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I'm going to do 5 conferences with 11 schools.

1 school per state, academics, geography, football, basketball and tradition. This is not going to be easy at all.

Right now, we have 3 states with two schools. 1 of those states has TWO charter members of what once was the Big 10.

Illinois, NU
Purdue, IU (PU charter)
Michigan, MSU (UM charter*)

* Left for independence for 10 years

5 at 11. 55 schools. 

10 game season, 3 OOC for all. No CCG needed.

The charters are in, I've declared, sans Illinois and Chicago. NU is the choice to rep Illinois.

So, we have, to start:

Michigan
Minnesota
Northwestern
Purdue
Wisconsin

Need 6 more.

Iowa
Nebraska
Ohio State
Penn State

Iowa and Ohio State are no-brainers due to traditions and rivalries, not to mention academics.

The other two, I don't know. Seems like PSU is still trying to fit in, 30+ years later. UNL has floundered for 10 years.

5 at 11. 55 schools.

10 game season, 3 OOC for all. No CCG needed.

I like it - the BEST

_____________


Ohio St.
Michigan
Michigan St.
Notre Dame
Wisconsin
Minnesoota
Iowa
Illinois
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern
_________
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas A&M
Oklahoma St.
Kansas
K-State
Colorado
Iowa St.
Mizzou
Arkansas
_________
Alabama
Georgia
Auburn
LSU
Tennessee
Florida
Florida St.
Mississippi St.
Ole Miss
Kentucky
Miami
__________

Penn St.
Pitt
Clemson
North Carolina
South Carolina
West Virginia
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Syracuse
Boston College
__________
USC
UCLA
Cal
Oregon
Washington
Arizona
Arizona St.
Stanford
BYU
Wash St. 
Oregon St.
__________
5 conference champs
worst ranked is left out of the 4-team playoff
Sorry, not sorry

San Diego State:
Ummmmm, we're breaking up with you.  
But like....not yet.  
When we break up, can you like, not charge us full price?  That'd be great.
Oh and could we like maybe pay it off over time?  That lowered price is still a lot, ya know?
Thanks, babe!  Love ya!
.
MWC:
Uhhh......no.  

Michigan, MSU (UM charter*)

* Left for independence for 10 years

LoL, we've been posting together for a long time.

As I read this I wondered if you added the * mostly because you KNEW that if you didn't, I would point it out. 

Sticking to a 4x12....

I like the idea of picking teams like a tournament.  So picking 4 geographic top seeds, then placing another with each as a 2, and so on.
So I'll start with something like USC, OU, Bama, and OSU are the "top seeds" and the epicenters of each conference.
*One thing I'm doing here is considering "historical" success as like the past 50 years.  Pre-WWII isn't pertinent to the discussion, imo.  Pre-passing game, pre-integration, pre-two platoon....no.  Don't care.  
So that means ND, Texas, and USC aren't top 5 programs.  They're top 10, but not the obvious helmets many here would label them as.
USC.....then I add UCLA.  Not because they're historically great or anything, but because they're close and we know there's going to be 48 teams when we're through, and UCLA will obviously be in those 48.  So we just add them now.
OU we add Texas, obviously.  Close, rival, history, etc.  They pair up naturally.
With Bama, we add Auburn, similar to the UCLA reason.
With OSU, we add UM, of course.  
Next, we'll add in Stanford, A&M, Georgia, and ND.  
Cal, Nebraska, Florida, Penn St
Oregon, LSU, Florida St, Pitt
Washington, Arkansas, Miami, Wisconsin
Utah, Colorado, Clemson, Iowa
Arizona St, OK State, Tennessee, Michigan St
Arizona, Kansas St, Ole Miss, Syracuse
BYU, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota
Wash St, Mizzou, North Carolina, Purdue
Oregon St, SMU, Virginia, Illinois
.
So we definitely have some "drops" from existing conferences, but 48 is 48.
West:  USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Warshington, Utah, ASU, Arizona, BYU, Wash St, Oregon St.
Central:  OU, Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, LSU, Arkansas, Colorado, OK State, K-State, KU, Mizzou, SMU
Southeast:  Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, FSU, Miami, Clemson, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, UNC, Virginia
Midwest:  Ohio St, Michigan, ND, Penn St, Pitt, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan St, Syracuse, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois
.
I think I weighed basketball/market/history > academics here.  
Some really good programs left without a home:  VT, BC, Maryland, TCU, Texas Tech, Louisville, Cincinnati, NC State, South Carolina, etc.
The West is basically the PAC-12.
The Central is the original Big XII with LSU.
The Southeast is an SEC+ACC power conference.
The Midwest is the Big Ten + ND.