Texas vs. Arkansas in 1969… could we soon see that match up every year?

I have to admit, when I first came across this, I thought it was going to be a bunch of a bull. I mean, is the next step for college football really 16 team superconferences?

Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel seems to think it could be. I’m still a little wary, until I read his new conference alignments. And the SEC went from beast to SUPER BEAST. Check this out.

SEC East: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina

SEC West: Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M.

In case you’re wondering about the West, in this situation, Stephens says that the Big 12 and Big East will fold and their teams will be raced to be grabbed by the other leagues. And it looks like the “SEC-16″ went nuts. Alabama and Auburn switch over to an already tough division in the SEC East. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State (I’m a man….ok, I’ll stop), Texas and Texas A&M jump to the SEC West.

And I can honestly say that at that point, a playoff must occur. Take a look at those divisions again. There is no way any team gets out of either division undefeated. The East division is a monster, the West division is the boogeyman.

The best part of this whole idea may be what happened to little brother, Louisville. After thinking they are some big football power, none of the four power conferences (ACC-16, SEC-16, BIG 16 or PAC 16) take the Cardinals. Instead, they are relegated back to a 16 team Conference USA, a clear second-tier conference. The Mountain West also grabs 16 teams to fight the C-USA for the best of the rest title.

If this situation happened, I would be absolutely giddy. The SEC would be nuts, with a must-see game every week (like it’s not that way already). The SEC would get the best four from the Big 12. The ACC would live up to their name, completely blanketing the East Coast. the Pac 10 would be the the West Coast ACC and the Big 10 would continue to suck. Haha, just kidding. But not really.

When I think about it, this could have already happened a few years ago. Thankfully, the ACC decided to raid the Big East, not merge. But all it’s going to take is a power move by any of the remaining conferences to spark the flame. If the Big East or Pac 10 tries to raid some teams that aren’t in lower conferences things will get dicey.

And think about the rivalries. Alabama-Auburn comes to the SEC East, while all the old east feuds stay. Georgia and Auburn get each other every year. In the West, everything stays the same, but you add the Red River Shootout… and Arkansas gets a shot at Texas and Oklahoma every year. Same for LSU.

And I haven’t even talked about the other sports yet. Yikes.

And honestly, I think college football and the fans would be better off if these 16 team conferences ever do come along. Texas, Oklahoma, OK State and Texas A&M in a new SEC? I’m going to faint!