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What if college football downsized from 5 power conferences to 4?

By Ryan Kay

Texas football's offensive line vs. West Virginia (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Texas football's offensive line vs. West Virginia (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Stephon Robinson Jr., Kansas football (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

What four power conferences could look like

Before we dive into conference realignment and expansion, we must first talk about the possibility of the power conferences breaking away from the FBS or even the NCAA entirely.

With college athletes leaving college early or even in collegiate sports like basketball where top high school athletes bypass playing in college entirely, the financial benefits of creating four 16-team super conferences rather it being a level above FBS which would give those 64 teams more flexibility in creating different rules and financial benefits for their student-athletes.

Regardless, let’s take a look at a theoretical NCAA subdivision of four conferences with 16 teams each.

ACC

Atlantic

  1. Clemson Tigers
  2. Louisville Cardinals
  3. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  4. Florida State Seminoles
  5. Boston College Eagles
  6. Syracuse Orange
  7. NC State Wolfpack
  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Coastal

  1. Virginia Cavaliers
  2. Virginia Tech Hokies
  3. Miami Hurricanes
  4. Pittsburgh Panthers
  5. North Carolina Tar Heels
  6. Duke Blue Devils
  7. UMass Minutemen
  8. UConn Huskies

Big Ten

East

  1. Ohio State Buckeyes
  2. Penn State Nittany Lions
  3. Michigan Wolverines
  4. Indiana Hoosiers
  5. Michigan State Spartans
  6. Maryland Terrapins
  7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
  8. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

West

  1. Wisconsin Badgers
  2. Minnesota Golden Gophers
  3. Iowa Hawkeyes
  4. Illinois Fighting Illinii
  5. Purdue Boilermakers
  6. Nebraska Cornhuskers
  7. Northwestern Wildcats
  8. Texas Longhorns

Pac-12

West

  1. Oregon Ducks
  2. Oregon State Beavers
  3. California Golden Bears
  4. Washington Huskies
  5. Washington State Cougars
  6. Stanford Cardinal
  7. USC Trojans
  8. UCLA Bruins

East

  1. Utah Utes
  2. TCU Horned Frogs
  3. Oklahoma Sooners
  4. Arizona State Sun Devils
  5. Colorado Buffaloes
  6. Arizona Wildcats
  7. Iowa State Cyclones
  8. Kansas Jayhawks

SEC

East

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Florida Gators
  3. Tennessee Volunteers
  4. Kentucky Wildcats
  5. Missouri Tigers
  6. South Carolina Gamecocks
  7. Vanderbilt Commodores
  8. West Virginia Mountaineers

West

  1. LSU Tigers
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Auburn Tigers
  4. Texas A&M Aggies
  5. Mississippi State Bulldogs
  6. Ole Miss Rebels
  7. Arkansas Razorbacks
  8. Oklahoma State Cowboys
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