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Since realignment is all the rage right now, this really shouldnt bother the honchos in the NCAA office......but it would.  Mike Slive and Gordon Gee dont want to rub elbows at the dinner table with the likes of Western Kentucky and Utah State, but in order for the college football world to have a playoff and make it fair too is to allow exactly that.  There are 120 1-A schools.  Nice.  Divisible by ten, which is coincidentally the ideal size for a conference.  Instead of allowing these greedy bastards to choose their conference-mates, this needs to be done in a practical manner.  Practical as in not having the Big East stretch from Massachusetts to Idaho to Texas.  The only practical way is to sort the conferences by geography.  Not by enrollment, rich boosters, or popularity.  Geography.  That's it.  If college football really wants to have a playoff, they need to level the playing field, which means putting some big names in with some little ones.  Which means that within a decade, parity would be rampant in college football, and a kid that goes to school in Pig's Knuckle, Arkansas can choose to go to school at Arkansas State and still have a shot at playing for a national title.  First of all, we need to realign the conferences.  Im not talking about half-assing it like the Big East just did.  Im talking about complete deconstruction, and rebuilding.  Lucky for my readers, you have me to do that.  Here are your new conferences!

West:

Hawaii - Honolulu, HI

UCLA - Los Angeles, CA

USC - Los Angeles, CA

San Diego State - San Diego, CA

San Jose State - San Jose, CA

Fresno State - Fresno, CA

California - Berkeley, CA

Stanford - Palo Alto, CA

Nevada - Reno, NV

UNLV - Las Vegas, NV

Northwest:

Washington - Seattle, WA

Washington State - Pullman, WA

Oregon - Eugene, OR

Oregon State - Corvallis, OR

Idaho - Moscow, ID

Boise State - Boise, ID

Utah - Salt Lake City, UT

Utah State - Logan, UT

BYU - Provo, UT

Wyoming - Laramie, WY

Southwest:

Arizona - Tucson, AZ

Arizona State - Tempe, AZ

New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico State - Las Cruces, NM

Air Force - Colorado Springs, CO

Colorado - Boulder, CO

Colorado State - Fort Collins, CO

Nebraska - Lincoln, NE

Kansas - Lawrence, KS

Kansas State - Manhattan, KS

South:

North Texas - Denton, TX

Texas -Austin, TX

TCU - Fort Worth, TX

SMU - Dallas, TX

Texas A&M - College Station, TX

UTEP - El Paso, TX

Texas Tech - Lubbock, TX

Baylor - Waco, TX

Oklahoma - Norman, OK

Oklahoma State - Stillwater, OK

Mid South: 

Houston - Houston, TX

Rice - Houston, TX

Tulane - New Orleans, LA

LSU - Baton Rouge, LA

Louisiana-Lafayette - Lafayette, LA

Louisiana-Monroe - Monroe, LA

Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA

Tulsa - Tulsa, OK

Arkansas - Fayetteville, AR

Arkansas State - Jonesboro, AR

Gulf Coast:

Mississippi - Oxford, MS

Mississippi State - Starkville, MS

Auburn - Auburn, AL

Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL

Troy - Troy, AL

UAB - Birmingham, AL

Southern Mississippi - Hattiesburg, MS

Memphis - Memphis, TN

Vanderbilt - Nashville, TN

Middle Tennessee State - Murfreesboro, TN

Southeast:

Florida - Gainesville, FL

Miami - Coral Gables, FL

Florida Atlantic - Boca Raton, FL

Florida International - Miami, FL

Central Florida - Orlando, FL

South Florida - Tampa, FL

Georgia - Athens, GA

Florida State - Tallahassee, FL

South Carolina - Columbia, SC

Clemson - Clemson, SC

Mid Atlantic:

Tennessee - Knoxville, TN

North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC

Duke - Durham, NC

North Carolina State - Raleigh, NC

Wake Forest - Winston-Salem, NC

Kentucky - Lexington, KY

East Carolina - Greenville, NC

Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA

Virginia - Charlottesville, VA

Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, VA

Midwest:

Missouri - Columbia, MO

Iowa State - Ames, IA

Iowa - Iowa City, IA

Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN

Wisconsin - Madison, WI

Western Kentucky - Bowling Green, KY

Illinois - Champaign, IL

Northwestern - Evanston, IL

Northern Illinois - DeKalb, IL

Notre Dame - South Bend, IN

Great Lakes:

Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan State - East Lansing, MI

Western Michigan - Kalamazoo, MI

Purdue - West Lafayette, IN

Ball State - Muncie, IN

Indiana - Bloomington, IN

Central Michigan - Mount Pleasant, MI

Eastern Michigan - Ypsilanti, MI

Toledo - Toledo, OH

Ohio State - Columbus, OH

Ohio Valley:

Ohio  - Athens, OH

Kent State - Kent, OH

Miami - Oxford, OH

Bowling Green - Bowling Green, OH

Akron - Akron, OH

Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH

West Virginia - Morgantown, WV

Marshall - Huntington, WV

Louisville - Louisville, KY

Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA

Northeast:

Boston College - Boston, MA

Connecticut - Storrs, CT

Army - West Point, NY

Rutgers - Piscataway, NJ

Penn State - State College, PA

Maryland - College Park, MD

Navy - Annapolis, MD

Syracuse - Syracuse, NY

Buffalo - Buffalo, NY

Temple - Philadelphia, PA

Are they truly aligned just by geography?  Not exactly, but they are close enough.  This is the best way to align it to keep most of the rivalries alive.  So you have a nine game conference schedule.  The non conference schedule would have to be condensed to two games to allow for extra playoff games.  This means no more 1-AA teams.  If you need practice that bad, then play your scout team.  Its not much different.  If teams played the traditional 12 game slate, the eventual national champions would have played in 16 games, which the NCAA would never allow.  Two teams would have to play in 15 games, and this is pushing it.  Also, you dont want to have teams only have nine games.  Eleven is the one that works best.  

In this system, each conference champion would get an automatic berth.  Since the conferences have been aligned for parity, this wouldnt be an issue.  There would then be four wild card teams to set the field at 16.  If the remaining bowls want to invite teams that dont make the playoff, they are certainly welcome to do so.  So the bowl system isnt hurt much.  

If this system were in place this season, your playoff teams would be Stanford, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, South Carolina, LSU, Alabama, Wisconsin, and Penn State as the conference champs with Houston, TCU, Southern Mississippi, and Boise State as your wild cards.  Of course, under this format, the latter four might not have had as many wins, but this is just an example.  So your first round matchups would look something like this:

LSU vs Southern Mississippi

Alabama vs TCU

Oklahoma State vs Boise State

Stanford vs Houston

Oregon vs Penn State

Kansas State vs South Carolina

Michigan State vs West Virginia

Wisconsin vs Virginia Tech

Are you going to try to tell me that the current bowl affiliations can consistently come up with matchups like this?  Fat chance!  This isnt even to the BCS bowl round yet!  The Cotton Bowl, Sun Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Gator Bowl, Peach Bowl, Outback Bowl, Holiday Bowl, and Capital One bowls would be drooling over these.  Your next round matchups would look something like this:

LSU vs Wisconsin

Alabama vs Michigan State

Oklahoma State vs South Carolina

Stanford vs Oregon

Since Stanford and Oregon wouldnt have played during the regular season, this is an intriguing matchup, as are most of the others.  The only stinker I see is Alabama-Michigan State, but no system is perfect.  Im not going to speculate any more.  You get the idea.  Would this undermine the regular season?  To some extent it would, but not to the extent that a playoff under the current alignments would.  The only other option would be to go to ten 12 team conferences, and have an 11 game regular season against your conference, and thats it.  That system would look something like this:

West:

Hawaii - Honolulu, HI

UCLA - Los Angeles, CA

USC - Los Angeles, CA

San Diego State - San Diego, CA

San Jose State - San Jose, CA

Fresno State - Fresno, CA

California - Berkeley, CA

Stanford - Palo Alto, CA

Nevada - Reno, NV

UNLV - Las Vegas, NV

Arizona - Tucson, AZ

Arizona State - Tempe, AZ

Northwest:

Washington - Seattle, WA

Washington State - Pullman, WA

Oregon - Eugene, OR

Oregon State - Corvallis, OR

Idaho - Moscow, ID

Boise State - Boise, ID

Utah - Salt Lake City, UT

Utah State - Logan, UT

BYU - Provo, UT

Wyoming - Laramie, WY

Colorado - Boulder, CO

Colorado State - Fort Collins, CO

Southwest:

New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico State - Las Cruces, NM

