SMQ: Thinking radically about college football realignment in age of coronavirus
By Zach Bigalke
California Conference
- Teams: California, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Nevada
- States included: 2 (California, Nevada)
- Current P5 teams: 4 (California, Stanford, UCLA, USC)
The name of this conference is a bit of a misnomer, with the league extending slightly into Nevada with the inclusion of the Wolf Pack in Reno. Aside from that addition, this league is very much defined by its four California-based Pac-12 schools in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Clustered with them in the California Conference is a quartet of Mountain West schools that provide both geographic and competitive balance.
Like the Northwest Conference, this league would at least initially be dominated by the former Pac-12 powers. Each of the four Group of Five programs, though, have shown glimpses of glory over the past decade and would benefit greatly from the economic partnership with teams like USC and Stanford.
California is certainly no small state, but even given its immensity the longest trip between schools measures less than 500 miles through the air between Reno and San Diego. Many of the games could be reached by bus, allowing schools to save on travel expenses and limit exposure to pathogens along the way.