Power 4 / 16-team Custom Conferences

[vgunn]

I've decided on making a POWER 4 conference setup. Each of these conferences have sixteen teams and are the only four which have championship games. Aiming for defacto semi-final matchups with the setup.

The four power conferences are: BIG TEN, BIG XII, PAC-12, SEC. The ACC has been relegated to a non-power conference.

Permanent crossover games are in ().

Another goal is to try to keep as many rivalry games intact as possible, as well as a geographic relationship.

Here is what it looks like:

ACC
1 Old Dominion
2 East Carolina
3 Duke
4 Wake Forest
5 UCF
6 USF
7 Charlotte
8 Georgia State
9 Florida Atlantic
10 Florida International

AMERICAN
1 Syracuse
2 Buffalo
3 Boston College
4 UMass
5 UConn
6 Rutgers
7 Army
8 Temple
9 Marshall
10 Navy

BIG TEN
EAST
1 Virginia (Indiana)
2 Virginia Tech (Purdue)
3 Maryland (Illinois)
4 Penn St. (Michigan St.)
5 West Virginia (Kentucky)
6 Pitt (Northwestern)
7 Ohio St. (Michigan)
8 Cincinnati (Louisville)
WEST
9 Louisville
10 Kentucky
11 Michigan
12 Michigan St.
13 Indiana
14 Purdue
15 Illinois
16 Northwestern

BIG XII
NORTH
1 Wisconsin (Texas Tech)
2 Minnesota (TCU)
3 Iowa (Texas)
4 Iowa State (Texas A&M)
5 Kansas (Baylor)
6 Kansas St. (Oklahoma St.)
7 Nebraska (Oklahoma)
8 Missouri (Arkansas)
SOUTH
9 Texas
10 Texas A&M
11 Texas Tech
12 Oklahoma
13 Oklahoma St.
14 Arkansas
15 TCU
16 Baylor

C-USA
1 Tulsa
2 SMU
3 Houston
4 Rice
5 North Texas
6 UTSA
7 Texas State
8 UTEP
9 New Mexico
10 New Mexico St.

Independent
Notre Dame

MAC
1 Toledo
2 Bowling Green
3 Ohio
4 Miami Ohio
5 Kent State
6 Akron
7 Ball State
8 Northern Illinois
9 Western Michigan
10 Eastern Michigan
11 Central Michigan

MWC
1 Air Force
2 Idaho
3 Nevada
4 Utah State
5 UNLV
6 San Jose State
7 Colorado State
8 Fresno State
9 Wyoming

PAC 12
NORTH
1 Washington (Colorado)
2 Washington St. (Boise)
3 Oregon (Arizona)
4 Oregon State (Arizona St.)
5 Stanford (BYU)
6 California (Utah)
7 USC (Hawai'i)
8 UCLA (San Diego State)
SOUTH
9 Arizona
10 Arizona St.
11 BYU
12 Utah
13 Colorado
14 San Diego St.
15 Boise
16 Hawai'i

SEC
WEST
1 Alabama (Florida St.)
2 Auburn (Miami)
3 Ole Miss (South Carolina)
4 Miss St. (North Carolina State)
5 Georgia (Florida)
6 Georgia Tech (North Carolina)
7 Vanderbilt (Tennessee)
8 LSU (Clemson)
EAST
9 Florida St.
10 Miami
11 Florida
12 Clemson
13 North Carolina
14 North Carolina State
15 South Carolina
16 Tennessee

Sunbelt
1 Troy
2 South Alabama
3 Southern Miss
4 Tulane
5 Memphis
6 Middle Tennessee
7 Louisiana
8 Louisiana Tech
9 Louisiana Monroe
10 Arkansas State
11 Western Kentucky

Power 4 Conference Championship Games (all in domes for ideal weather/playing conditions):

BIG TEN @ Indianapolis
BIG XII @ Dallas
PAC 12 @ Phoenix
SEC @ Atlanta

To me this looks really good, with a couple caveats.

The two last teams in were San Diego State and Hawai'i. A case could be made for adding any of two of these: Colorado State, Nevada, Air Force or Wyoming. From a conference perspective, San Diego provides the largest market and Hawai'i the strongest recruiting area of the five candidates. It also didn't seem right adding Air Force to the Power 4, while leaving out Army and Navy.

