Conference Realignment 101

in BCS Conferences by bcsknowhow — July 12, 2010 at 3:05 pm | 0 comments

Now that conference realignment talks have — at long last — settled down, let’s take a quick look as to where this leaves the FBS conferences moving forward.

First and most importantly, none of the changes you heard about last month will not be taking affect this season. The 11 BCS and non-BCS conferences you’ve come to know and love remain in tact for at least one more season.

However, starting in the 2011-12 season (still more than a year away), things will begin to get a little unfamiliar.

The first so-called “domino” to fall in last month’s conference realignment fiasco was surprisingly Nebraska’s move to the Big 10 conference. The Cornhuskers were an integral part of the Big 12, joining in 1996 along with the rest of the former Big Eight conference.

The Big 12 then saw Colorado follow in Nebraska’s footsteps out the conference door, with the Buffalos instead deciding to take to the west coast, joining the Pacific-10 conference.

The Utah Utes took a step in the same direction, vacating their seat at the head of the BCS-buster table as a part of the Mountain West conference to join an automatically-qualifying conference in the BCS-automatic-qualifying Pac-10.

As the Utes departure was written in the tea leaves for some time, the Mountain West went about replacing them before they had even made the announcement and came back with the Utes’ co-hosts at the top of the BCS-buster world, bringing Western Athletic Conference member Boise State into the MWC mix.

With the four teams sending shockwaves around the college football landscape in short order, more moves were expected, but conference members showed surprising loyalty, and the rest of the conference world was left unchanged.

So to wrap:

• Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12, leaving the Big 12 with 10 teams.
• Boise State left the WAC and joined the MWC leaving the conference with nine teams after Utah left the conference.
• Colorado and Utah joined the Pac-10 giving the conference 12 teams.
• Nebraska joined the Big 10, leaving the conference with 12 teams.

With the net net gains and losses as such in regards to the rules of the BCS:

• With 12 teams the Pac-10 will be able to hold a conference championship game.
• With 12 teams the Big 10 will be able to hold a conference championship game.
• With only 10 teams the Big 12 will no long be able to hold a conference championship game.
• The Utah Utes is the first “BCS buster” school to move from a non-BCS conference to an automatically-qualifying conference.
• The MWC’s qualification and affiliation with the BCS remains unchanged.

Remember none of these changes are effective immediately, with the first move not planned until the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year.

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