Blowing Up The NCAAs: The Birth of the Superconference

Over the last few days, there has been a lot of talk about the Pac-10 looking to add six teams, making it the first of what could become many "superconferences".  This obviously tickles the curiosity as to what those other superconferences might look like. 

The following is a hypothetical based on that very thought.  Here's one view of how the new west coast superconference and three other possible big dogs might shake out, and what it would mean for college football and basketball going forward:

The West 16

West Division

Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State

East Division

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

In a word, wow.  This is the one that got the talk going, and with good reason.  Can you imagine a USC vs. Texas conference championship in football?  Not to mention the number of intriguing regular season match-ups year in, year out.  And in hoops, the quality is on par as well.  They would produce the guaranteed No.1 seed in the West bracket every year.

The North 16

West Division

Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin

East Division

Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, West Virginia

The word is that Kansas and Kansas State will be left out of the big shuffle, but they are too valuable to not have a place.  There would be some great football played here on a weekly basis, and the hardwood would see some good match-ups as well.  Ohio State vs. Kansas for the hoops title would be a great game if the last few years are any indicator.

The Atlantic 16

North Division

Boston College, Connecticut, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia, Virgina Tech

South Division

Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, North Carolina State

A bit of a hybrid of the old Big east and the current ACC, this superconference obviously cuts Georgetown out of the picture, but with the need to have a football presence a requirement to be in a superconference, there was little other choice.  Although the weakest of the four proposed superconferences, they would hold their own, especially in basketball.

The Southeast 16

West Division

Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Louisville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

East Division

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, South Florida, UCF

An already strong football conference in the old SEC becomes more formidable in basketball with the addition of Louisville and Baylor.  There are also some great new rivalries here with Louisville/Kentucky and Florida/South Florida/UCF. 

The snubs: Iowa State and Cincinnati.  Hard to leave these two out, but something had to give.  There is the potential to work a fifth superconference with the best of the WAC, Mountain West, and Conference USA in the mix, but it would be an obvious fifth placer in comparison to the other four.

So will something like this happen?  Probably not as it appears here (at least not exactly), but most likely something like it.  What will it mean?  A tough road to the National Championship in each sport, with the leading contenders being unable to avoid numerous challenges along the way, not to mention tons of new money from the TV deals that would be sure to follow. 

We'll see which is the first domino to fall on the path to the consolidation of college sports.