Syracuse and Boston College are two teams that have the history and prestige to be a part of the Power 4. Yet it with the rivalries and geography it makes sense for them to be in the American. I also believe and this allows them a greater chance at getting an at-large bid vs playing a brutal conference schedule.

Right now I do not have any BCS Bowl Tie-Ins. If I decide on it, I'd go with rotation:

Even Years:

BIG TEN (Rose Bowl)
BIG XII (Sugar Bowl)
PAC 12 (Rose Bowl)
SEC (Sugar Bowl)

Odd Years:

BIG TEN (Orange Bowl)
BIG XII (Fiesta Bowl)
PAC 12 (Fiesta Bowl)
SEC (Orange Bowl)

[vgunn]

Running a test dynasty with these conferences and will post results. I am taking over as the HC for Air Force and still stay at the school for my entire career (assuming I don't get fired.

YEAR ONE

Air Force (6-7)

Armed Forces Bowl: Rice (8-5) 28 Air Force (6-7) 10

Conference Champions: ACC=Florida Atlantic (11-1 #23) AMERICAN=Marshall (9-3 UR) BIG XII=Oklahoma (11-2 #5) BIG TEN=Ohio State (13-0 #2) CUSA=Houston (11-1 #14) INDY=Notre Dame (7-5 UR) MAC=Bowling Green (11-1 #22) MWC=Fresno St. (9-3 UR) PAC-12=USC (13-0 #1) SEC=Clemson (12-1 #3) SUNBELT=Louisiana Tech (9-3 UR)

Conference Championship Game Results:

BIG XII #7 Oklahoma (11-2) 31 #12 Nebraska (10-3) 7
BIG TEN #2 Ohio State (13-0) 30 #6 Michigan State (10-3) 10
PAC-12 #1 USC (13-0) 41 #10 Arizona State (10-3) 14
SEC #3 Clemson (12-1) 34 #8 Georgia (11-2) 13

Heisman Trophy: E. Elliott HB Ohio State (runners-up: D. Watson QB Clemson, B. Mayfield QB Oklahoma, C. Cook QB Michigan State, C. Kessler QB USC)

Pre-Bowl BCS Rankings:
1 USC 13-0 1.000 (PAC)
2 Ohio St. 13-0 .995 (B1G)
3 Clemson 12-1 .989 (SEC)
4 Auburn 11-1 .984 (SEC)
5 Oklahoma 11-2 .979 (B12)
6 Virginia Tech 10-2 .968 (B1G)
7 UCLA 10-2 .968 (PAC)
8 Georgia 11-2 .968 (SEC)
9 Florida St. 10-2 .958 (SEC)
10 Oregon 8-4 .950 (PAC)
11 Michigan St. 10-3 .950 (B1G)
12 Houston 11-1 .924 (CUSA)
13 Ole Miss 8-4 .920 (SEC)
14 Georgia Tech 8-4 .915 (SEC)
15 Oklahoma St. 9-3 .902 (B12)
16 Arizona St. 10-3 .902 (PAC)
17 Duke 10-2 .897 (ACC)
18 Alabama 7-4 .891 (SEC)
19 Nebraska 10-3 .883 (B12)
20 TCU 8-4 .859 (B12)
21 Arizona 9-3 .856 (PAC)
22 Florida Atlantic 11-1 .852 (ACC)
23 Washington 8-4 .842 (PAC)
24 Bowling Green 11-1 .837 (MAC)
25 Wisconsin 7-5 .833 (B12)

Power 4 Conferences in the #25 BCS Rankings:

SEC=7 PAC-12=6 BIG XII=5 BIG TEN=3 Non-Power Conferences=4

Fiesta Bowl Duke 37 Oklahoma St. 10
Orange Bowl UCLA 21 Houston 10
Rose Bowl Virginia Tech 14 Auburn 7
Sugar Bowl Oklahoma 35 Clemson 7

(next best bowl featuring highest ranked teams: Capital One Bowl Michigan State 28 Georgia 24)

