To me it makes sense for the Alliance to have a presence in Texas even though the state's two most popular schools will be in the SEC. It also can't hurt to add a presence in three other states (Kansas, WV, Oklahoma) in trying to counterbalance the SEC.

There are a number of ways the Alliance could do this but the simplest might be for the ACC and B1G to take 2 schools apiece with the Pac absorbing the remaining 4. It also might not be necessary to blow up the Big 12 completely - just divide it up for football-only and let it continue on in other sports.

This leaves all 3 conferences with 16 members each for football

WVU and Baylor to the ACC
TCU and Kansas to the B1G
Iowa State, Texas Tech, Ok State and K-State to the Pac 12.

I know Iowa State to the B1G makes the most sense geographically but the thinking is that the Alliance leagues would want to pick up a new state with each addition. I'm also assuming each conference would want one school in Texas.

Having the Big 12 continue on in all other sports helps alleviate travel concerns and geographical isolation (i.e. Baylor to ACC; Pac 12 schools traveling to the Central time zone for non-revenue sports and vice versa).

With the Big 12 having only 8 members, it would be down to 14 conference games in sports with a home-and-home round robin like basketball. This is where the Alliance could step in and schedule some strong January and February basketball matchups (think Baylor vs Duke, Kansas vs UNC, WVU vs UVa, Okie State vs UCLA)

The obvious question: Would the networks pay out enough to make it worthwhile? Would it even be possible to pull off given the current TV deals?

[Post edited by cburgroop at 08/22/2021 09:05AM]