The Conference Landscape in 2020 (Maybe Earlier)

Raise your hand if you saw that Syracuse and Pittsburgh move coming. I don't think anybody did and what was most puzzling about it was that both schools cited "instability" in the Big East as their reason for departure. The reason there is instability in the Big East is because two of it's most important members just bailed out and two more are going to leave soon (possibly UConn?). The ACC, which wasn't involved in any expansion rumors, is now one step closer to being a super conference with 16 teams. The Big 12 is all but dead and the Big East is headed that way as well. The conference landscape has changed, and is changing, so much that I feel the NCAA needs to step in. Since rivalries, tradition and all that is important to collegiate athletics apparently don't matter anymore then let's at least make some sense out of this mess and arrange the teams by region. That way there will still be traditional border wars and in-state rivalries. Here is what I would take to the NCAA and propose. *=not an FBS football program

New England Region
Syracuse Orange (Syracuse, New York)
Connecticut Huskies (Storrs, Connecticut)
Pittsburgh Panthers (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Penn State Nittany Lions (State College, Pennsylvania)
Georgetown Hoyas (Washington, D.C.)*
Boston College Eagles (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)
Maryland Terrapins (College Park, Maryland)
Villanova Wildcats (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)*
West Virginia Mountaineers (Morgantown, West Virginia)
Providence Friars (Providence, Rhode Island)*
St. John's Red Storm (New York, New York)*
Seton Hall Pirates (South Orange, New Jersey)*
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Piscataway, New Jersey)
8 Football Schools and 13 Basketball Schools

Atlantic Region
North Carolina Tar Heels (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Duke Blue Devils (Durham, North Carolina)
North Carolina State Wolfpack (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
South Carolina Gamecocks (Columbia, South Carolina)
Clemson Tigers (Clemson, South Carolina)
South Florida Bulls (Tampa Bay, Florida)
Virginia Cavaliers (Charlottesville, Virginia)
Virginia Tech Hokies (Blacksburg, Virginia)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlanta, Georgia)
10 Football and Basketball Schools

South Region
Alabama Crimson Tide (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Auburn Tigers (Auburn, Alabama)
Florida Gators (Gainesville, Florida)
Florida State Seminoles (Tallahassee, Florida)
Miami Hurricanes (Miami, Florida)
Tennessee Volunteers (Knoxville, Tennessee)
Vanderbilt Commodores (Nashville, Tennessee)
Mississippi Rebels (Oxford, Mississippi)
Mississippi State Bulldogs (Starkville, Mississippi)
Arkansas Razorbacks (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
Georgia Bulldogs (Athens, Georgia)
LSU Tigers (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
12 Football and Basketball Schools

Great Lakes Region
Illinois Fighting Illini (Champaign, Illinois)
Northwestern Wildcats (Evanston, Illinois)
Indiana Hoosiers (Bloomington, Indiana)
Purdue Boilermakers (West Lafayette, Indiana)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (South Bend, Indiana)
Ohio State Buckeyes (Columbus, Ohio)
Cincinnati Bearcats (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Michigan Wolverines (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Michigan State Spartans (East Lansing, Michigan)
Kentucky Wildcats (Lexington, Kentucky)
Louisville Cardinals (Louisville, Kentucky)
DePaul Blue Demons (Chicago, Illinois)*
Marquette Golden Eagles (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)*
Memphis Tigers (Memphis, Tennessee)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Wisconsin Badgers (Madison, Wisconsin)
14 Football Schools and 16 Basketball Schools

Midwest Region
Iowa Hawkeyes (Iowa City, Iowa)
Iowa State Cyclones (Ames, Iowa)
Missouri Tigers (Columbia, Missouri)
Nebraska Cornhuskers (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Kansas Jayhawks (Lawrence, Kansas)
Kansas State Wildcats (Manhattan, Kansas)
Texas Longhorns (Austin, Texas)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (Lubbock, Texas)
Texas A&M Aggies (College Station, Texas)
Baylor Bears (Waco, Texas)
TCU Horned Frogs (Fort Worth, Texas)
Oklahoma Sooners (Norman, Oklahoma)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
Colorado Buffaloes (Boulder, Colorado)
14 Football and Basketball Schools

West Region
USC Trojans (Los Angeles, California)
UCLA Bruins (Los Angeles, California)
Stanford Cardinal (Palo Alto, California)
California Golden Bears (Berkeley, California)
Oregon Ducks (Eugene, Oregon)
Oregon State Beavers (Corvallis, Oregon)
Washington Huskies (Seattle, Washington)
Washington State Cougars (Pullman, Washington)
Gonzaga Bulldogs (Spokane, Washington)*
Arizona Wildcats (Tucson, Arizona)
Arizona State Sun Devils (Tempe, Arizona)
BYU Cougars (Provo, Utah)
Utah Utes (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Boise State Broncos (Boise, Idaho)
13 Football Schools and 14 Basketball Schools

As you can see this makes the most geographical sense. There are border wars and in-state rivalries. For the regions that have three schools in the same state (Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Washington) I would like to see them play a round-robin sort of tournament every year for the state crown. That would bring fan interest almost like a bowl game in midseason. The number of schools in each conference works out best for basketball but for some football is even too. I can't say this will ever happen but with the way things are now in the NCAA, I almost feel this would be best. And that's a sad statement to make...