Planning for the Break-off of the Collegiate-Sponsored NFL Minor League


At this point I think it is likely that the endgame of football re-alignment is not four 16 team conferences but rather one 32-40 team or at most two 16-20 team super conferences consisting of the largest and wealthiest universities willing to pay the big time money of the new NIL era. If that is the case, then the odds are extremely unlikely for Baylor to be among them. However, I think Baylor is in a much better place given the Big 12's imminent demise if the new Collegiate NFL Minor League is only 32-40 schools in total (meaning many PAC, ACC, and even smaller current Big 10 and SEC teams may be left behind). This leaves a large number of great universities to carry on a more traditional college football league. Not only should these schools emphasize and market this traditional college football atmosphere (with regional rivalries that will incidentally greatly aid in the other sports travel costs and attendance), they should pro-actively position themselves to also become the pre-eminent collegiate basketball league.

So, operating under the assumption that the NFL Minor League forms and none of the following schools make the football cut, and taking into consideration the current athletic program of the school and their future potential and market location, I would propose the following 24 team independent collegiate league with four 6-member regions for football that each include 2 additional basketball-only members to establish the greatest coast-to-coast basketball conference ever:

1) SOUTHEAST: Georgia Tech, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, UCF, Miami
2) NORTHEAST: Iowa St, WV, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
3) SOUTHWEST: Ok. St., Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Houston, Memphis/SMU
4) NORTHWEST: Kansas, Kansas St., BYU, Oregon St., Washington St., Boise St.

BBALL ONLY ADDITIONS:
1) SOUTHEAST: Georgetown, Villanova
2) NORTHEAST: Xavier, UConn
3) SOUTHWEST: Wichita St., Butler
4) NORTHWEST: Gonzaga, SDSU

This assumes that none of the following teams, which are on the bubble of making the NFL Minor League, are available (all of which should definitely be considered if not invited to the Minor League or perhaps if they realize they can't financially compete in the NIL era in football): Purdue, Indiana, Florida St, Colorado, AZ, AZ St, UNC, Utah, Washington, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky. I am assuming all the obvious large schools will be in the Minor League.

The above Independent Collegiate League would have decent football, championship basketball, and preserve a local regional competition for all other sports. It could have a top 4 team conference football playoff and a top 16 team conference basketball tournament.

I think it would also be forward thinking to not only pitch it to the standard cable providers, but definitely pursue the big streaming services with national reach (Hulu, Netflix, etc.), as well as its own streaming channel.

And perhaps even more long-term thinking, given the declining participation in football among younger ages and its health risks, I think the conference should strongly encourage an emphasis on also developing the league into the premier collegiate soccer league. I think soccer may be the fastest growing sport over the next 20-30 years, and the mid-size stadiums could be put to good use if they can develop a good product.

Baylor should be pro-active, clearly see what's coming in terms of football, and think about the long-term future. Just my thoughts (and I probably forgot some school somewhere). What do you think?

Sic'em.