The college football landscape is going to change next year, and things will look very different. Remember, Oklahoma and Texas will be moving to the SEC; Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah will be joining the Big XII; Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington are migrating to the B1G; and Cal, SMU, and Stanford are joining the ACC. Meanwhile, we don’t know what is going to happen to Oregon State and Washington State.

The following is the breakdown of the “new” power conference lineups for the 2024 season and beyond:

  • ACC (17): Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami-FL, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Southern Methodist, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
  • B1G (18): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin
  • Big XII (16): Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, Utah, West Virginia
  • SEC (16): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

Note that Notre Dame plays 5 ACC teams a year in a quasi-agreement with the league, but the Fighting Irish are not considered a full football member of the conference. The distribution of teams across the conferences is pretty close to being even, with the Beavers and the Cougars still out there for the plucking. Geographically and “politically” it makes perfect sense now for the Big XII to grab those two schools, truly.

While the MWC is a worst-case scenario for Oregon State and Washington State—and we do mean worst—the Big XII finds itself in a scenario where it is going to fall behind the B1G and the SEC with the impending losses of the Sooners and the Longhorns. We know TCU played in the “title” game last year, but that was pretty much a fluke. The last time a school from that Big XII lineup above won a mythical title? 1990.

Compare that to the ACC (2018), the B1G (2014), and the SEC (2022). It’s not good. Sure, departing Oklahoma won an MNC in 2000, but that’s barely better than the Buffaloes’ title 10 years prior. We are not saying Oregon State or Washington State is going to win a mythical national championship if the Big XII snaps them up, but the conference needs all the “power” it can get right now to stay alive and compete.

The only other “real” power out there is Notre Dame, and the Irish seem determined to stay independent rather than join the ACC or the B1G in full. Otherwise, we’re looking at a situation where soon? The ACC and the Big XII will get swallowed up by the B1G and the SEC along the Mason-Dixon Line (sad but true). We are not even going to imagine how that would look, but it would involve a lot of demotions for teams above.

Seriously: what has happened to Oregon State and Washington State is bound to happen to schools like Wake Forest, Northwestern, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, and others. It’s only a matter of time, so the Big XII can delay that inevitable end now by absorbing what’s left of the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions.