OT: Conference Realignment

[Patriot8]

I may not be up to date on the CFP, but I can't imagine that the P4 will allow one of the three to keep the P5 designation and a G5 autobid.

There is no Power 5 anymore. It's Power 4 and Group of 6. G6 will get one auto bid.

This is why Cal and Stanford going back to the Pac12 doesn't make sense, unfortunately.

 

[mason89]

GMTM--Love It!

Let's just go ahead and change our mascot from the Patriots to "The Trademarks." That should satisfy the PC folks as well.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

 

[Pablo]

UTEP 'honored' to join retooled Mountain West

After engaging in deep discussions in recent days, UTEP has officially joined the Mountain West Conference, the league announced on Tuesday.

www.espn.com

"In UTEP, the Mountain West will get a school with a strong football and basketball lineage. UTEP's football opener against Southern Utah drew 41,633 fans to the Sun Bowl.

In football, UTEP has reached 15 bowl games, and its former coaches include everyone from Bum Phillips to Mike Price. UTEP is currently in Conference USA, where it has resided since 2005, when it jumped over from the WAC.

UTEP's basketball history is even stronger, as it has appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments and won the national championship in 1966, when the school was known as Texas Western. The Miners were the first team with a starting five of all African American players to win the national title. The coach of that team, Don Haskins, is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

UTEP has a strong fan base, and El Paso, Texas, has a population of nearly 679,000, which makes it one of the top 25 most populated cities in the United States."

 

[Pablo]

Report: UTEP to Join Mountain West amid Conference Realignment; Texas State Linked

The Mountain West Conference is reportedly set to make Conference USA's UTEP a full-time member across all athletics. Brett McMurphy of the Action Network…

bleacherreport.com

"If the Mountain West lands UTEP, it will have seven full-time members and eight for football since Hawaii is a football-only member of the MWC.

In order to once again become recognized as an official conference and be eligible for the College Football Playoff, the Mountain West must get to eight full-time schools.

Texas State would get the Mountain West there, but according to Thamel, the Pac-12 has reportedly expressed interest in Texas State as well."

 

[Pablo]

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/pac-12-mountain-west-expansion-gonzaga-utep-conference-realignment-rumors-sacramento-state-tarleton

"The Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference have been dueling it out in the latest round of conference realignment. Both leagues need to reach eight full, football-playing members by summer 2026, per NCAA bylaws. The Mountain West has reached a deal with UTEP, a Conference USA program that fits the league’s geographic footprint and gives the conference a foothold in Texas. The Pac-12 made a major splash on Tuesday morning, adding basketball power Gonzaga. The Bulldogs won’t add to the football league, but their men’s basketball program absolutely moves the needle for the conference as a whole. Both moves are expected to take effect for the 2026-27 season."

"The two additions bring each league’s membership number up to eight, but they are still both one full football-playing member shy of NCAA requirements. Gonzaga is joining the Pac-12 as a non-football school. The Mountain West has eight members in its football league, but as an affiliate, football-only member, Hawai’i doesn’t count towards the NCAA requirement.

The Mountain West is in discussions with Tarleton State, an FCS program in the WAC, Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports. Another FCS program, Sacramento State, has been aggressively pursuing a move up to the FBS level with the Pac-12 and Mountain West expanding. The Sac12 executive committee, which is heading up fundraising efforts, announced that it has raised an impressive NIL fund pool of $35 million demonstrate the area’s commitment to the school participating in major college athletics, per Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports. The program has also announced plans for a new football stadium for the Hornets."

 

[Pablo]

Hoops powerhouse Gonzaga to join Pac-12 in '26

Gonzaga is set to join the Pac-12 for the 2026-27 season, the conference announced Tuesday.

www.espn.com

"The Pac-12 is adding Gonzaga as a member in all sports the school plays starting in July 2026, the conference announced Tuesday.

Gonzaga brings a rich basketball tradition to the refurbished Pac-12, as the Zags have reached the round of 16 of the men's NCAA tournament nine consecutive times.

According to sources, talks intensified over the past three days. Gonzaga brings strong media value to the league from a basketball perspective, as it's one of the sport's top brands and most consistent winners. The Bulldogs have reached every men's NCAA tournament that has been played since 1999 -- a streak of 25 straight years."

"The Pac-12 has also had preliminary discussions with Grand Canyon and Saint Mary's, both of which participated in in the NCAA men's basketball tournament last year, but the conference is expected to remain focused on adding another football-playing school before shifting its attention back to basketball.

Gonzaga has been a member of the WCC since the 1989-90 season, and the departure is a significant blow to that league."

 

[Pablo]

Sources: Texas St. talks with Mountain West stall

Texas State's talks with the Mountain West Conference have stalled, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Tuesday, and the school informed the Sun Belt Conference that it won't be leaving after the Bobcats program received a verbal offer over the weekend.

www.espn.com

 

[jessej]

coming? from Front Office Sports

College football ⬆⬇ A proposal for a unified college football “Super League” was announced Tuesday by a group of executives and school administrators. The “College Student Football League” proposal would reorganize 136 Football Bowl Subdivision schools into two conferences—with the top 72 in the top conference, and the other 64 in another. The league would adopt a promotion-relegation system akin to European soccer leagues.

 

[GMUgemini]

coming? from Front Office Sports

College football ⬆⬇ A proposal for a unified college football “Super League” was announced Tuesday by a group of executives and school administrators. The “College Student Football League” proposal would reorganize 136 Football Bowl Subdivision schools into two conferences—with the top 72 in the top conference, and the other 64 in another. The league would adopt a promotion-relegation system akin to European soccer leagues.

