Totally hypothetical, so no "that would never happen" responses. LOL
The 5 things I would do to make the conferences better, and bring back a ton of rivalries. All these moves would result in complete geographically sound conferences, making natural border/in-state rivalries more prominent. It's something I think that is dying with all the shifting going on, and I would like to see it restored. To me, all of these make complete and total sense.
1. Swap West Virginia (ACC), Missouri (Big 12) & Louisville (SEC): This one makes the most sense by far. Brings back the border war between Kansas/Missouri in the Big 12, and moves a huge in-state rivalry to the SEC with Louisville/Kentucky. Also has the benefit of re-establishing the backyard brawl with WVU/Pitt, and makes complete geographical sense.
2. Move Nebraska & Texas A&M back to the Big 12: Rivalries galore are restored, and gets the conference back to 12 teams which is more in line with the status quo. Of course, this would be predicated on Texas agreeing to equal treatment... No one is coming back just to let Texas do what they want. Longhorn Network could be transitioned to the Big 12 network quite easily.
3. Notre Dame replaces Nebraska in Big 10: Duh... No brainer here. Swap Michigan State and Purdue in the divisions, and that puts ND, MSU, and Wisconsin in the West. Yes Please. Even with Purdue in the East division, you could easily make it so ND plays Purdue every year. Not hard, other conferences do it.
4. Replace Texas A&M in the SEC with either VT or NC State:
a. This will take some explaining... VT would be a great addition due to Tennessee being in Appalachia. Nice rivalry for those schools, who both have the blue collar mountain men feel to them. I mean, they played at a NASCAR track recently and IT WAS AWESOME. VT is also not a long member of the ACC, so leaving doesn't really break much tradition. Also, this would create an opportunity for an ACC/SEC matchup between Virginia and VT much like Clemson/South Carolina, GT/Georgia, and FSU/Florida.
b. If not VT (my first choice), then NC State. Again, sets up a nice rivalry with South Caroline in conference, and a ACC/SEC rivalry with UNC playing them every year. NC State is the forgotten school in the Raleigh/Durham area, and this move would give them more of a coming out party. Rather than 3 schools all right next to each other, 1 would be in another conference.
5. You've probably figured this one out by now... UConn to the ACC. Gives BC it's traditional rival and brings UConn back into a major basketball conference. Football could grow, or they could routinely suck, but they belong here. BC, Pitt, UConn, and Syracuse would give the ACC a stronger presence in the Northeast. But mainly this is more a basketball/geographical move than anything else.
Now, last thing I'd say is have Penn State play Syracuse every year... not Pitt. With bringing WVU into the ACC fold, Pitt already has a rivalry to move forward with. Syracuse doesn't have much of one in the ACC to be honest, so playing us every year would be a big deal. Though another option would be home/homes with WVU, Pitt, & Syracuse every 6 years. That would be cool to have one of those schools on our schedule every year.
#1 makes the most sense. But the way these conferences realigned didn't have much to do with making sense.
#2 is not going to happen because all of the U of Texas (admin, alumni, etc.) are greedy jerks.
#3 isn't likely unless alumni do an about face which isn't likely to happen. Greed and arrogance in this one also. As for the crossover game, there would also have to be a yearly crossover between Michigan and MSU.
As for #4a, politicians got involved in forcing the ACC to take VT. They wanted UVA and VT in the same conference. They're not likely to change that.
As an NCSU alum and current resident of North Carolina, basketball rules as a sport in this state. Even though NCSU hasn't had much success in last 30+ years, #4b isn't very likely either.
#5 who knows? UConn would probably like to get into a power conference. But either 4a or b would have to happen to keep the football school numbers even.
As far as Penn State rotating WVU, Pitt, and Syracuse on the schedule, I've thought that for years. You could probably throw in BC. But not very likely for a few reasons. Scheduling nine conference games and seven home games each year means there is only room for one Power-5 school on the schedule unless any of those schools can be convinced to come to our place every year. So, if those schools are on the schedule then other schools won't be. James Franklin wants to recruit nationally, especially the south. It increases the likelihood of a national television audience. Also, Franklin can tell a recruit that we play games close to their home. That is why Auburn was added to the schedule. Look for more of those intersectional games in the future.
