The irony of all the bellyaching about constant player movement and the free market from the NCAA and its institutions is that they aren’t even loyal to their conference partners. Those same athletic programs get a buck dangled in front of them and dive into a national conference transfer portal of their own making. Athletic programs across the country have been jostling for position since USC and UCLA announced their move to the Big Ten. Now more than ever, regional limitations are irrelevant and the NCAA is in flux.
The surefire way to settle the conference realignment tremors would be to get it all over with and have Power 5 conferences draft college football programs. In lieu of the most powerful college presidents and commissioners in college sports agreeing to a Draft Day scenario where they get sent to entirely new conferences, Deadspin’s Conference Realignment Draft crew has that figured out for you.
We had each of our few drafters represent one of the five Power 5 conferences and select schools with the intent of capitalizing on recruiting hotspots, keeping traditional rivalries alive, who are best positioned to take advantage of NIL rules and assembling the most profitable programs in football and basketball. The results were eye-opening.
┃The SEC┃The Big Ten ┃ The Big 12 ┃The ACC ┃The Pac-12┃
Full draft results
If you’re interested in how the entire draft played out, and who botched which pick and when, here’s how it played out round-by-round.
Round 1 — Stephen (ACC): Ohio State; Grace (Big Ten): Notre Dame; DJ (Pac-12): Alabama; Sean (Big 12): Texas; Eric (SEC:): Georgia
Round 2 — Eric (SEC): Auburn; Sean (Big 12): Oklahoma; DJ (Pac-12): Oregon; Grace (Big Ten): Michigan; Stephen (ACC): USC
Round 3: Stephen (ACC): LSU; Grace (Big Ten): Penn State; DJ (Pac-12): Tennessee; Sean (Big 12): Texas A&M; Eric (SEC:): Clemson
Round 4: Eric (SEC): Florida State; Sean (Big 12): Nebraska; DJ (Pac-12): Washington; Grace (Big Ten): Florida; Stephen (ACC): Miami
Round 5: Stephen (ACC): UCLA; Grace (Big Ten): Arkansas; DJ (Pac-12): Michigan State; Sean (Big 12): Mizzou; Eric (SEC): Ole Miss
Round 6: Eric (SEC): Mississippi State; Sean (Big 12): Oklahoma State; DJ (Pac-12): Louisville Grace (Big Ten): Iowa; Stephen (ACC): North Carolina
Round 7: Stephen (ACC): Duke; Grace (Big Ten): Kentucky; DJ (Pac-12): South Carolina; Sean (Big 12): Baylor; Eric (SEC:): Texas Tech
Round 8: Eric (SEC): TCU; Sean (Big 12): Kansas; DJ (Pac-12): Houston; Grace (Big Ten): Utah; Stephen (ACC): WIsconsin
Round 9: Stephen (ACC): Stanford; Grace (Big Ten): BYU; DJ (Pac-12): SMU; Sean (Big 12): Colorado; Eric (SEC:): Cincinnati
Round 10: Eric (SEC): Georgia Tech; Sean (Big 12): Iowa State; DJ (Pac-12): Arizona; Grace (Big Ten): Purdue; Stephen (ACC): PItt
Round 11: Stephen (ACC): Memphis; Grace (Big Ten): BC; DJ (Pac-12): Arizona State; Sean (Big 12): Kansas State; Eric (SEC:): WVU
Round 12: Eric (SEC): Maryland; Sean (Big 12): North Dakota State; DJ (Pac-12): Boise State; Grace (Big Ten): NC State; Stephen (ACC): Jackson State