Now that the NCAA is planning to no longer require conferences to have divisions for a championship game, the ACC is considering eliminating divisions in order to have each team in the league play all the other ACC teams every four years. The plan is to have each team play three permanent opponents each year and rotating the other ten teams in groups of five (five in one two-year cycle and the other five in the next two-year cycle, home-and-home). The two teams with the best conference records would play for the conference title. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33899589... .

The MAC should consider something like this. Since BG and Toledo are in different divisions and play each other every year, the MAC's teams wind up not playing all the other MAC teams equally. Maybe have four groups of three, so that each team would play the other two teams in its group every year and rotate two of the other three groups, for a total of eight games every year. They would play each of the other groups four times every six years. For example, Group A would play B and C in years one and two, C and D in years three and four, and B and D in years five and six.

In order to keep most of the rivalries intact, the four groups could be Akron-Kent-Buffalo, Ohio-MOFO-BSU, BG-Toledo-NIU, and the Michigans.

Forget it! Keep it as it is. Not playing a team for years on end isn't the end of the world.

I'd rather continue to play Akron and Kent and Bowling Green every year then play Miami/BSU and rotate.

I’m genuinely curious why would you want to play Ball State every year? I don’t even believe they are a real school that people go to.

Paging bornacatfan . . .

Maybe a little sarcasm there, or is BL2017 really describing Akron?

In a pod system you would have permanent opponents, permanent crossovers and then everyone else would rotate so you'd play everyone home/away at least once in a 4 year cycle. It might not work for a 12 team league because it's almost too small for that. But if you look at cases like the SEC it makes a whole ton of sense. Some players graduate having never played in every stadium in the conference. That shouldn't happen.

According to Ralph Russo of the AP "Moments after the NCAA Division 1 Council tossed out requirements that dictate how conferences can determine a champion, the PAC 12 announced it was scrapping its divisional format for the upcoming season."

The article as well as a follow up from early this morning are on Muck Rack.

Now who goes next ?

ACC's already there. B12 might be there even with its realignment; it already goes without divisions. I'd look for the other conferences that were hit by realignment to at least seriously consider it (American, CUSA, Sun Belt). Maybe MWC, too. SEC, B10 and the MAC will likely be the last to get on board; too steeped in tradition.

Maybe true for this year but once Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC, things will most likely change in that league.

B1G gets really tricky.

Do they want a scenario where OSU and Michigan could have to play each other, possibly regularly, twice in the same year ?

That's exactly what they want. The more times the two biggest brands in your league square off the better it is. They tried to manipulate this already when they put them in separate divisions back when they had Leaders and Legends.

Then you take a lot of the steam out of the OSU - Michigan rivalry.

I don't think either OSU or Michigan wants that

MWC just dumped divisions starting next year.