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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/sullen_maximus on 2023-11-01 23:18:17.
Now that the B12 schedule is released, we can see how stupid and complicated their system was, for literally no reason. There was a lot of discussion between divisions/pods and in the end, they picked possibly the worst setup. Sure every team plays each other at least twice over the next 4 years, but they could have done the exact same thing, preserved rivalries, and made travel guaranteed close. By giving each team 3 preserved rivals, and 6 round robin home/home series with the rest of the conference.
THE POINT IS NOT THE EXACT RIVALS, THESE ARE JUST EXAMPLES WHICH COULD BE ADJUSTED.
| Rival 1 | Rival 2 | Rival 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona (UA) | ASU | TT | UU |
| ARIZONA ST(ASU) | BYU | UA | UH |
| Baylor (BU) | TCU | TT | OSU |
| BYU | UU | ASU | TCU |
| Cincy (UC) | WVU | UCF | UH |
| Colorado (CU) | UTAH | KSU | KU |
| Houston (UH) | UCF | ASU | UC |
| IOWA ST(ISU) | KSU | WVU | OSU |
| Kansas (KU) | KSU | CU | OSU |
| KANSAS ST (KSU) | CU | KU | ISU |
| OKLAHOMA ST (OSU) | KU | ISU | BAY |
| TCU | BU | BYU | TT |
| Texas Tech (TT) | BU | UA | TCU |
| UCF | WVU | UH | UC |
| Utah (UU) | UA | BYU | CU |
| West Virginia (WVU) | UC | ISU | UCF |
Obviously some rivalries could be altered, I’m not a fan of UH and ASU being matched, but there wasn’t a lot of options with those two at the end. But with this system
- all current/historic rivalries are preserved or recreated
- Teams play almost all of their closest geographic opponents
- play all 16 teams at least once with a home/home series over 4 years
- keeps 9 conference game setup
- requires cross country trips between opposite end schools only once every 4 years
Why it’s better than pods
- Rivalry flexibility. teams like ISU can keep the farmagheddon rivalry with KSU, without all of KSU’s opponents being locked with ISU
- Keeps single pods from being dominant/dormant
Why better than divisions
- allows all teams to play every team at least twice every 4 years
- keeps rivalries from being split between divisions
- prevents uneven division strength
Instead we got the current mess of a system
- only 4 preserved rivalries
- required travel across country similar as the the system listed above, but without the rivalry preservation, and some teams making 2 cross country trips for only one in return
- requires 1 year gaps between some teams home/home schedules
- ignores geographical distance of opponents unless a preserved rivalry
Originally they discussed divisions which I thought might be the worst system as it would take 8 years for teams to play everyone on the other division. However the current system released isn’t much better. With all the hate around the current schedules, there is still time they could fix the problem, even if it’s a long shot. Just such a disappointing result, given what they could have done.
EDIT: Fixed Arizona label, and clarified about the ASU matchup.