Saving College Athletics… Midwest Conference

This series takes a deep dive into what the College Sports Commission needs to make happen in college athletics to remain a viable fabric in our society.

In part two of our series, the CSC reorganized D-1 into four new conferences, each with 20 member schools (80 schools total). Each conference will have two divisions, each school playing a nine-game division schedule. Division champions will play for the conference championship. Conference champions (4) get automatic berths in the CFP. Four At-Large teams, determined by final season rankings, will make up the final four berths in the playoffs.

In part three of our series, we are going to present our “mock” membership of our first new conference, the Midwest Conference.

Let’s open the curtain!

Midwest Conference:

East Division:

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

West Virginia

Ohio State

Cincinnati

Louisville

West Division:

Purdue

Indiana

Notre Dame

Michigan

Michigan State

Illinois

Northwestern

Minnesota

Missouri

Wisconsin

BOTTOM LINE:

While the Midwest Conference has some resemblance to the old Big Ten Conference, it drives home bringing the game back to the fans. We honor traditional rivalries and perhaps start new ones. This conference will also drive down the travel impact and costs for both fans, student-athletes and coaches.

In part four of “Saving College Athletics”, we will present the membership of the second new conference, the Coastal Conference.

GO CANES!