How the hell would you do pro-rel with that many teams? The reason it works in Europe is because they all play a balanced home-away schedule. You can’t possibly know who to promote or relegate when you barely play 20% of the conference.

 

[jessej]

How the hell would you do pro-rel with that many teams? The reason it works in Europe is because they all play a balanced home-away schedule. You can’t possibly know who to promote or relegate when you barely play 20% of the conference.

i agree
my personal opinion is more like 3 conferences of 40 teams each
this allows the current P-4 to get rid of perennial bottom dwellers (in football)
then schedule 10-1-1 or 10-2-1
top division play 10 games within the top divisions
top division plays 1 or 2 games vs division 2; and
top division plays 1game vs division 3

 

[Old Man]

i agree
my personal opinion is more like 3 conferences of 40 teams each
this allows the current P-4 to get rid of perennial bottom dwellers (in football)
then schedule 10-1-1 or 10-2-1
top division play 10 games within the top divisions
top division plays 1 or 2 games vs division 2; and
top division plays 1game vs division 3

Make as many conferences as necessary with some number of teams for however many games you need in a season. For example, if college wants to play 12 games in a season, have conferences with 13 teams. Play everyone in your conference. Top 6 teams in conference 1, top 3 teams in conference 2, top 2 teams in conference 3, and the top team in conference 4 go play a 12 team playoff. Use the bowl system for the other schools as needed.

After the season and playoffs are over, relegate the bottom 3 (maybe 4) teams to the lower conference and lift the top 3 (or 4) teams to the higher conference.

Have the TV contracts pay for all team travel for all teams in all conferences. If needed, limit the number of players that travel to about 60 players to keep a hold on costs.

Teams keep their own gate and concession money, and the leftover TV money is divided out amongst all the teams at some scale proportional to the level of conference in which they played. This proportion becomes incentive to be better and move up, or not.

Obviously these numbers could be changed as needed, but we have to start somewhere.

 

[Walter]

The SEC and the Big Ten appreciate your efforts to make more rational conferences and playoff system. But what you don't understand, the goal is for those two conferences to capture all the money from college sports and cut everyone else out. Probably two conferences of 24 teams. But thanks for playing.

 

[Pablo]

Mtn. West adds N. Illinois as football-only in '26

Northern Illinois will join the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026, joining Air Force, Hawai'i, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State and Wyoming.

www.espn.com

"It is unclear what conference NIU's remaining sports will compete in once it moves to the Mountain West for football. The school said it will continue discussions with the Mid-American Conference -- where it has participated since 1997 -- but will also review opportunities in 'several of the regionally based multi-sport conferences.'

The Mountain West also recently announced the additions of Grand Canyon and UC Davis for sports other than football (Grand Canyon does not have football; Davis will remain at the FCS level)."

 

[Pablo]

Sources: Texas State expecting offer from Pac-12

Texas State officials have informed the Sun Belt conference that they are expecting an offer from the Pac-12 in the near future, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

"A formal offer is anticipated in the near future, per sources, as Texas State is in talks to join the league for the 2026-27 school year."

 

[phoenix-arizona]

New Pac 12 is the PAC 12 you get when you order from Temu.

 

[Pablo]

​

Ross Dellenger

@RossDellenger


A volley of non-FBS realignment moves are coming. Per sources, the ASUN & WAC are forming an “alliance,” where 5 FB-playing ASUN members will move in 2026 into the WAC, which will then rebrand as United Athletic Conference.

Southern Utah & Utah Tech are leaving WAC for Big Sky.

12:27 PM · Jun 25, 2025
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[Pablo]

EKU to Transition All Sports to United Athletic Conference in New Realignment Structure

EKU will continue to compete in the ASUN during the 2025-26 season, with football playing in the current football-only UAC this fall

www.wymt.com

"Effective July 1, 2026, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) will rebrand as the UAC and join the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) to form a groundbreaking strategic alliance. The consortium will be led by Executive Director Jeff Bacon, current ASUN Commissioner.

The UAC and the ASUN will remain independent conferences, each with their own automatic qualifying bid for postseason play. Both conferences will continue to meet the NCAA sport sponsorship and membership standards."

"The UAC, which is the current brand used to recognize the ASUN-WAC Football Alliance, will expand to sponsor 15 sports with the following member institutions: Abilene Christian University; Austin Peay State University; the University of Central Arkansas; Eastern Kentucky University; the University of North Alabama; Tarleton State University; the University of Texas at Arlington; and the University of West Georgia."

 

[Pablo]

MSN

"According to a report by Brett McMurphy of Action Network, Louisiana Tech would likely be Texas State’s replacement in the Sun Belt. Louisiana-Monroe athletics director John Hartwell told supporters last week 'things are heading in that direction.'"

"The Sun Belt has since surpassed Conference USA in both national prestige and stability. CUSA in 2023 lost much of its core membership to the American Athletic Conference, which in turn had lost several prominent schools to the Big 12.

Tech’s move to the Sun Belt would drop Conference USA back to 10 members. CUSA is set to add Delaware this season to form an 11-team league along with Jacksonville State, Florida International, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, UTEP and Western Kentucky."

 

[HoopsAdmin]

CUSA is set to add Delaware this season to form an 11-team league along with Jacksonville State, Florida International, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, UTEP and Western Kentucky."

Why didn’t Delaware end up in the MAC? Have fun with those long road trips, Blue Hen fans.