12-team Conference Question: Divisions or Pods?

[misirlou]

{I have gathered that any conference realignment posts are getting moved to In the Stands, so I'm posting this there to start with.}

I did not like the old Big 12 format of two 6-team divisions. Teams like OU and Nebraska lost their rivalry. The north and south teams had a definite divide that hurt conference unity.

The SEC gets around this by preserving at least one interdivisional rivalry game. Previously, they preserved two. (link)

However, why go with divisions at all and not with pods even with a 12-team conference? With pods you would have three 4-team pods (divisions/ groups/ pick you favorite term) or maybe four 3-team pods.

Example Groupings for the original Big 12:

Pod #1
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Baylor

Pod #2
Oklahoma
Oklahoma St
Missouri
Iowa State

Pod #3
Nebraska
Colorado
Kansas St
Kansas

Play everyone in your own pod (3 games)
Play a couple of historic rivals (OU plays Texas and Nebraska).
Play 3 other conference games on some type of rotating basis
Allow the makeup of the pods to be modified to mitigate imbalances such as OU having to play perennial powers Texas and Nebraska.

Pick the top two teams to play in the conference championship game.

There are probably far better ways to organize this, but in the end, if we go back to 12 teams, I would prefer to avoid the fixed six-team divisions we previously had. Maybe it would be sufficient to just agree to rebalance the divisions every year and preserve a historic rivalry. I just don't see geography being as relevant for football. The other sports can figure out what is appropriate for them (divisions, pods, etc.).

As a football fan, I still like a 10-team conference where you play everyone else. However, this is not what the future seems to hold in the cards.

 

[XOVER]

This is like a Rip van Winkle post.

You know that Nebraska, Colorado, and Texas A&M are gone, right? With Missouri likely right behind them next week?

Rework the post with a bunch of Big East teams added in, and you'll be fine. You might also sprinkle in some TCU, BYU, and Boise State. Those are good flavorings, too, it would seem. Air Force if you want your post to go up, up, the long delirious burning blue, where never lark, nor even eagle flew.

Your question, though. Pods. Yes, I think pods.

 

[misirlou]

I considered adding Team #10, Team #11, Team #12 instead of the original 12, but I thought it might be less convoluted with the original 12.

As for Mizzou, replace them with Team #9 if you wish. All of this is irrelevant to the discussion about whether you go with two 6-team divisions, three 4-team pods/divisions, or four 3-team pods/divisions if you have a 12-team conference.