Two college football conferences engaged in ambitious reorganization talks

The new era of college football realignment is not over yet, with at least one Group of Five conference offering up one of the more radical proposals to date.

According to Ross Dellenger of SI, Conference USA has proposed a full reorganization with the American Athletic Conference. While the two leagues would remain distinct, the schools in them would be reorganized geographically, and the leagues would have different names.

Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod said the proposal was an attempt to stabilize college football instead of “continuing to perpetuate the insanity” sparked by Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

“There’s so much insanity,” MacLeod said. “This is worth a shot instead of continuing to perpetuate the insanity. Our presidents are willing and would like to have broader conversations about it. We can’t do it alone.”

The belief around college football is the proposal is unlikely to come to fruition. The AAC has denied interest in a merger, and is instead trying to find replacements for its three members who are moving to the Big 12. One of those replacements could be UAB, which currently plays in Conference USA.

Things have gotten so wild with conference realignment that even bigger conferences were exploring scenarios like this. None have come to pass, but they’re interesting to think about.