The idea of a "superconference" in major college football is not entirely a far-fetched or foreign concept. Even ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks a superconference is a distinct possibility. The NCAA FBS level could probably come to a point where there may be this conference with the major schools, and then everybody else. Conference realignment can cause chaos, often having new schools in new places and even ending old rivalries.
You can kind of sense when the college football landscape was probably hinting towards less regional impacts when certain schools joined. Follow my lead following major conferences...
* Take the Big XII- a conference mostly consisting of central and some Midwestern schools. Last time I checked, West Virginia University is not in the American central or Midwest. A number of Big XII schools joined other conferences. There will be new schools joining the conference- my beloved University of Houston, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Central Florida, and Brigham Young University. Houston and Cincinnati makes sense region-wise.
* The Big Ten has mostly Midwestern and Central schools. Colorado used to be in the Big XII but left for the Pac-12. Nebraska left the Big XII and got joined up by the Big Ten. One would think Missouri would be a great fit region-wise for the Big Ten, but they joined the SEC. However, the B1G picked up the likes of Rutgers and Maryland. The Big Ten would get two schools not even in the regional market of the Big Ten- USCal and UCLA.
* What about that Southeastern Conference? Well, they're going to pick up Texas and Oklahoma to join the already crowded SEC. They already have Texas A&M as far as ex-Big XII schools. Hopefully that means we'll see the Lone Star Showdown rivalry return (Texas vs. Texas A&M). I am not sure if any smaller schools in the South or Southeast want to step up to the big time in the SEC. Like, I would doubt possibly schools like the University of South Alabama, Coastal Carolina University, or Appalachian State want to join the SEC in the future.
* It seems ludicrous that USCal and UCLA- two distinctive Pac-12 teams- would join the Big Ten. That leaves two huge holes to fill. I would argue the Los Angeles market is the biggest Pac-12 market. They do still, however, have the greater San Francisco/Oakland market as well as the Seattle market, which are still huge. Throw in Phoenix and Salt Lake City as well. What would be a stunner is if some prominent school in the Midwest, Northeast, or Southeast decides to join the Pac-12. Or what if some school like... the University of Hawaii/Hawai'i wants to join the Pac-12?
* So among all the "Power 5" schools, the most stable one seems to be the Atlantic Coast Conference. I'm sure that no school not near the Atlantic coastline would be an ACC school. Oh, wait... what about Notre Dame (in football)?
Do regions matter anymore? The major conferences are basically probably trying to establish themselves as NATIONAL conferences rather than trying to concentrate their markets on their individual regions. Each conference is becoming its own brand rather than purely being focused on their regional markets. As an analogy from other sports, it would be like if the Premier League welcomed Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain to play among the Premier League teams.
Some say this is the beginning of the end for college sports, at least college football. I just think this means more chaos, and chaos often equals fun. Think what you want about all of this.
[UPDATE] Wanted better regions analogy
