This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/InVodkaVeritas on 2023-08-03 14:14:30.
On the morning of a day that may turn out to be quite dramatic, and if not today likely over the next few days, I decided to have a more traditional offseason post. Something lighthearted. Something not very serious.
So I went back in time a bit to 2018 when the Thanos Snap was all the rage. For those that don’t know, in the movie Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is obsessed with the idea of killing off half the population in order to allow the other half to flourish and succeed. He develops away to remove half the population painlessly and fairly. No bias is given to the rich and powerful. No favoritism to the young and innocent. Everyone has a 50/50 chance at being alive, or being snapped from existence.
It is in this spirit that I put all FBS teams into a random generator and pushed the button once. No do overs. No trades. No favoritism to my favorite team or against the teams I hate. I pushed the button once, and this is what came out:
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Air Force Falcons | Akron Zips |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | Appalachian State Mountaineers |
| Baylor Bears | Arizona Wildcats |
| Boston College Eagles | Arkansas State Red Wolves |
| BYU Cougars | Army Black Knights |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | Auburn Tigers |
| Charlotte 49ers | Ball State Cardinals |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | Boise St. Broncos |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Bowling Green Falcons |
| Duke Blue Devils | Buffalo Bulls |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | California Golden Bears |
| Florida International Panthers | Clemson Tigers |
| Florida State Seminoles | Colorado Buffaloes |
| Georgia Bulldogs | Colorado State Rams |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | East Carolina Pirates |
| Houston Cougars | Florida Atlantic Owls |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | Florida Gators |
| Indiana Hoosiers | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| Iowa State Cyclones | Georgia Southern Eagles |
| Kent State Flashes | Georgia State Panthers |
| Kentucky Wildcats | Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors |
| Liberty Flames | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns | James Madison Dukes |
| Louisville Cardinals | Kansas Jayhawks |
| LSU Tigers | Kansas State Wildcats |
| Maryland Terps | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |
| Miami (OH) Redhawks | Marshall Thundering Herd |
| Miami Hurricanes | Memphis Tigers |
| Michigan Wolverines | Michigan State Spartans |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | Mid Tennessee State Blue Raiders |
| Missouri Tigers | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Navy Midshipmen | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| NC State Wolfpack | North Texas Mean Green |
| Nevada Wolfpack | Northern Illinois Huskies |
| New Mexico Lobos | Northwestern Wildcats |
| New Mexico State Aggies | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| North Carolina Tarheels | Oklahoma Sooners |
| Ohio Bobcats | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Old Dominion Monarchs |
| Ole Miss Rebels | Oregon Ducks |
| Oregon State Beavers | Pittsburgh Panthers |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | Purdue Boilermakers |
| Rice Owls | Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
| San Jose State Spartans | San Diego State Aztecs |
| South Alabama Jaguars | Stanford Cardinal |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | Texas Longhorns |
| Southern Miss Golden Eagles | Texas A&M Aggies |
| SMU Mustangs | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
| Syracuse Orange | Toledo Rockets |
| TCU Horned Frogs | Troy Trojans |
| Temple Owls | UAB Blazers |
| Tennessee Volunteers | UCLA Bruins |
| Texas State Bobcats | UConn Huskies |
| Tulane Green Wave | UNLV Rebels |
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane | USF Bulls |
| UCF Knights | Utah State Aggies |
| UL Monroe Warhawks | Utah Utes |
| UMass Minutemen | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| USC Trojans | Washington Huskies |
| UTEP Miners | Washington State Cougars |
| UTSA Roadrunners | West Virginia Mountaineers |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |
| Virginia Cavaliers | Western Michigan Broncos |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Wisconsin Badgers |
| Wyoming Cowboys |
ACC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Boston College Eagles | Clemson Tigers |
| Duke Blue Devils | Pittsburgh Panthers |
| Florida State Seminoles | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| Georgia Tech Yellowjackets | |
| Louisville Cardinals | |
| Miami Hurricanes | |
| NC State Wolfpack | |
| North Carolina Tarheels | |
| Syracuse Orange | |
| Virginia Cavaliers | |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons |
AAC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Charlotte 49ers | East Carolina Pirates |
| Navy Midshipmen | Memphis Tigers |
| SMU Mustangs | USF Bulls |
| Temple Owls | |
| Tulane Green Wave | |
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane |
