Gentlemen of the SAMD,
Perhaps it is the thrill of national signing day or the fact that I have no work to do today, but whatever the case, I find myself longing for college football today. No, I’m not looking forward to the days where I can tailgate on the most beautiful campus in the South with the most beautiful women in the world nor am I lusting for the joys of watching 12 hours of uninterrupted football from a couch while the smell of Grassy’s delicious ribs waft through the air. Those things are nice, but I am counting the days until July 13. What’s that day you ask? Why, nothing more than the date that NCAA 2011 is released (Only 159 days if you are wondering).
And while this game will no doubt feature Tim Tebow on the cover, I am going to purchase it at midnight anyway, because last year I truly missed out on the pageantry and the camaraderie that came from our 2009 dynasty.
Being that we are a scant 22 weeks away from kickoff, it is time to start thinking about team selection. Pac-10 is always an option, but it’s been done. So, I present you with some options. I have added some pros and cons, but I truly don’t have a preference at this point. Just wanted to get your feedback. Your comments are welcome.
ACC Hybrid
This option involves using EA’s Custom Conference feature. Now, I know Taylor doesn’t like “fantasy”, but hear me out. I think if we just took the “best 6″ teams in the ACC it would be pretty even. Also, this isn’t like mixing up the SEC or adding Notre Dame to the Big 10. I have no idea who is on what side of the ACC anyway, so putting our 6 picks on one side would allow us to play each other every year and would keep it even. The downsides – well, your opponent in the ACC title game would likely be pretty weak. Also, the ACC bowl tie-ins are pretty weak. Still, some good programs to choose from here.
Big Ten (Minus the Powers)
While I’m no huge fan of the Big 10, the stadiums are sweet and this might bring some weather into our games and the bowl games are much better than the Pac-10 was. In order to keep things fair, I’m proposing we don’t allow humans to choose the 3 traditional recruiting powers in the league, but that leaves 8 fairly even teams to choose from. The downsides: Big 10 teams don’t play everyone in-conference every year. Also, some of you may hate the Big 10.
Big XII North
Under this approach, we would be limited to the 6 teams in the Big XII North. This would allow for a good mix of traditional powers and upstarts, as well as some decent stadiums and uniforms. This would also allow for us to play each other every year, without making any changes to a conference. A downside: some of the bottom teams may be too far down to compete with the top teams. Again, just an option.
Big XII Hybrid
Same approach as with the ACC. Under this format, our 6 users would simply select a team from either side of the Big XII, then we would put them on the same side of the conference so that we play everyone each year. This would provide some truly great teams, alongside some upstarts and others in fertile recruiting ground Texas. Of course, you guys may think that the bottom teams could never compete with Texas and OU, so this may not work, but I present it for discussion anyway.
Big East
Pretty simple. Using this format we simply choose a team from the 8 in the Big East. The pros are the fact that we would all play each other every year without making any changes. We might also get some cool weather. Downsides are the bowl tie-ins are pretty terrible and the conference isn’t exactly “top tier”. Teams are however, pretty balanced.
Mid-Major Medley
Kind of a wildcard here, but I thought I’d throw it out there. Under this format we simply create a 6 team conference where users can choose any team they want- as long it isn’t from a BCS conference. This would allow some freedom in scheduling and would put everyone on a pretty even playing field. Potential downsides are obvious – it’s “fantasy” to quote Taylor, and you would likely have to go undefeated to get into National Title conversation.
The SEC
There is zero debate that the SEC is best conference in football, but using it in our system creates some hurdles. Chiefly, two-thirds of us would want to be UGA. Secondly, you don’t play everyone every year unless you choose one half of the conference (and I just couldn’t live with an SEC hybrid, it would feel too weird). So, while its a longshot, I throw out the following suggestion: There are 6 teams available for users to pick from. These teams are probably the top 6 programs in the conference, and its just so happens that 3 are in the East and 3 are in the West. It also just so happens that each of them play a built-in rival from the other half each year. So under this format you would be guaranteed a minimum of 3 human games a year, and perhaps as many as 5 (the max). Downsides are the obvious fight over UGA and the fact that someone would have to play as a team they hate. (read: Florida). I still don’t know how I feel about this one. . .
Okay, so what do you guys think? Any favorites jump out to you? Did I miss something? Remember, we’ve only got 22 weeks to sort this out . . .
-Matt Tanner
3 time Shiloh Alumni Memorial Dynasty Champion, 1 time National champion
