News broke on Tuesday morning that members of College Sports Tomorrow, a group known for the idea of the 72-team Super League, are working on an official proposal to change the model of college football.
The group is moving forward with its plans to shift the college football landscape from four power conferences to one 72-team league, with the rest of the teams playing in a lesser league with the possibility of being promoted.
“The CSFL would include all the current FBS schools in two conferences made up of geography-based divisions,” the release states. “The top 72 programs would compete in the Power 12 Conference with the remaining 64 schools facing off in a second conference, the Group of 8. The best eight schools in the Group of 8 would have the opportunity to ‘play up’ into the upper tier the following season, enabling promotion without relegation of any of the Power 12 schools.”
While the proposal makes sense at face value, the 72-team cap presents a unique question: which current power schools would be left behind when it came time for the change?
It’s no secret that SEC and Big Ten representatives have largely run college football for years. Still, the team at College Sports Tomorrow includes two notable Big 12 ADs, Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt and West Virginia’s Gordon Gee, who would have a sizeable impact on the 72-team Super League model.
The Big 12 Conference includes 16 official league members, including Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, and West Virginia.
When looking at the math involved in the formation of the CSFL, in theory, the Big 12 Conference would not have to cut down any members of its current arrangement. The same can not be said for other selected conferences.
The SEC comprises 16 teams, which matches the Big 12 and brings the total to 48 teams in the hypothetical league. The ACC and Big Ten, however, each have more than their allotted share. Following some recent changes in conference realignment, the ACC holds 17 teams while the Big Ten holds 18.
If all teams were added, the Super League would consist of 75 teams, three over the cap. Barring any unforeseen changes, the Big Ten and ACC would likely be responsible for voting someone off the island and into the Group of 8.
While the Big 12 Conference may not be known as the best football product in the nation on a consistent basis, the leadership shown by Commissioner Brett Yormark and select athletic departments have positioned the league into an advantageous spot as the world of college football continues to change.
