(07-24-2019 08:40 PM)GE and MTS Wrote:  

(07-22-2019 07:49 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Since there's all this talk of divisionless conferences now, I thought I'd bump this thread. I've revamped the Big Ten setup in the OP, and also revised the 4th and 5th protected opponents for the ACC there.

Quote:PENN STATE Ohio State Michigan State Maryland | Rutgers | Iowa

Penn State's top three would be (in order) Ohio State then either Maryland or Rutgers. Ohio State is the only school they've played annually without a break since joining the Big Ten. Maryland and Rutgers were allegedly added specifically to satisfy Penn State so it would be pretty unusual to not play both annually, not to mention the history between the schools prior to Penn State's arrival in the Big Ten. New Jersey and Maryland are important recruiting areas for athletes and students for Penn State and obviously where a ton of alumni reside.

Michigan State may be a "rivalry" in name only but isn't that important to PSU. They didn't play each other annually in the Leaders/Legends years because it just wasn't necessary. Penn State cares more about Michigan as they see them as equals as top brands.

I don't see Penn State fighting to save a rivalry from the western division. Nebraska was supposed to be that but the Big Ten didn't let that flourish and redistributed the divisions quickly with the latest additions. Penn State has some bad blood with Iowa but nothing that needs played annually. Penn State has a trophy game with Minnesota but they aren't a priority either.

The divisions as currently constructed basically fit Penn State's interests best. Penn State is a northeastern/east coast school, not as much a Midwest or Great Lakes school. If I had to pick five schools in order, I'd go with these:

Ohio State, Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan State

I know that's not realistic based on the needs of the rest of the conference so subbing out Michigan or Michigan State for Nebraska works best.

As for the rest of the conference, I think the western four (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota) should be a "pod" that all play each other, the Illinois/Indiana four should mostly be a "pod", then the remaining 6 should mostly be a "pod". Ohio State - Illinois is a big deal to those schools, as Michigan State - Indiana may be as well.

OK, made some changes again to the Big Ten setup in the OP based partly on your reply. What's funny is I think I have the first 3 columns of opponents back to where I had them last week. PSU has Michigan back. I kept MSU/Indiana but forewent OSU/Illinois in favor of OSU/Rutgers. Less history, but I think OSU will appreciate the recruiting grounds.

Here's a long-term divisionless setup for the AAC, assuming they maintain their existing 11 FB members aside from UConn and are able to continue holding a CCG despite not having any sort of round robin (achieved either by means of an extended waiver or a rule change).

A 16-team Big Sky for all Mountain/Pacific FCS schools plus NMSU:

School: Protected opponent, Semi-protected opponent

East Pod
Idaho State: Idaho, New Mexico State
Montana State: Montana, Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado: Dixie State, Portland State
Weber State: Southern Utah, Eastern Washington

North Pod
Eastern Washington: UC Davis, Weber State
Idaho: Idaho State, San Diego
Montana: Montana State, Cal Poly
Portland State: Sacramento State, Northern Colorado

South Pod
Dixie State: Northern Colorado, Sacramento State
New Mexico State: San Diego, Idaho State
Northern Arizona: Cal Poly, Montana State
Southern Utah: Weber State, UC Davis

West Pod
Cal Poly: Northern Arizona, Montana
Sacramento State: Portland State, Dixie State
San Diego: New Mexico State, Idaho
UC Davis: Eastern Washington, Southern Utah

The pods rotate between "virtual" 8-team divisions in a 3-year cycle. This is just for scheduling purposes, as there are no actual divisions. Conference schedule is 8 games. Pod mates and protected opponents are played every year, semi-protected opponents are played 2 years out of 3, and all other conference mates every 3 years.

PS: San Diego and NMSU are unlikely Big Sky adds, for different reasons.

Nerdlinger—I toyed with a similar concept for a 20-team Big Ten. I was torn though: Do you rotate the pods and create virtual divisions or, assuming a conference playoff could be on the table, do you just have each team play their pod mates (4) then 2 apiece from the other 3 divisions (6) for a 10 game conference schedule.

It works fine if you can create pods that don’t split any rivals—but if you do I’ve to split rivals it can get messy trying to protect them.

You’ve seemed to come up with a decent way to make it work on a 16 team system.

I dont like divisionless FB at all. It s purpose was to make money. But i would play with sch