SMQ: Thinking radically about college football realignment in age of coronavirus
By Zach Bigalke
Northeast Conference
- Teams: UConn, Boston College, UMass, Rutgers, Army, Buffalo, Syracuse, Temple
- States included: 5 (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
- Current P5 teams: 3 (Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse)
This is the other league that could conceivably also go by the Lambert moniker. Among the schools included in the Northeast Conference realignment, five of the eight programs took home the trophy a total of 21 times. (Subtract Penn State from the Midlands and you get a similar hit rate between the rest of the schools.) While none of the Ivy League schools remain part of top-flight football any longer, the Northeast Conference footprint encompasses the spiritual birthplace of the gridiron game.
With only three Power Five teams included in this configuration, the Northeast Conference would be one of the weaker conferences in the new national realignment at first. Key to its growth is the chance to potentially dominate the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia television markets. Boston College has historic moments to draw upon, as do both Syracuse and Army. Rutgers can boast primacy as the (nominal) birthplace of the game. Temple has recent glimpses of potential.
The 400-mile span between Boston and Buffalo marks the longest journey between Northeast Conference schools. Both cities are about 275 miles from Philadelphia, the league’s southern terminus. There is a real chance to lock down the northeast for years to come in this configuration and hone a solid annual representative in a 16-team playoff.