SMQ: Thinking radically about college football realignment in age of coronavirus
By Zach Bigalke
Ohio Conference
- Teams: Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Kent State, Miami of Ohio, Ohio, Ohio State, Toledo
- States included: 1 (Ohio)
- Current P5 teams: 1 (Ohio State)
No league is more compact than the Ohio Conference, which situates entirely and solely within the borders of the Buckeye State. What this league gains in geographic compactness, though, it loses in competitive balance. As one might expect, this is a league that would be dominated by its flagship institution in Columbus.
While Ohio State figures to be the top dog in this league, the other seven schools in the state would benefit greatly from their relationship with the Buckeyes. Cincinnati has shown glimpses of developing into a regular Group of Five power within the American Athletic Conference and previously as a power-conference school in the old Big East. In general, though, this league takes on a decidedly MAC flavor.
How that might impact Ohio State come playoff time remains to be seen. But with the potential to schedule three or four non-conference opponents, they would likely still be battle-tested enough to remain relevant moving forward. With the ability to drive from Cincinnati to Akron in less than four hours, this is the truest bus league of the bunch.