Your best conference ideas?

[Trent Steen]

What is your favorite custom conference that you've made? I'm just trying to get some ideas for some othere conferences in my dynasty.
I've made one conference with nothing but FCS teams and I added Notre Dame and WVU and switched out Louisville with Maryland for the ACC. But other then that I'm stumped!

[shopejay]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

What is your favorite custom conference that you've made? I'm just trying to get some ideas for some othere conferences in my dynasty.
I've made one conference with nothing but FCS teams and I added Notre Dame and WVU and switched out Louisville with Maryland for the ACC. But other then that I'm stumped!

I personally have made mine based on geography... I put all Texas Schools in a conference... I made a conference with all Florida Schools in 1 division and all California Schools in another division... Put all Ohio and Michigan schools in a conference... Made another with Carolina's in one division and the Virginia's in another with Maryland to even it out.... Other than that just use your imagination... Skies the limit and that's what I love about this game...

[stormisbruin]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Cincy, BYU, and Louisville to the Big 12. UConn to the ACC. West Virginia to the SEC. Army and UMass to the American. Mizzou and Pitt to the Big 10. Keep Maryland in the ACC. That's usually what I do anyway. Never mess with the Pac-12 unless the net gain is 0, since 12 is in the name. Hence why I always try to get the Big 12 to 12. Don't care so much about the Big 10 since they haven't been at 10 in a while.

[PocketScout]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

I have finally gotten back around to setting up my Relegation Dynasty and just finished my first season in it. Will be posting results in the next couple days, but the first post explains how I have set everything up and run it. Click Here

[R.Moncrief]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Eh, mine are straight forward with every new dynasty. I basically have it memorized now..

ACC
+ West Virginia (from Big 12)

American (in order to validate BCS Berth)
+ Duke (from ACC)
+ Idaho (from Ind.)
+ Northern Illinois (from MAC)
+ Wake Forest (from ACC)

B1G
+ Maryland (from ACC)
+ Rutgers (from American)

Big 12
+ BYU (from Ind.)
+ Louisville (from American)
+ Houston (from CUSA)

Conference USA
+ Old Dominion (from Ind.)
+ Western Kentucky (from Sun Belt)

Sun Belt
+ New Mexico State (from Ind.)
+ Northern Texas (from CUSA)
+ UTEP (from CUSA)
+ UTSA (from CUSA)

There are other changes within the conferences from this point. I align the Sun Belt based on geographic location between East/West divisions. The B1G is split between Lakes and Plains, basically all teams that's state borders a Great Lake is placed within the Lakes division, all others are Plains. The Big 12 is split North/South based on locations with Oklahoma State (north) and Oklahoma (south) being separated.

The rest of the conferences remain the same.

I leave Notre Dame, Army, and Navy as the only independents.

[Trent Steen]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Thanks for the ideas, I think I might put SMU and Houston in the BIG12 to have a conference championship, I already have BYU in the conference. I was coming close to splitting the BIG 12 up among the PAC 12 BIG10 and SEC!

[Pizzaguylol]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

I tried to go with something somewhat realistic, based off of regional rivalries, geography, media markets, etc. In the end, I kind of skew reality a bit because, eh, it's a video game, but I was satisfied with the results. I ended up with 4 super conferences, an all Texas conference (12 Texas teams in game, why not?), 3 12 team mid-major conferences, a 7 team CUSA for lower tier teams, a 4 team sunbelt for the bottom feeders, and all military schools are now independent.

After 2-3 seasons I will look at who the best/worst are amongst the bottom feeder/mid-majors and move up/down accordingly. Most super conference teams are set in stone, though. The American is seen as the top tier Mid-Major, and teams in that bracket are more likely to be moved up to super conferences. If a team in the MWC/MAC does well enough, it might get promoted to The American. Conversely, if a team in the American does poorly, it could be demoted to the MAC/MWC, etc.

The pecking order goes:
Super Conferences
American (Top Mid-Major)
MWC/MAC (Mid-Majors)
C-USA (Lower-mid majors)
Sunbelt (Bottom mid-majors)
Independents (variable)

PAC-16
East:
Arizona
Arizona State
Boise State
BYU
Colorado
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Utah

West:
California
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Washington
Washington State

ACC
North:
Boston College
Maryland
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Syracuse
Virginia
West Virginia

South:
Duke
Miami (FL)
North Carolina
NC State
UCF
USF
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

SEC
East:
Florida
Florida State
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

West:
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Clemson
Louisville
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State