National Championship Game: Ohio State 33 USC 13

Final Top 25 Poll
1 Ohio State 14-0
2 Oklahoma 12-2
3 Virginia Tech 11-2
4 USC 13-1
5 Michigan St. 11-3
6 UCLA 11-2
7 Clemson 12-2
8 Auburn 11-2
9 Oregon 9-4
10 Georgia 11-3
11 Georgia Tech 9-4
12 Arizona St. 11-3
13 Houston 11-2
14 Duke 11-2
15 Florida St. 10-3
16 Nebraska 11-3
17 Alabama 8-4
18 Arizona 10-3
19 Florida Atlantic 12-1
20 Bowling Green 12-1
21 West Virginia 9-4
22 LSU 8-5
23 Oklahoma St. 9-4
24 Louisiana Tech 10-3
25 Marshall 10-3

Lets see how year #2 plays out!

[KnightTime]

Did you use the editors to change team rankings? This looks interesting, but I can already see the problem of non-power 4 teams playing in big bowl games. Think I may try these, but I'd put ND in the B1G, academies in the same conference, and UAB probably independent.

[vgunn]

Year Two

Preseason Top 25 Poll

1 Ohio St. (B1G)
2 USC (PAC)
3 Oklahoma (B12)
4 Clemson (SEC)
5 Virginia Tech (B1G)
6 Michigan St. (B1G)
7 Georgia (SEC)
8 Auburn (SEC)
9 Oregon (PAC)
10 Alabama (SEC)
11 Florida St. (SEC)
12 UCLA (PAC)
13 LSU (SEC)
14 Arizona St. (PAC)
15 West Virginia (B1G)
16 Notre Dame (--)
17 Ole Miss (SEC)
18 Nebraska (B12)
19 Georgia Tech (SEC)
20 Baylor (B12)
21 Oklahoma St. (B12)
22 Arizona (PAC)
23 Texas A&M (B12)
24 Florida (SEC)
25 TCU (B12)

Pre-season Heisman Watch
E. Elliott RB Ohio St, D. Watson QB Clemson, B. Mayfield QB Oklahoma, C. Clement RB Wisconsin, L. Fournette RB LSU

Air Force (9-4)

Poinsietta Bowl: Baylor (9-4) 49 Air Force (9-4) 28

Conference Champions: ACC=Duke(11-1 #6) AMERICAN=Syracuse (9-3 #22) BIG XII=Oklahoma (10-3 #5) BIG TEN=Ohio State (13-0 #1) CUSA=Tulsa (11-1 #12) INDY=Notre Dame (8-4 #20) MAC=Western Michigan (11-1 #16) MWC=Fresno St. (8-4 UR) PAC-12=Washington (10-3 #14) SEC=Florida St. (12-1 #4) SUNBELT=Memphis (9-3 UR)

Conference Championship Game Results:

BIG XII #5 Oklahoma (10-3) 35 #UR Nebraska (8-5) 30
BIG TEN #1 Ohio State (13-0) 49 #22 Louisville (9-4) 7
PAC-12 #15 Washington (10-3) 34 #25 BYU (8-5) 13
SEC #8 Florida St. (12-1) 35 #2 Auburn (10-3) 21

Heisman Trophy: D. Cook RB Florida St. (runners-up: . J. Franklin RB Western Michigan, S. Jamabo RB UCLA, D. Watson QB Clemson, L. Fournette RB LSU)

Pre-Bowl BCS Rankings:
1 Ohio St. 13-0 1.000 (B1G)
2 Clemson 10-2 .992 (SEC)
3 LSU 10-2 .987 (SEC)
4 Florida St. 12-1 .979 (SEC)
5 Oklahoma 10-3 .979 (B12)
6 Duke 11-1 .976 (ACC)
7 Miami 9-3 .968 (SEC)
8 Texas A&M 9-3 .968 (B12)
9 Georgia 9-3 .958 (SEC)
10 Auburn 10-3 .950 (SEC)
11 Oregon 9-3 .937 (PAC)
12 Tulsa 11-1 .931 (CUSA)
13 UCLA 9-3 .919 (PAC)
14 Washington 10-3 .914 (PAC)
15 West Virginia 9-3 .907 (B1G)
16 Western Michigan 11-1 .901 (MAC)
17 Arizona St. 8-4 .899 (PAC)
18 Stanford 8-4 .896 (PAC)
19 USC 7-5 .877 (PAC)
20 Notre Dame 8-4 .869 (--)
21 Arizona 9-3 .867 (PAC)
22 Syracuse 9-3 .866 (AMR)
23 Wisconsin 8-4 .850 (B12)
24 Alabama 7-5 .848 (SEC)
25 Texas 7-5 .833 (B12)