North Texas - Denton, TX

Texas -Austin, TX

TCU - Fort Worth, TX

SMU - Dallas, TX

Texas A&M - College Station, TX

UTEP - El Paso, TX

Texas Tech - Lubbock, TX

Baylor - Waco, TX

Oklahoma - Norman, OK

Oklahoma State - Stillwater, OK

Mid South: 

Houston - Houston, TX

Rice - Houston, TX

Tulane - New Orleans, LA

LSU - Baton Rouge, LA

Louisiana-Lafayette - Lafayette, LA

Louisiana-Monroe - Monroe, LA

Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA

Tulsa - Tulsa, OK

Arkansas - Fayetteville, AR

Arkansas State - Jonesboro, AR

Memphis - Memphis, TN

Missouri - Columbia, MO

Gulf Coast:

Mississippi - Oxford, MS

Mississippi State - Starkville, MS

Auburn - Auburn, AL

Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL

Troy - Troy, AL

UAB - Birmingham, AL

Southern Mississippi - Hattiesburg, MS

Florida State - Tallahassee, FL

Florida - Gainesville, FL

Georgia - Athens, GA

Georgia Tech - Atlanta, GA

South Florida - Tampa, FL

Southeast:

Miami - Coral Gables, FL

Florida Atlantic - Boca Raton, FL

Florida International - Miami, FL

Central Florida - Orlando, FL

South Carolina - Columbia, SC

Clemson - Clemson, SC

Tennessee - Knoxville, TN

Vanderbilt - Nashville, TN

Middle Tennessee State - Murfreesboro, TN

Kentucky - Lexington, KY

Western Kentucky - Bowling Green, KY

Louisville - Louisville, KY

Mid Atlantic:

North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC

Duke - Durham, NC

North Carolina State - Raleigh, NC

Wake Forest - Winston-Salem, NC

Virginia - Charlottesville, VA

Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, VA

Maryland - College Park, MD

Navy - Annapolis, MD

West Virginia - Morgantown, WV

Marshall - Huntington, WV

East Carolina - Greenville, NC

Temple - Philadelphia, PA

Midwest:

Iowa State - Ames, IA

Iowa - Iowa City, IA

Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN

Wisconsin - Madison, WI

Illinois - Champaign, IL

Northwestern - Evanston, IL

Northern Illinois - DeKalb, IL

Notre Dame - South Bend, IN

Nebraska - Lincoln, NE

Kansas - Lawrence, KS

Kansas State - Manhattan, KS

Air Force - Colorado Springs, CO

Great Lakes:

Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan State - East Lansing, MI

Western Michigan - Kalamazoo, MI

Purdue - West Lafayette, IN

Ball State - Muncie, IN

Indiana - Bloomington, IN

Central Michigan - Mount Pleasant, MI

Eastern Michigan - Ypsilanti, MI

Toledo - Toledo, OH

Ohio State - Columbus, OH

Akron - Akron, OH

Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH

Northeast:

Ohio  - Athens, OH

Kent State - Kent, OH

Miami - Oxford, OH

Bowling Green - Bowling Green, OH

Boston College - Boston, MA

Connecticut - Storrs, CT

Army - West Point, NY

Rutgers - Piscataway, NJ

Penn State - State College, PA

Syracuse - Syracuse, NY

Buffalo - Buffalo, NY

Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA

Cosmetically, this is a bit different, but not much.  The geography rules have to be skewed a bit more to account for the rivalries again, but all in all, the strength of the conferences is similar.  Under this format, you would have six wild card teams instead of four, and all of your games would be played within the conference.  

Would either of these setups improve college football?  That is debatable.  Since all of the games, even the road games, would be fairly close by, you might get more fans out to games.  Lets face it though, that is not the ultimate goal.  It hasnt been for quite some time.  The almighty dollar is all that matters to the NCAA.  They feel that since March Madness has such a cult following, that it will work for football as well.  If wont.  It will destroy it.  Would the Big House be packed on Labor Day weekend for a game against Appalachian State ever again?  Doubtful, because even if they lost, they still have a shot.  If 16 teams make a playoff, you will have teams with as many as three losses playing for a championship.  I would like the NCAA to stay with the current system because as flawed as it may be, its still better than nothing, and still better than a playoff.  If they absolutely MUST go to a playoff, they must realign everything first.  Hopefully they read this and feel the same.  I did most of the work for them!