B1G 16 (Big Ten)
East:
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue

West:
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
Wisconsin

Lonestar Conference (Big XII)
East:
Houston
North Texas
Rice
Texas A&M
SMU
TCU

West:
Baylor
Texas
Texas State
Texas Tech
UTEP
UTSA

American Conference
East:
Arkansas
Cincinnati
Connecticut
ECU
Marhsall
Temple

West:
Northern Illinois
UL Monroe
UL Lafayette
Troy
Tulsa
Western Kentucky

Mountain West Conference
Mountain:
Colorado State
Idaho
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Utah State
Wyoming

West:
Fresno State
Hawai'i
Nevada
San Diego State
San Jose State
UNLV

MAC
East:
Akron
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Kent State
Ohio
UMass

West:
Ball State
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Miami (OH)
Toledo
Western Michigan

C-USA
FAU
FIU
Louisiana Tech
Memphis
Mid Tenn State
Southern Miss
Tulane

Sunbelt Conference
Georgia State
Old Dominion
South Alabama
UAB

Independents
Air Force
Army
Navy

[Squeezee12]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Has anyone else had problems with a team or two that you moved into the Big 10 not playing any conference games? I've had it happen twice. First with Notre Dame. Moved them in and they kept their independent schedule. Then moved them out and out UCONN in and they played an independent schedule. Not a single conference game on their schedule..

[OhioSTATE17]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

How to put off studying for 2 finals Enjoy

Started off by having the 5 Top Conferences, Divided them geographically and picked any team in that region that deserved a potential spot:

Spoiler

ACC
Connecticut
Kentucky
Boston College
Louisville
Maryland
Rugters
Syracuse
Duke
North Carolina
NC State
Wake Forest
Clemson
South Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
West Virginia

Big 10
Illinois
Northern Illinois
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Iowa
Iowa State
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraksa
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Penn State
Wisconsin

Big 12
Arkansas
Colorado
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Baylor
Houston
TCU
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech



SEC
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Florida State
Miami
UCF
Georgia
Georgia Tech
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Tennessee


Pac 12
Arizona
Arizona State
Fresno State
California
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Boise State
Nevada
Oregon
Oregon State
BYU
Utah
Utah State
Washington
Washington State

Final:

Spoiler

ACC:
Kentucky
Boston College
Louisville
Maryland
Rugters
Syracuse
Duke
North Carolina
Clemson
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
West Virginia

Big 10:
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Missouri
Nebraksa
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin

Big 12:
Arkansas
Colorado
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Baylor
Houston
TCU
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech

SEC:
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Florida State
Miami
UCF
Georgia
Georgia Tech
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Tennessee

PAC 12:
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Fresno State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Boise State
Oregon
Oregon State
Utah
Washington

Close but not quite there teams to form next in line conference

Spoiler

AAC:
Ball State
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Hawaii
Iowa State
Nevada
Northwestern
Pittsburgh
Purdue
BYU
Utah State
Virginia

Map of 5 AQ Conferences

Spoiler

Any teams not in the Power 5 or Little 6 make of the Minor Conferences(CUSA, MAC, SUN..)

[Robo COP]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

I typically don't like to make huge changes like the ones mentioned to conferences. My biggest issue with it is that it screws up teams rivalry games. Their rivals are usual in the same conferences with them and when you move them out they have the potential of not playing them for years on end.

The only time I usually do much conference movement is if there is a powerhouse team in a non AQ conference that deserves to be in an AQ. The biggest movement I can anticipate making right now is eventually getting UMASS from the MAC to the ACC, and I will likely use the AAC as a stepping stone. That is only because it is in my UMASS dynasty and I plan on building them into a powerhouse. I plan on getting UConn in there as well since they are a UMass rival along with BC (who is already in the ACC)

How to put off studying for 2 finals Enjoy

Haha, I'm putting off finishing a final project by checking out the message boards

[Falacer]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Eh, mine are straight forward with every new dynasty. I basically have it memorized now..

ACC
+ West Virginia (from Big 12)

American (in order to validate BCS Berth)
+ Duke (from ACC)
+ Idaho (from Ind.)
+ Northern Illinois (from MAC)
+ Wake Forest (from ACC)

B1G
+ Maryland (from ACC)
+ Rutgers (from American)

Big 12
+ BYU (from Ind.)
+ Louisville (from American)
+ Houston (from CUSA)

Conference USA
+ Old Dominion (from Ind.)
+ Western Kentucky (from Sun Belt)

Sun Belt
+ New Mexico State (from Ind.)
+ Northern Texas (from CUSA)
+ UTEP (from CUSA)
+ UTSA (from CUSA)


The rest of the conferences remain the same.

I leave Notre Dame, Army, and Navy as the only independents.

+1 I like these alignments might steal some of these.

I found putting Army and Navy in the American conference seems to keep them from becoming powerhouses in the later years of my dynasty. Or at least so far it's worked.

