Brendan's Conference Realignment Guide

[Rieux]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwburke94

1. If you're just changing to the current alignment from the start, do it at the start. Don't wait a year. 2. Entering the screen makes the game think you realigned, even if you actually didn't - so it will regenerate the schedule, and the ACC/MWC/SEC will play nine conference games instead of eight. 3. Outside of the special case of allowing November night games in the Big Ten, there's little to no reason to change these. I set it to Week 5 or 6 for all conferences, but most people would prefer the real-life start dates.

Thanks again! That's very helpful.

Quote: Originally Posted by MATTYMATT726

I myself wish there was a easy to follow guide on getting as accurate as can be this year with no editor, all moves from start up and no teambuilders added. Guide is kinda hard to follow so i never really do any changes. Maybe adding Tx A&M and Mizzou back to the big 12 for title games but thats all i can muster.

I had that same trepidation at first too, the guide definitely made my head spin at first. But if I'm understanding it correctly, the Von Dozier post, #91 in this thread, quickly summarizes the 2014 section, which is the most complex:

Move Rutgers from American to Big Ten [leaders]
Move Maryland from ACC [Atlantic] to Big Ten [legends]
Swap Maryland to Leaders with Illinois
Swap Mich State to Leaders with Purdue
Swap Mich to Leaders with Wisconsin
Rename Big10 Leaders to East, Legends to West
Move Louisville from American to ACC [Atlantic]
Move Idaho and New Mexico State from Independent to Sun Belt
Move Old Dominion from Independent to C-USA [East]
Move East Carolina and Tulsa from C-USA to American
Move Western Kentucky from Sun Belt to C-USA [West]
Move Tulane from C-USA to American
Swap Southern Miss to C-USA West, WKU to C-USA East

Disable protected rivals in the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC
Enable protected rivals in the Mountain West
Move the Pac-12 championship game to Fight Hunger Bowl

Remove BCS bid from American
Change Big 12's bowl tie-in to Sugar Bowl

From that point, you'd just have to follow the remaining years in the OP, which are much more simple. You might end up having to take the "long way" or making redundant moves with some teams - the only one I can see off the top is the year the OP recommended moving UAB to the indies to mimic the cancellation of their football program, then moving it back to C-USA two years later because they got resurrected (it's a miracle!). Might be similar things, I haven't done it yet, and it might be fine to just leave them in the C-USA, but I'll probably follow it step-by-step just to make sure, since the whole thing feels like such a house of cards lol.

From what I gather though it's perfectly fine to just do it all at the beginning when you start a dynasty like bwburke94 said. Whenever I get around to restarting my dynasty, I'll post again and let you know if there were any hiccups or if it was smooth sailing, but it shouldn't be too bad.

[bwburke94]

I'll update the OP soon to deal with the people who just want current conferences.

[MATTYMATT726]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwburke94

I'll update the OP soon to deal with the people who just want current conferences.

Thats much appriciated. I myself just switched from 10' to 14' last year and into custom books and whatnot so getting some more relevant confrences would be sick with all the updated rosters.

[bwburke94]

Update complete.

I removed a bunch of TeamBuilder stuff, so there may be a few things missing. (In particular, stuff related to Charlotte in C-USA may need to be re-added at some point.)

[esayem]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rieux

Thanks again! That's very helpful. I had that same trepidation at first too, the guide definitely made my head spin at first. But if I'm understanding it correctly, the Von Dozier post, #91 in this thread, quickly summarizes the 2014 section, which is the most complex: Move Rutgers from American to Big Ten [leaders] Move Maryland from ACC [Atlantic] to Big Ten [legends] Swap Maryland to Leaders with Illinois Swap Mich State to Leaders with Purdue Swap Mich to Leaders with Wisconsin Rename Big10 Leaders to East, Legends to West Move Louisville from American to ACC [Atlantic] Move Idaho and New Mexico State from Independent to Sun Belt Move Old Dominion from Independent to C-USA [East] Move East Carolina and Tulsa from C-USA to American Move Western Kentucky from Sun Belt to C-USA [West] Move Tulane from C-USA to American Swap Southern Miss to C-USA West, WKU to C-USA East Disable protected rivals in the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC Enable protected rivals in the Mountain West Move the Pac-12 championship game to Fight Hunger Bowl Remove BCS bid from American Change Big 12's bowl tie-in to Sugar Bowl From that point, you'd just have to follow the remaining years in the OP, which are much more simple. You might end up having to take the "long way" or making redundant moves with some teams - the only one I can see off the top is the year the OP recommended moving UAB to the indies to mimic the cancellation of their football program, then moving it back to C-USA two years later because they got resurrected (it's a miracle!). Might be similar things, I haven't done it yet, and it might be fine to just leave them in the C-USA, but I'll probably follow it step-by-step just to make sure, since the whole thing feels like such a house of cards lol. From what I gather though it's perfectly fine to just do it all at the beginning when you start a dynasty like bwburke94 said. Whenever I get around to restarting my dynasty, I'll post again and let you know if there were any hiccups or if it was smooth sailing, but it shouldn't be too bad.

I prefer to keep protected rivals because you will lose real life annual games like Alabama-Tennessee, UGA-Auburn, FSU-Miami, UNC-NC State, GT-Clemson, Indiana-Purdue, etc. if you get rid of them. I don’t care if they play an extra conference game, rivalries are more important to me.

[tinpanalley]

I'm a bit confused. You do the Convert to 2020 AND the year by year as well? Or just one or the other?

[Rieux]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwburke94

Update complete. I removed a bunch of TeamBuilder stuff, so there may be a few things missing. (In particular, stuff related to Charlotte in C-USA may need to be re-added at some point.)

Well, the folks ITT have already been super helpful, but that certainly makes things even easier! Many thanks.

It was already one of the best & most helpful threads on the forums, but it was a bit hard to follow - not through any fault in your OP, but just because the realignment mechanics are so complex and daunting for people just now figuring them out. The way you took the time to simplify and organize it, though, really solves that nicely. I know from having worked a tiny bit in the technical writing field that to come up with efficient, lucid ways to communicate ideas like these, with so many little variables that have their own little butterfly effects - well, to find clear ways to organize those concepts can take a surprising amount of work.

Thanks a bunch for going that extra mile when you didn't have to! It's gonna be very helpful for a lot of people, myself included.

Quote: Originally Posted by tinpanalley

I'm a bit confused. You do the Convert to 2020 AND the year by year as well? Or just one or the other?

One or the other. The steps to go year-by-year are there for people who want a realistic experience, season by season, starting from 2013, to mirror the re-alignments that happened IRL each year, or at least as closely as the game allows. The all-at-once option is for folks like me who are just lazy lol, and/or are starting a dynasty with 2019 rosters and prefer a 2019 alignment (or as close to one as the game allows without using the editor), and who don't mind the fact that the game will still say it's technically 2013, 2014, etc. - just a number on the screen after all.

[muelly]

Quote: Originally Posted by esayem

It really comes down to: would you rather have accurate number of conference games vs accurate yearly rivalries? I pick cross-division rivalries without a second thought. Games like Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, Arkansas-Missouri, UNC-NC State, FSU-Miami, Clemson-Georgia Tech, and even Indiana-Purdue are too important to lose.

So if you protect rivalries you play an extra conference game but if you don't protect it's the realistic amount? Is there also a way to get the Big 12 a conference title game?