Power 4 Conferences in the #25 BCS Rankings:

SEC=7 PAC-12=7 BIG XII=4 BIG TEN=2 Non-Power Conferences=5

Fiesta Bowl Oklahoma 45 Washington 14
Orange Bowl Duke 37 Florida State 32
Rose Bowl Oregon 37 Texas A&M 34
Sugar Bowl Tulsa 31 West Virginia 28

(next best bowl featuring highest ranked teams: Cotton Bowl Miami 19 Missouri 14)

National Championship Game: Clemson 17 Ohio St. 16

Final Top 25 Poll
1 Clemson 11-2
2 Duke 12-1
3 Ohio State 13-1
4 LSU 11-2
5 Oklahoma 11-3
6 Miami 10-3
7 Georgia 10-3
8 Oregon 10-3
9 Tulsa 12-1
10 Florida St. 12-2
11 Auburn 11-3
12 UCLA 10-3
13 Western Michigan 12-1
14 Texas A&M 9-4
15 Arizona St. 9-4
16 Arizona 10-3
17 USC 8-5
18 Notre Dame 9-4
19 Syracuse 10-3
20 Wisconsin 9-4
21 Alabama 8-5
22 Washington 10-4
23 West Virginia 9-4
24 Texas 8-5
25 Memphis 10-3

Florida State was the team really screwed over by the BCS. Their only loss was 29-28 to Florida and they won the SEC Championship game. Still Clemson was ranked above them and got into the NC game.

On to season #3.

[vgunn]

Quote: Originally Posted by KnightTime

Did you use the editors to change team rankings? This looks interesting, but I can already see the problem of non-power 4 teams playing in big bowl games. Think I may try these, but I'd put ND in the B1G, academies in the same conference, and UAB probably independent.

No this based on the latest OS community PS3 roster. No edits done by me.

Air Force from a geographic standpoint doesn't make sense with Army and Navy, unless you make just the service academies the three independent teams.

UAB is changeable with Charlotte, App State, or Georgia Southern if you went teambuilder.

[vgunn]

Year Three

Preseason Top 25 Poll

1 Ohio St. (B1G)
2 LSU (SEC)
3 Clemson (SEC)
4 Oklahoma (B12)
5 Georgia (SEC)
6 Florida St. (SEC)
7 Miami (SEC)
8 Oregon (PAC)
9 UCLA (PAC)
10 Auburn (SEC)
11 Texas A&M (B12)
12 USC (PAC)
13 Notre Dame (--)
14 Alabama (SEC)
15 West Virginia (B1G)
16 Baylor (B12)
17 Arizona (PAC)
18 Wisconsin (B12)
19 Texas (B12)
20 Arizona St. (PAC)
21 Washington (PAC)
22 Stanford (PAC)
23 Duke (ACC)
24 Virginia Tech (B1G)
25 Western Michigan (MAC)

Pre-season Heisman Watch
J. Franklin RB Western Michigan, S. Jamabo RB UCLA, S. Perine RB Oklahoma, M. Zaire QB Notre Dame, L. Fournette RB LSU

[vgunn]

Quote: Originally Posted by KnightTime

This looks interesting, but I can already see the problem of non-power 4 teams playing in big bowl games.

So far the results through two seasons is of the five big bowl games (Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, Rose, and the NCG) 8 teams have come from the Power 4, while 2 are from the non-power conferences.

Year One (Duke (ACC) winner in Fiesta Bowl; Houston (CUSA) loser in Orange Bowl)
Year Two (Duke (ACC) winner in Orange Bowl; Tulsa (CUSA) Winner in Sugar Bowl)

I will play this out for a while to see what it looks like over time.

