I tried the relegation you mentioned in a later post, but the teams often go back to their original conferences within a year or two. I am having a much better dynasty with teams moving through all 10 conferences. The problem with this is that you lose the conferences being regional. (I also combined this with modding the bowl season with an 8-team playoff featuring the P5 champs, best G5 champ, and 2 P5 wildcards. I also have a G5 playoff with the remaining G5 champs and 9 Relegation Bowls for the last place finishers in each division because I have two 14-team conferences and eight 12-team conferences and two independents. I typically edit all but four or five bowl games).
My conference tier was determined by the number of teams added from a P5 conference vs teams lost a P5 conference:
- SEC (2-0, adding Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12)
- Big Ten (2-0, adding Nebraska from the Big 12 and Maryland from the ACC)
- Pac-12 (1-0, adding Colorado from the Big 12)
- ACC (0-1, losing Maryland to the B1G)
- Big 12 (0-4, losing Texas A&M, Missouri Nebraska, and Colorado)
- American (losing Rutgers, Louisville, and the former Big East teams)
- Mountain West (losing Utah and TCU)
- C-USA (losing teams to the American)
- Sun Belt (losing teams to C-USA)
- MAC (stability is their penalty)
While the worst team in the SEC may be able to win a G5 the following season, I have never had them win the B1G to get back to the SEC quickly. Illinois has won the B1G to get to the SEC in year 2, get relegated back to the B1G in year 6 and then rejoined the SEC in my current (10th) season. Ohio State was in the SEC for five seasons before being relegated back to the B1G.
SEC East
Georgia
Michigan
Florida
Michigan State
Alabama
Clemson
Tennessee
SEC West
Texas State (my team)
Oklahoma
Mississippi State
Arkansas
Nebraska
Illinois
LSU
Minnesota will replace the Tennessee -- LSU losing in the Independence Bowl)
Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt are in the Big 10 while Kentucky and Missouri are in the Pac-12.
Kansas State and Wake Forest are playing in the America relegation game (Russell Athletic / Tangerine) where the loser joins the Mountain West to become the first (real life) P5 team to drop as far as the MWC.