Which 40 teams should make up a new D I-A?

[Jarred04]

Here is another poll on ESPN. Nebraska is currently ranked 21st.

 

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/ballot/_/id/3874/120-40

 

 

Which 40 teams should make up our new Division I-A?

 

"Sometimes you just accumulate too much stuff over the years. Like old magazines. Or outdated furniture. Or Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

 

It's time to clean house and build a new Division I-A.

 

In these tough economic times, we all have to cut back. We've taken it upon ourselves to trim the fat from the college football landscape and narrow the club down to the best of the best. No more cupcake schedules, guaranteed wins, running up the score or statement games against teams that can't speak up for themselves.

 

Below you'll find all 120 teams that participate on the FBS gridiron. Your job is to select the 40 that should remain. Should you select the 40 best all-around teams? Maybe the 35 best and five with potential to be great? We'll leave that up to you.

 

Just click on the 40 teams you want and see how the rest of SportsNation has voted.

 

Find out which teams make ESPN.com's cut when Pat Forde, Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach conduct a mock draft Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET."

[redout22]

Already voted

[VA Husker Fan]

You don't have to vote for 40. The best way to skew the poll is to vote for one team (hint hint).

[Scarlet Overkill]

Four big 12 teams aren't making the cut (KSU, KU, ISU, Baylor), and one more on the verge, sitting uncomfortably at #40 (CU).

[Husker NoNo]

I am glad to see that NU is on the list, but hovering around UCLA and Wisconsin shows just how far we have fallen!

[knapplc]

I've been saying this for years. 119/120 teams is WAAAAY too many for one division.

 

Too bad it'll never happen.

[walksalone]

40 teams would definitely increase the competition..

 

But you'd have to realign entire conferences...

[VA Husker Fan]

40 teams would definitely increase the competition..

 

But you'd have to realign entire conferences...

Don't waste brain cells trying to figure out how to make it work. There's no way the other schools would allow this to happen. When Rice, one on of the very smallest schools in D1A, strongly considered dropping down or even out of football a few years ago, there was a huge uproar and it stayed. If anything, you're going to see a few more schools added. JMU is expanding it's stadium, first to 25,000 and soon to 40,000, so that they can move up.

[Touchdown Tommie]

Another great idea, but there is NO way anything like this will EVER happen. Too much money involved and too many hurt feelings. It is interesting to see the teams on there though and what people "think" what the top 40 is.

[zoogs]

I can't believe people think it's a good idea. 40 teams is like 80 teams too few. I think it's good how it is now. College Football is a collegiate thing, let's not turn it into the NFL.

[huskered17]

You don't have to vote for 40. The best way to skew the poll is to vote for one team (hint hint).

 

 

 

GBR!!!

[knapplc]

I can't believe people think it's a good idea. 40 teams is like 80 teams too few. I think it's good how it is now. College Football is a collegiate thing, let's not turn it into the NFL.

By that logic, wouldn't we want to eliminate all divisions and have all 300-something teams play in one big division? We already have tiers in college football. This idea would simply acknowledge that there is a HUGE difference between schools.

 

As a practical matter it's nearly impossible to have anything resembling a true champion with 120 schools in the mix. There's such a huge disparity in SOS that it creates problems every year. If we're not crowning a true champion, this becomes an overgrown intramural sport. And this ain't intramurals, brother.

[VA Husker Fan]

I can't believe people think it's a good idea. 40 teams is like 80 teams too few. I think it's good how it is now. College Football is a collegiate thing, let's not turn it into the NFL.

By that logic, wouldn't we want to eliminate all divisions and have all 300-something teams play in one big division? We already have tiers in college football. This idea would simply acknowledge that there is a HUGE difference between schools.

 

As a practical matter it's nearly impossible to have anything resembling a true champion with 120 schools in the mix. There's such a huge disparity in SOS that it creates problems every year. If we're not crowning a true champion, this becomes an overgrown intramural sport. And this ain't intramurals, brother.

 

You may not think so, but that list changes over time, a lot. 50 years ago you wouldn't have picked Nebraska (30 years removed from the success of the 20s), Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech and Penn State, to name some off the top of my head. A couple of those you wouldn't have picked 30 years ago either.

 

There were a couple of major splits done in the 1970s, which left us pretty much what we have today. I'm not sure how some of the minor conferences stayed in D1A, but I remember some controversy with the Ivy League didn't make it.

 

I'm not clear on what problem it is that you'd be trying to solve with a much smaller D1A. Are you going to force them to only play each other? Then you've got the problem where big schools want 7 or 8 home games, and the travel costs of playing further away.

[knapplc]

You may not think so, but that list changes over time, a lot. 50 years ago you wouldn't have picked Nebraska (30 years removed from the success of the 20s), Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech and Penn State, to name some off the top of my head. A couple of those you wouldn't have picked 30 years ago either.

 

There were a couple of major splits done in the 1970s, which left us pretty much what we have today. I'm not sure how some of the minor conferences stayed in D1A, but I remember some controversy with the Ivy League didn't make it.

 

I'm not clear on what problem it is that you'd be trying to solve with a much smaller D1A. Are you going to force them to only play each other? Then you've got the problem where big schools want 7 or 8 home games, and the travel costs of playing further away.

That list does change over time, so the decision wouldn't be based on recent wins, but on the program as a whole over decades, fan support, economic viability, facilities, etc. There's a whole slew of factors to take into account. Teams like Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, Oklahoma, USC, Texas, LSU, Florida, Florida State.... teams that have shown a commitment to top-tier football for a significant length of time would be in.

 

The problem I'd solve with a much smaller 1A conference is that I'd have a true, unquestioned national champion. Nobody questions that the Steelers are the Champions of the NFL, or that the Phillies won the World Series. Right now there’s a lot of folks in Boise who question the legitimacy of the Gators’ win, just like there have been enough people in each of the dozen or so BCS years that have questioned the MNC winner that it’s a farce.

[zoogs]

The deal is that you are going to leave out a LOT of teams that over the years will come out and make a title run with the big boys. In the name of what, exactly? If you want to put the big-time, historical programs on a pedestal, make a list (which is what this is, I suppose)...but actually reducing the league to that, I don't really see what it has to offer.