Conference Call 12-13-23

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Welcome Back!

Instead of an Odds and Ends this week I'm doing a Conference Call. With the changing landscape in College Football, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit how the conferences will be set up over the next few years, and when those changes will be happening. I am also going to compare the accuracy of my preseason conference standings predictions with the 3 major magazines: Phil Steele, Lindy's, and Athlon, so let's start there. 

Using the formula that Phil Steele describes on pages 6 and 7 in his excellent magazine, I compared my predictions against those of the 3 magazines. Phil Steele claims in his magazine to be the most accurate over the last 28 years, which is true, but he's not always the most accurate each and every year. This year, he finished tied for 1st with Lindy's. This year I finished last, undone by my picks for the Big 12, which were far worse than any of the 3 magazines. Take away that one conference, and I finish 1st easily.  This is how I calculated the points (like golf, lowest score wins):

Phil Steele- 221 points

Lindy's- 221 points

Athlon- 224 points

Paul Anderson- 235 points

At any rate, my preseason conference predictions are at least as accurate as (or close to) the major preseason magazines!


Conference Alignments

Here is how each conference is set to change over the next few years.


AAC

2024

Army
Charlotte
East Carolina
FAU
Memphis
Navy
North Texas
Rice
Temple
Tulane
Tulsa
UAB
USF
UTSA

They will not be using divisions, and will continue to play an 8-game schedule. Army joins in 2024 as SMU leaves for the ACC.


ACC

2024

Boston College
California
Clemson
Duke
FSU
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami
NC State
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
SMU
Stanford
Syracuse
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest


Cal and Stanford join for the 2024 season. The most recent information I have is that they will still play an 8-game conference schedule, but I have no idea how that will break down. 


Big 12

2024

Arizona
Arizona State
Baylor
BYU
Cincinnati
Colorado
Houston
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
TCU
UCF
Utah
West Virginia

Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC, with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah joining. The Big 12 will not be using divisions, but will continue with a 9-game conference schedule that will preserve traditional rivalries, and every school will play every other school at least once every 2 years. 


Big Ten

2024

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oregon
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
UCLA
USC
Washington
Wisconsin

Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington join the conference. The Big Ten will no longer use divisions, but will continue to play 9 games, with some games played every year as protected matchups.


CUSA

2024

FIU
Jacksonville State
Kennesaw State
La Tech
Liberty
Middle Tennessee
New Mexico State
Sam Houston 
UTEP
WKU

Kennesaw State joins from the FCS ranks and will be in their 2nd year of transition into the FBS. Delaware will join in 2025 and be in their 2nd transitional year then as well. It is unknown at this time how many conference games each team will play as a schedule has not yet been released.


MAC

There are no changes to the MAC lineup, and I have heard of no changes to their current scheduling model, and no plans to expand.


Mountain West

The MWC is not adding or losing teams, but they have eliminated the 2 division format. That means the 2 teams with the best conference record will meet in the title game. However, they have announced a scheduling alliance with the remaining 2 teams of the Pac 12, with the results not counting in the standings. Each MWC team will play one of either Washington State or Oregon State.


Pac 12

2024

Oregon State
Washington State

The Pac 12 is becoming the Pac 2 for at least the 2024 season, with no word yet on what that means for the future. They have a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West, giving each team 7 opponents so far for the '24 season (6 with MWC teams, and 1 against each other). I understand that each will also be playing Oregon and Washington, which fills 9 of the 12 spots on their schedule.


SEC

2024

Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Mississippi State
Missouri
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt

The SEC will be adding Texas and Oklahoma, but will maintain an 8-game schedule, at least for the '24 season.


Sun Belt

The SBC is not expected to make any changes in the near future, as they are happy with their current lineup and division format.


Games I'm Excited About

Obviously I'm excited about the CFP games, but I'm going to cop out and say all of the bowl games, because if you can't get excited about the Duke's Mayo Bowl or the Pop-Tarts Bowl, are you even a true college football fan? 

I do plan to watch some of every bowl game like I did last year.


Feel free to leave a comment. Check out yesterday's Power Rankings, and come back tomorrow for Paul's Bowl Picks (Part I)! 

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!      

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