[elantradave]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

Here are mine, like above, they're pretty much the same in each one, I'll list each team though (new teams in bold, conference name bolded and italic, division name in Italic :

ACC:

Atlantic
Boston College
Cincinnati
Louisville
Miami
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Virginia Tech

Coastal
Clemson
Duke
Florida State
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
NC State
Virginia
Wake Forest

American:

Freedom
Central Florida
East Carolina
Memphis
Middle Tennessee State
Southern Miss
South Florida

Liberty
Connecticut
Delaware (replacing Army/Navy from Teambuilder)
Delaware State (Above)
Northern Illinois
Old Dominion
Temple

Big XII:

American
Baylor
Houston
Louisiana Tech
SMU
Texas Tech
Tulane
Tulsa

National
Fresno State
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Nevada
San Diego State
UNLV

Big Ten:

East
Indiana
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers

West
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Wisconsin

Conference USA:
Florida International
Florida Atlantic
Marshall
North Texas
Ohio
Toledo
Troy
UAB
UMass
Western Kentucky

Independent:
Hawaii

MAC:
Akron
Ball State
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Kent State
Miami Ohio
Western Michigan

Mountain West:
Colorado State
New Mexico
Rice
San Jose State
UTEP
UTSA
Utah State
Wyoming

Pac 16 (12):

Ocean (like that?)
California
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Washington
Washington State

Mountain
Air Force
Arizona
Arizona State
Boise State
BYU
Colorado
TCU
Utah

SEC:

East
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Missouri
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
West Virginia

West
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
LSU
Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Texas
Texas A&M

Sun Belt:
Arkansas State
Georgia State
Idaho
New Mexico State
South Alabama
Texas State
UL Lafayette
UL Monroe

(I think I bolded all the new teams, might've missed a team or two)

BCS Tie-Ins:
Fiesta: Big 12 vs. At Large
Sugar: ACC vs. SEC
Orange: American vs. At Large
Rose: Big Ten vs. Pac 16

[FightinSnydersKSU]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

For the Big 12 I always do this:

North
Cincinnati
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Louisville
West Virginia

South
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas
Texas Tech

BCS Tie-in with Sugar Bowl vs SEC

[Trent Steen]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

I thought for a while about splitting up the BIG12 like other people have on here but in the end I decided to sorta combine the 2009 MWC and BIG12. This format takes the PAC 12 down to only 10 teams, but at this point in my dynasty the PAC 12 has became very weak, as Oregon is the only team that ever makes appearances in the top 25. I switched out Kansas with Nebraska just because I used to love seeing Nebraska in the BIG12
Bold = team added
BIG12
North
Oklahoma
Oklahoma st
Kansas St
Iowa St
Nebraska
Colorado
South
Texas
Texas Tech
Baylor
TCU
BYU
Utah

Another conference I changed was the ACC, I did this to add more rivals and to make another conference that could compete with the SEC. Its like a early 2000's Big east combined with the ACC. But I switched out Louisville and maryland and added Notre Dame and WVU.
Because i have 16 teams in this conference I didn't add the locked in rivals, but i created the divisions to preserve all the major rivalries and it turned out to be a north vs south kind of set up. It creates some great regional rival games and there's always a good championship game. This is probably my favorite custom conference
ACC
Atlantic
Clemson
Ga Tech
Miami
FSU
NC State
UNC
Duke
Wake
Coastal
Notre Dame
Syracuse
Pitt
Louisville
WVU
Va tech
UVA
Boston college

Another cool conference I made was strictly FCS teambuilder teams with the exception of a couple teams. Its cool to watch these teams get better while others stay bottom feeders. After a couple more years i will promote some of the best teams in this conference. That seems to be Appalachian St, Grambling St, Georgia Southern, and a fantasy team i made Mississippi Braves.

North
Coastal Carolina
Charlotte 49ers
Chattanooga
ODU
Wofford
Furman
Appalachian St
South
Georgia Southern
GSU
FAU
Mississippi
Grambling St
Arkansas St

These are really the only major changes ive made, sorry for the long post but i really enjoy these conferences and hope to maybe get some people to try some of these ideas!

[elantradave]

Re: Your best conference ideas?

I have always wanted Texas in the SEC. Back when they first brought the feature in (when A&M was still in the Big XII), I would LOAD the SEC with Texas, A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. When Missouri announced they were going in, I started putting the Kansas and Oklahoma schools in the Big Ten. Finally, when Maryland and Rutgers said they were going in the Big Ten, I decided just put the Oklahoma schools. Even though they're not a border state, I figured it'd still be fun to have Oklahoma/Nebraska every year.