B12
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Baylor Bears | Kansas Jayhawks |
| BYU Cougars | Kansas State Wildcats |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | Oklahoma Sooners |
| Houston Cougars | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
| Iowa State Cyclones | Texas Longhorns |
| TCU Horned Frogs | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
| UCF Knights | West Virginia Mountaineers |
B1G
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Illinois Fighting Illini | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Indiana Hoosiers | Michigan State Spartans |
| Maryland Terps | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Michigan Wolverines | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Northwestern Wildcats |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | Purdue Boilermakers |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | |
| Wisconsin Badgers |
CUSA
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Florida International Panthers | Florida Atlantic Owls |
| Rice Owls | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |
| UTEP Miners | Mid Tennessee State Blue Raiders |
| UTSA Roadrunners | North Texas Mean Green |
| UAB Blazers | |
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |
Independents
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Liberty Flames | Army Black Knights |
| New Mexico State Aggies | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| UMass Minutemen | UConn Huskies |
MAC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Central Michigan Chippewas | Akron Zips |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | Ball State Cardinals |
| Kent State Flashes | Bowling Green Falcons |
| Miami (OH) Redhawks | Buffalo Bulls |
| Ohio Bobcats | Northern Illinois Huskies |
| Toledo Rockets | |
| Western Michigan Broncos |
MW
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Air Force Falcons | Boise State Broncos |
| New Mexico Lobos | Colorado State Rams |
| San Jose State Spartans | Fresno State Bulldogs |
| Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors | |
| San Diego State Aztecs | |
| UNLV Rebels | |
| Utah State Aggies | |
| Wyoming Cowboys |
PAC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Arizona State Sun Devils | Arizona Wildcats |
| Oregon State Beavers | California Golden Bears |
| USC Trojans | Colorado Buffaloes |
| Oregon Ducks | |
| Stanford Cardinal | |
| UCLA Bruins | |
| Utah Utes | |
| Washington Huskies | |
| Washington State Cougars |
SBC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Appalachian State Mountaineers |
| Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns | Arkansas State Red Wolves |
| South Alabama Jaguars | Georgia Southern Eagles |
| Southern Miss Golden Eagles | Georgia State Panthers |
| Texas Sate Bobcats | James Madison Dukes |
| UL Monroe Warhawks | Marshall Thundering Herd |
| Old Dominion Monarchs | |
| Troy Trojans |
SEC
| Alive | Snapped |
|---|---|
| Arkansas Razorbacks | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| Georgia Bulldogs | Auburn Tigers |
| Kentucky Wildcats | Florida Gators |
| LSU Tigers | Texas A&M Aggies |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | |
| Missouri Tigers | |
| Ole Miss Rebels | |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | |
| Tennessee Volunteers | |
| Vanderbilt Commodores |
Some conferences were hit harder than others. Some rivalries broke in half, or died completely. Some stayed together. Here are the top things I noticed from the survivors of the Snap:
Oregon State is Alone in the Pacific Northwest.
Oregon, Washington, Washington State, Stanford, Cal, and even Boise State were all snapped out of existence. The closest school that survived was San Jose State.
The Game Survives
Michigan and Ohio State both had their coin turn up Heads and get to live.
East Coast Bias
The ACC and SEC were mostly spared. The Pac-12 and Mountain West? Mostly snapped out of existence. Even random chance is biased toward the East Coast.
Ranking the Living:
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- USC
- Penn State
- Florida State
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- Florida State
- Oregon State
Post-Snap Conference Realignment
Obviously, with how decimated the West is, there is no hope for a conference out there. And USC is planning on joining the B1G next year anyway. So a grand unified B1G - Big conference makes the most sense.
The ACC didn’t lose enough to be too worried, nor did the SEC, though the SEC may take some schools to fill in causing a bit of a cascade. So here is my proposal:
| B1G-Big | SEC | ACC |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State | Arkansas | Boston College |
| BYU | Baylor | Duke |
| Cincinnati | Florida State | Georgia Tech |
| Houston | Georgia | Louisville |
| Illinois | Kentucky | Miami |
| Indiana | LSU | NC State |
| Iowa State | Mississippi State | North Carolina |
| Maryland | Missouri | Syracuse |
| Michigan | Ole Miss | Temple |
| Ohio State | South Carolina | Virginia |
| Oregon State | TCU | Wake Forest |
| Penn State | Tennessee | |
| UCF | Vanderbilt |
I don’t think I left anyone off, but if I did I’m happy to edit.
Again, this was just for fun, but I’d love to hear some thoughts on the fallout!