College football realignment doesn't make any sense. We all know that. Teams that reside on the West Coast are playing conference games on the East Coast. Cats and dogs are living together. This time, Jon Rothstein, it is anarchy.
But what if there was a way to fix everyone's problems and — crazy idea, wait for it — move everyone around so that conferences made geographical sense. There's still time to save the day.
The Athletic's Stewart Mandel received an interesting proposition in his mailbag on Thursday from a reader who proposed an inter-conference trade involving six different teams. Desperate times, desperate measures, etc.
This week, a Mailbag reader suggested a six-team conference swap that almost makes too much sense.https://t.co/ThySch4edK pic.twitter.com/WNJavqgXxK
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 3, 2025
Andy J. from Columbus Ohio wrote in: "What if the ACC and the Big 12 made a trade? ACC gets: Cincinnati, West Virginia and UCF. Big 12 gets: Stanford, Cal and SMU. Who says no?"
To which Mandel wrote, "It makes way too much sense."
Would a six-team ACC-Big 12 trade really work?
Mandel is right, it does make too much sense. That's why it would never happen. But, that doesn't mean it shouldn't.
In that exact scenario, Stanford and Cal would be reunited with former Pac-12 foes Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. SMU would restore its natural rivalry with TCU as a conference game while getting the old Southwest Conference gang back together with Baylor, Texas Tech and Houston.
On the flip side, West Virginia and Cincinnati would essential re-establish the Big East by getting back together with Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville and Boston College, all while forming a more coherent geographic block in the ACC without having to travel all the way to Texas, Utah and Colorado on a regular basis. UCF gets to benefit from seeing in-state big brothers Florida State and Miami more often instead of long flights to Tempe and Salt Lake City.
The college football map would somewhat be restored to a semblance of sanity with this kind of reorganization and television ratings might actually get a boost with some old rivalries restored. The Backyard Brawl between WVU and Pitt would become an annual staple without all the dramatic and unnecessary negotiations.
Someone needs to have the courage to formally propose this trade. If nothing else, it points out just how piecemeal and short-sighted the realignment process has been, with conferences just chasing the next paycheck and schools so desperate to find a seat before the music stops that they're willing to go anywhere and play anyone.
But it doesn't have to be this way. There's money to be had here, and the conferences may not even know it's even there. Then again, there may be some NCAA by-law that prevents such a trade. Alas, we can always dream.