I put this together as part of a MBA class (don't ask) several years ago. Obviously this was before 12 game schedules being the norm, and the teams dropped from 1-A would probably be different now (I wasn't picking on UH, Baylor or Vanderbilt necessarily), but the idea was to realign the conferences into competitive, geographically sensible groups.
Reduction of teams
• 20-year attendance bottom 50
• 20-year record bottom 50
• 20-year enrollment bottom 50
• Cross reference three lists and Remove bottom 21
o Those teams are: UAB, Central Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, Temple, Rice, Akron, Kent State, San Jose State, Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Buffalo, Arkansas State, Houston, Tulsa, Louisiana-Layfayette, Baylor, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Utah State, Vanderbilt
• Total 96 teams
Conferences
• 8 Super-Conferences Based on Geography (Keep travel costs down as much as possible.)
• 12 teams per conference
• 6 per division
• Championship Game determines Conference Champ
Conference 1 (West)
Fresno State
USC
UCLA
California
San Diego State
Stanford
Hawaii
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Idaho
Conference 2 (Southwest)
Arizona
Arizona State
Air Force
UNLV
Nevada
BYU
Utah
Boise State
Wyoming
New Mexico
New Mexico State
UTEP
Conference 3 (South Central)
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
TCU
SMU
Arkansas
North Texas
LSU
Louisiana Tech
Tulane
Conference 4 (Midwest)
Colorado State
Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri
Kansas State
Kansas
Iowa State
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Conference 5 (Southeast)
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Southern Mississippi
Alabama
Auburn
Troy State
Florida
Florida State
Miami (FL)
South Florida
Georgia Tech
Georgia
Conference 6 (Central)
Michigan
Michigan State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Indiana
Ball State
Kentucky
Louisville
Bowling Green
Tennessee
Memphis
Cincinnati
Conference 7 (Northeast)
Boston College
Rutgers
Syracuse
Army
Ohio State
Toledo
Ohio
Miami (OH)
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Connecticut
West Virginia
Conference 8 (Atlantic)
South Carolina
North Carolina State
Clemson
Wake Forest
North Carolina
East Carolina
Duke
Maryland
Navy
Virginia Tech
Virginia
Marshall
Schedule
• 11 games per season
• 3 Out of conference
• 3 In conference, out of division (rotate 2 years, home and home)
• 5 In conference, in division (home and home)
Playoffs
• 8 Conference Championship teams, 8 at-large teams, Seeded according to BCS formula
• 15 games
• 4 weeks
o Week one, Regional Championships (8 games, 16 teams, 1 vs. 8 each side of bracket)
o Week two, Quarterfinal Championships (4 games, 8 teams)
o Week three, Semifinal Championship (2 games, 4 teams)
o Week four, NCAA Championship (1 game, 2 teams)