Tom Rowe writes:
 
> Anytime you split a league, you inevitably will cause a great gnashing and
> wailing about a treasured rivalry that gets less play.  But so what?  You
> can form new hated rivals, and if the league size is kept down to more
> manageable numbers, like 8 teams, you can still play a full home and home
> schedule while leaving some games open for those special rivalries.
 
Don't forget to include dollars and cents. The Athletic Directors, who
will make the decisions, won't forget.  The smaller schools have the
potential to lose a lot in any realignment that splits them off from the
big-name programs like Michigan, MSU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc.    If I
were, say, the athletic director at CC or Denver, and were presented
with a proposition like...
 
> Hence, I would suggest AA, AF, CC, Denver, and Air Force to make a nucleus
> of a further west league with some more additions - which could include UNO
> or Mankato, or Bemidji, or maybe some other program that wants to upgrade.
 
... I'd probably be concerned about attendance.  Could I count on a
filled arena for a game against, say, Bemidji?
 
-- Erik
 
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