[vgunn]

Year #3 -cont.-

Air Force (6-7)

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston (8-5) 22 Air Force (6-7) 16

Conference Champions: ACC=Wake Forest (10-2 UR) AMERICAN=Navy (9-3 #22) BIG XII=Missouri (13-0 #2) BIG TEN=Virginia (11-2 #11) CUSA=New Mexico (8-4 UR) INDY=Notre Dame (10-2 #4) MAC=Bowling Green (12-0 #5) MWC=Fresno St. (11-1 #20) PAC-12=UCLA (13-0 #1) SEC=Alabama (12-1 #3) SUNBELT=Memphis (9-3 #23)

Conference Championship Game Results:

BIG XII #3 Missouri (13-0) 28 #14 TCU (9-4) 17
BIG TEN #13 Virginia (11-2) 35 #11 Michigan St. (11-2) 28
PAC-12 #2 UCLA (13-0) 37 #4 Arizona St. (10-3) 34 OT
SEC #12 Clemson (11-2) 34 #1 Alabama (12-1) 24

Heisman Trophy: J. Franklin RB Western Michigan (runners-up: . K. Allen QB Texas A&M, L. Scott RB Michigan St, J. Jackson RB Northwestern, M. Zaire QB Notre Dame)

Pre-Bowl BCS Rankings:
1 UCLA 13-0 1.000 (PAC)
2 Missouri 13-0 .995 (B12)
3 Alabama 12-1 .989 (SEC)
4 Arizona 11-1 .984 (PAC)
5 Notre Dame 10-2 .979 (--)
6 Bowling Green 12-0 .969 (MAC)
7 LSU 10-2 .960 (SEC)
8 Ohio St. 10-2 .957 (B1G)
9 Clemson 11-2 .955 (SEC)
10 Virginia Tech 9-3 .953 (B1G)
11 Virginia 11-2 .950 (B1G)
12 Arizona St. 10-3 .944 (PAC)
13 Western Michigan 10-2 .927 (MAC)
14 Michigan St. 11-2 .921 (B1G)
15 Oklahoma St. 8-4 .911 (B1G)
16 Washington 8-4 .898 (PAC)
17 Texas A&M 8-4 .887 (B12)
18 Marshall 9-3 .886 (AMR)
19 BYU 8-4 .875 (PAC)
20 Fresno St. 11-1 .867 (MWC)
21 Oklahoma 8-4 .866 (B12)
22 Navy 9-3 .855 (AMR)
23 Memphis 9-3 .849 (SUN)
24 TCU 9-4 .847 (B12)
25 Kansas St. 8-4 .824 (B12)

Power 4 Conferences in the #25 BCS Rankings:

SEC=3 PAC-12=5 BIG XII=5 BIG TEN=5 Non-Power Conferences=7

Fiesta Bowl Alabama 41 Arizona 7
Orange Bowl Ohio St. 31 Western Michigan 24
Rose Bowl Bowling Green 31 Virginia 0
Sugar Bowl Clemson 48 Notre Dame 20

(next best bowl featuring highest ranked teams: Capital One Bowl LSU 34 Michigan St. 13)

National Championship Game: UCLA 31 Missouri 12

Final Top 25 Poll
1 UCLA 14-0
2 Alabama 13-1
3 Missouri 13-1
4 Bowling Green 13-0
5 Ohio St. 11-2
6 LSU 11-2
7 Clemson 12-2
8 Arizona 11-2
9 Arizona St. 11-3
10 Notre Dame 10-3
11 Washington 9-4
12 Virginia 11-3
13 Oklahoma St. 9-4
14 Western Michigan 10-3
15 BYU 9-4
16 Michigan St. 11-3
17 Oklahoma 9-4
18 Fresno St. 11-2
19 Virginia Tech 9-4
20 TCU 10-4
21 Georgia 9-4
22 Kansas St. 9-4
23 Oregon 8-5
24 Tulsa 9-4
25 Pitt 9-4

Bowling Green is our 1st non-power conference undefeated team. They were #6 in the final BSC rankings before the bowls and ended up at #4 after winning the Rose Bowl. They got the Rose Bowl bid because UCLA was playing in the NCG.

Season #4 coming up!