College Football Relegation In Action: 2012

So it's time to take stock of where we stand after seven seasons of promotion and relegation. Some teams (Boise State, Cal Poly, Central Florida, Elon, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota State, TCU, Tulsa) have taken full advantage of the opportunities at their disposal and improved their respective lots in life. Others were simply (and predictably) unable to keep up. When your team sees a sudden collapse, like Boston College did in 2011, for instance, the repercussions are significant.

And, of course, this year Missouri and Texas A&M join the SEC. Real life continues to interfere.

Intro | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012

Teams in green font below are no longer in their original conference.

Tier I

ACC

• Membership: Cincinnati, Clemson, Connecticut, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Big 12

• Membership: Baylor, Central Florida, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulsa, TCU, West Virginia

Big Ten

• Membership: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame*, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Toledo, Wisconsin

Pac-10

• Membership: Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, Utah

SEC

• Membership: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

Tier II

Big East

• Membership: Boston College, James Madison, Louisville, Maryland, Navy*, New Hampshire, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple, Wake Forest

Conference USA

• Membership: Cal Poly, East Carolina, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Marshall, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, Stephen F. Austin, UAB, UTEP

MAC

• Membership: Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Indiana, Miami (Ohio), Minnesota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Southern Illinois, Western Michigan

Mountain West

• Membership: Air Force, Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, San Diego State, UCLA, Washington

Sun Belt

• Membership: Arkansas State, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss, Troy, UL-Lafayette, Wofford

Tier III

Colonial

• Membership: Army, Delaware, Duke, Hofstra, Lehigh, Maine, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Old Dominion, Richmond, Towson, Villanova, William & Mary

Southland

• Membership: Central Arkansas, Jacksonville, McNeese State, Memphis, Sam Houston State, South Dakota State, Tulane, UC Davis

Missouri Valley

• Membership: Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State, Indiana State, Jacksonville State, Kent State, Missouri State, Western Illinois, Youngstown State

WAC

• Membership: Colorado State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, San Jose State, Utah State, Washington State, Wyoming

Southern

• Membership: Chattanooga, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, North Texas, Stony Brook, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, Western Kentucky

Tier IV

Patriot

• Membership: Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Rhode Island

Pioneer / Great West

• Membership (Pioneer): Austin Peay, Butler, Campbell, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Marist, Morehead State, Nicholls State, San Diego, Valparaiso
• Membership (Great West): Lamar, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Northwestern State, SE Louisiana, South Dakota, Southern Utah, Texas State

Ohio Valley / Northeast

• Membership (Ohio Valley): Akron, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Murray State, Samford, SE Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT-Martin
• Membership (Northeast): Albany, Central Connecticut State, Duquesne, Monmouth, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (PA), Wagner

Big Sky

• Membership: Idaho State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, UNLV, Weber State

Big South

• Membership: Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Liberty, Presbyterian, VMI, Western Carolina

The concept of relegation adds a certain layer of justice to college football. You must both earn and maintain your spot at the highest level, and if you don't, somebody else will. A program like Duke cannot continue to earn major-conference television revenue if they haven't done anything to earn it, while a program like Boise State is rewarded for repeatedly making the right moves and playing at a high level. (And as mentioned in the intro, this is exactly why a relegation system will never exist.)

The repercussions of a promotion-and-relegation system would go beyond even what is listed here. Certain rivalries would take on new meaning, as evidenced in 2005, when the losers of both the Egg Bowl and Apple Cup are relegated. Other new rivalries would blossom, like the Oregon-Boise State-TCU trifecta that would have emerged in bitter 2010-11 conference title races. And of course, if we thought recruiting and transfers were crazy and obscene before relegation ... well, you probably wouldn't enjoy where relegation would take us in that regard. Coaches would get fired more quickly, players would transfer at higher rates, et cetera.

Still, when you can combine justice with added excitement, that makes it a net gain, right?

Intro | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012