Here's a great way it could be done. Six 12 team "major" conferences with guaranteed bids. The other two BCS bids would go (one each) to the WAC and the MAC, which would essentially be 22 team conferences (each with two self contained divisions of 11 teams). This would be the 8 playoff slots. The 7th and 8th seeds would be reserved for the MAC and WAC winners and a panel would seed the other 6 conference champions. From there, its a straight 3 game playoff to a national champion. The beauty of this is that it puts every single Division 1 school in a BCS conference and sets up nicely for a playoff. Yes, its never going to happen but its fun to speculate what a rational alignment scheme might look like. Even without a playoff system, this setup would work well by making every team BCS eligilbe...right down to lowly Louisiana Monroe!
Thoughts?
Big Ten (12 Teams)
West
Iowa
Michigan
Nebraska
Minnesota
Michigan State
Wisconsin
East
Penn State
Ohio State
Purdue
Indiana
Illinois
Northwestern
Big 12 (12 Teams)
South
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
Texas A&M
Baylor
North
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State
Missouri
BYU
Louisville
Big East (14 Teams - Old Big East + Conf USA remnants)
Northeast
Pittsburgh
Connecticut
Notre Dame
Syracuse
Boston College
Rutgers
Southeast
West Virginia
UAB
Maryland
UCF
South Florida
Southern Miss
ACC(12 Teams)
North
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Duke
East Carolina
South
Florida State
Miami
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Florida Atlantic
Wake Forest
SEC (12 Teams)
East
Tennessee
Florida
Georgia
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
South Carolina
West
Arkansas
Alabama
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Auburn
Pac 10 (12 Teams)
North
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Stanford
Utah
South
California
USC
UCLA
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
WAC (22 Teams) (Winner of championship game gets BCS bid)
Mountain West (self contained division)
Boise State
Nevada
UNLV
Idaho
Wyoming
Colorado State
San Diego State
Utah State
Fresno State
San Jose State
Hawaii
Southwest (self contained division)
UTEP
TCU
North Texas
Houston
New Mexico State
Rice
SMU
Troy
Louisiana Lafayette
Tulane
New Mexico
MAC (22 Teams) (Winner of Championship game gets BCS bid)
Northeast (self contained division)
Akron
Ball State
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Western Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Navy
Army
Air Force
Toledo
Cincinnati
Mideast (self contained division)
Bowling Green
Kent State
Miami (oh)
Ohio
Temple
Western Kentucky
Louisiana Monroe
Louisiana Tech
Arkansas State
Northern Illinois
Memphis
Thoughts?
Big Ten (12 Teams)
West
Iowa
Michigan
Nebraska
Minnesota
Michigan State
Wisconsin
East
Penn State
Ohio State
Purdue
Indiana
Illinois
Northwestern
Big 12 (12 Teams)
South
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
Texas A&M
Baylor
North
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State
Missouri
BYU
Louisville
Big East (14 Teams - Old Big East + Conf USA remnants)
Northeast
Pittsburgh
Connecticut
Notre Dame
Syracuse
Boston College
Rutgers
Southeast
West Virginia
UAB
Maryland
UCF
South Florida
Southern Miss
ACC(12 Teams)
North
Virginia Tech
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Duke
East Carolina
South
Florida State
Miami
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Florida Atlantic
Wake Forest
SEC (12 Teams)
East
Tennessee
Florida
Georgia
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
South Carolina
West
Arkansas
Alabama
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Auburn
Pac 10 (12 Teams)
North
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Stanford
Utah
South
California
USC
UCLA
Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
WAC (22 Teams) (Winner of championship game gets BCS bid)
Mountain West (self contained division)
Boise State
Nevada
UNLV
Idaho
Wyoming
Colorado State
San Diego State
Utah State
Fresno State
San Jose State
Hawaii
Southwest (self contained division)
UTEP
TCU
North Texas
Houston
New Mexico State
Rice
SMU
Troy
Louisiana Lafayette
Tulane
New Mexico
MAC (22 Teams) (Winner of Championship game gets BCS bid)
Northeast (self contained division)
Akron
Ball State
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Western Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Navy
Army
Air Force
Toledo
Cincinnati
Mideast (self contained division)
Bowling Green
Kent State
Miami (oh)
Ohio
Temple
Western Kentucky
Louisiana Monroe
Louisiana Tech
Arkansas State
Northern Illinois
Memphis
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