My shop has a lot of interest in what happens with realignment, because supposedly "those in the know" say Southern Miss is on the inside track (along with Memphis, ECU and a couple of other Coosas) into the Big East, when they realign after all the dominoes fall. Personally, I'll believe it when I see it, but there are plenty around here who insist it's a done deal. Anyway, I came up with the following scenario of how those dominoes might fall, keeping in mind that most conferences still believe a 12-team setup is the best way to go:
Notre Dame to the Big 10, which splits into East and West Divisions. East: Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue; West: Notre Dame, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa.
Utah and Colorado to the Pac-10, which splits into North and South Divisions. North: Washington, WSU, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, OSU. South: USC, UCLA, Arizona, ASU, Cal and Stanford.
Arkansas to the Big 12. Don't laugh. Fayetteville is closer to at least a half-dozen Big 12 campuses than it is to any other SEC school, and there is still a powerful body of Hog fans who miss the old SWC rivalries and have never been comfortable in the SEC. Arkansas takes CU's spot in the B12 North.
Clemson and Florida State to the SEC: Makes sense for a lot of reasons. Both are football schools in a basketball conference and both have in-state rivals in the SEC.
Vanderbilt and Syracuse to the ACC: Vandy finally gets tired of getting pounded every year in football in the SEC and takes a hefty buyout to leave. Syracuse is seduced by the lure of being in a hoops league with UNC, Duke and the rest (and a nice $$ incentive).
Big East takes the opportunity to become an all-inclusive conference and ditches DePaul, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Georgetown and St. John's, who form a basketball-only Catholic League with St. Joseph's. Big East then adds Memphis, East Carolina, Southern Miss, Marshall and UCF and splits into North and South Divisions. North: Rutgers, Connecticut, Pitt, West Virginia, Marshall, Cincinnati; South: Louisville, USM, Memphis, UCF, South Florida, ECU. Yeah, I know it looks a lot like old C-USA and new C-USA, but I have a specific agenda for setting it up this way.
Demise of C-USA sends UTEP and Tulsa back to the WAC, along with Houston and Rice; Tulane, UAB and Louisiana Tech go to the Sun Belt; SMU goes to the Mountain West.
Keep in mind that I'm just playing around with some rambling ideas off the top of my addled brain. I spent all day doing yard work, so my old head is a little fatigued. Feel free to dissect, discuss, mock and-or ridicule any or all of these scenarios. 8)
