Expansion Part 2

If four superconferences of 16 teams each is the ideal - leading to a potential 4-team playoff between the champions, then why not include the 64 best teams in these four superconferences? Here's a potential four-conference/eight-division alignment involving the 64 most deserving teams according to the same analysis of the past 40 years used in our previous post about expansion:

Western Conference

North Division
Boise State Broncos
California Golden Bears
Fresno State Bulldogs
Oregon Ducks
Oregon State Beavers
Stanford Cardinal
Washington Huskies
Washington State Cougars

South Division
Air Force Falcons
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona State Sun Devils
BYU Cougars
Colorado Buffaloes
UCLA Bruins
USC Trojans
Utah Utes

Midwest Conference

North Division
Arkansas Razorbacks
Iowa Hawkeyes
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas State Wildcats
Missouri Tigers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys

South Division
LSU Tigers
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Ole Miss Rebels
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
TCU Horned Frogs
Texas Longhorns
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas Tech Red Raiders

Southeastern Conference

North Division
Clemson Tigers
NC State Wolfpack
North Carolina Tar Heels
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Volunteers
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Tech Hokies
West Virginia Mountaineers

South Division
Alabama Crimson Tide
Auburn Tigers
Florida Gators
Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Miami Hurricanes
South Florida Bulls

Northeastern Conference

West Division
Kentucky Wildcats
Louisville Cardinals
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan State Spartans
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Purdue Boilermakers
Wisconsin Badgers

East Division
Boston College Eagles
Cincinnati Bearcats
Connecticut Huskies
Maryland Terrapins
Ohio State Buckeyes
Penn State Nittany Lions
Pittsburgh Panthers
Syracuse Orange

Not perfect - there are a couple of long-standing rivalries that get split up. We only took the 64 most consistently good teams and then used geography as our main determinant in alignment. But still fun. And not going to happen. Instead, teams like Baylor and Duke will get a payday without ever having to consistently field a good football team and other, more deserving teams will be left on the outside without a chance to win a national championship or receive an automatic bid to a high-paying bowl despite having one or two losses. Notice that the Western Conference is just the PAC-10 plus BYU, Utah, Fresno State, Boise State, Air Force and Colorado. Why does this expansion actually make more sense to us than adding the state of Texas? Which is why our alignment will never actually happen.