After the Big12 and ACC are raided, is there enough leftover to form a 4th “Power” conference from the remnants of the Big 12 and ACC as well as the AAC, Conference USA, Mountain West. In previous years I would say definitively NO, but now that the grant of rights were given to the players so they can make money directly…schools situated in large metro areas are suddenly sitting on increased cash/power. It actually somewhat levels the playing field of big P5 universities located in distant tiny college towns with those G5 schools in big urban areas.
So for this purpose I’m going to assume the SEC takes FSU, Clemson, Virginia Tech and NC State, that the Big 10 takes Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, UVA, Notre Dame and UNC, and that either the PAC-12 takes Texas Tech, TCU, Houston, Kansas and Oklahoma State, or some combination of the PAC, Big and SEC does.
So that leaves “stranded” Miami, Wake Forest, Duke, Louisville, Boston College, West Virginia, Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State. That in and of itself is too weak to reform and create an attractive P4 league. But let’s also look at some of the other leagues. The AAC has valuable teams in USF, UCF, Cincinnati (likely top 10 team), Memphis, East Carolina, Tulsa and SMU. CUSA has some interesting larger metro teams and/or historically decent teams in Marshall, FIU, FAU, UAB and UTEP as does the Sunbelt in Georgia Southern, App State, and Louisiana. The Mountain West has some interesting teams in Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, and Fresno State. BYU is a nice independent that could be plucked.
So I would suggest taking the very best of the remaining teams and form a new conference called the Special Conference from Atlantic to Pacific Syndacate or SCRAPS for short. The new SCRAPS conference would have Miami, West Virginia, Louisville, BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, USF, Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas State, Marshall, East Carolina, Memphis, Louisiana, Duke, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State, UTEP and Tulsa. That’s not a dominant league like the SEC and Big Ten, but it’s not THAT far off from the PAC. If Miami and Louisville get back to where they came from and USF and UCF become what they are capable of, then that’s equivalent to USC, Washington and Oregon.
So for this purpose I’m going to assume the SEC takes FSU, Clemson, Virginia Tech and NC State, that the Big 10 takes Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, UVA, Notre Dame and UNC, and that either the PAC-12 takes Texas Tech, TCU, Houston, Kansas and Oklahoma State, or some combination of the PAC, Big and SEC does.
So that leaves “stranded” Miami, Wake Forest, Duke, Louisville, Boston College, West Virginia, Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State. That in and of itself is too weak to reform and create an attractive P4 league. But let’s also look at some of the other leagues. The AAC has valuable teams in USF, UCF, Cincinnati (likely top 10 team), Memphis, East Carolina, Tulsa and SMU. CUSA has some interesting larger metro teams and/or historically decent teams in Marshall, FIU, FAU, UAB and UTEP as does the Sunbelt in Georgia Southern, App State, and Louisiana. The Mountain West has some interesting teams in Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, and Fresno State. BYU is a nice independent that could be plucked.
So I would suggest taking the very best of the remaining teams and form a new conference called the Special Conference from Atlantic to Pacific Syndacate or SCRAPS for short. The new SCRAPS conference would have Miami, West Virginia, Louisville, BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, USF, Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas State, Marshall, East Carolina, Memphis, Louisiana, Duke, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State, UTEP and Tulsa. That’s not a dominant league like the SEC and Big Ten, but it’s not THAT far off from the PAC. If Miami and Louisville get back to where they came from and USF and UCF become what they are capable of, then that’s equivalent to USC, Washington and Oregon.