I always thought that the Big Ten should have added Notre Dame and Iowa State. In fact, this thread brings up one of my favorite and least favorite topics, which is conference realignment. It's my favorite because I like playing around with alignments. It's my least favorite because of how things have actually turned out. If you put me in charge, I'd arrange things this way:
Mideastern Conference (yes, I'd change the damn name when going to 12):
North: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
South: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Purdue, Ohio State
Northeastern Conference
North: Army, Boston College, UConn, Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse
South: Cincinnati, Louisville, Navy, Pitt, Temple, West Virginia
Atlantic Coast Conference
North: Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
South: Central Florida, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, South Carolina, South Florida
Southeastern Conference
East: Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
West: Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi St.
Great Plains Conference
North: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska
South: Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Texas, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Pacific Coast Conference
North: Boise State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, Washington State
South: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC
I know I've left out teams that are better than Army and Temple usually are: Air Force, BYU, Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, Utah St., Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Louisiana, Marshall, Memphis, Troy - but I've got no idea how to fit them in! I might substitute BYU for Utah, or Marshall for Army, but I can't think of anything else.
Some other stuff: yes, I did tweak the SEC; I did add the teams I wish the conference had added in 1992 - Clemson and FSU. Geographically, it would make more sense to include Georgia Tech in the SEC, but they dropped out in the 1950s to pursue independent status because they thought they'd be the Notre Dame of the South, and the hell with them. Besides which, I kind of wanted representatives from Georgia and South Carolina in both conferences. No slap intended to A&M, Arkansas, or Missouri - you're all great schools - but I also thought it'd be neat to restore a lot of the old SWC rivalries.
Yes, I did add Iowa State to the Big Ten, along with Notre Dame. Notre Dame should have been in the Big Ten from its inception, and Iowa State was added because I think it's a better geographic fit than Nebraska (and I would make Nebraska-Oklahoma an annual rivalry again in the GPC). Although I think Penn State has been good in the Big Ten, I needed a strong anchor school for the NEC.
The only real reason I added UCF and USF to the ACC was to bring that conference up to 12. No insult intended to UCF or USF fans. For any ACC fans objecting: UCF and USF, combined, have larger student populations than UNC, NCSU, WF, and Duke combined. Playing one or more of those schools, or Miami every year gives you a recruiting pipeline into Florida.
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