or come across for how the football landscape should be arranged.  It would solve so many of the issues that drive the sport's fans crazy.  A real champion, who earned the championship on the field.  No more complaints about the disparity between the power conferences and their big money and history giving them an unfair advantage.  Everyone plays, everyone fights, everyone has a fair chance and all the reasons to complain go right out the window