Last week, there was a lot of “what would promotion and relegation look like in American sports?” going around. This was fair. It’s a fun conversation. Promotion and relegation is awesome. It’s extremely cool. It stinks that American professional sports don’t have it. But college sports do have it. We just don’t call it that.
Let’s take college football as the example, since it’s the main driver. Since 1998, the year the BCS began:
South Florida was promoted from I-AA to I-A in 2000.
Miami and Virginia Tech were promoted from the Big East to the ACC in 2004. UConn was promoted from independence to the Big East.
In 2005, a lot happened. Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida were promoted from Conference USA to the Big East. Boston College was promoted from the Big East to the ACC. Temple was relegated from the Big East to independence.
2011 kicked off a busy few years. Utah was promoted from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. BYU was promoted from the Mountain West to independence. Boise State was promoted from the WAC to the Mountain West.
In 2012, Texas A&M and Missouri were promoted from the Big 12 to the SEC. West Virginia was promoted from the Big East to the Big 12. TCU was promoted from the Mountain West to the Big 12. Temple was promoted from the MAC back into the Big East.
In 2013, Pittsburgh and Syracuse were promoted from the Big East to the ACC. The Big East was relegated and turned into the AAC, into which Memphis, UCF, Houston, and SMU were all promoted from Conference USA.
In 2014, Appalachian State was promoted from the FCS level to the FBS. Louisville was promoted from the AAC into the ACC. Maryland was promoted from the ACC into the Big Ten. Rutgers was promoted from the AAC into the Big Ten. Notre Dame was relegated from full independence to semi-membership in the ACC.
In 2015, Navy was promoted from independence into the AAC. UAB was relegated from Conference USA to nonexistence.
In 2016, UMass was relegated from the MAC to independence.
In 2017, UAB was promoted from nonexistence to Conference USA, while Coastal Carolina was promoted from the FCS to the FBS.
In 2018, Idaho was relegated from the FBS to the FCS, New Mexico State was relegated from the Sun Belt to independence, and Liberty was promoted from the FCS to the FBS.
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This is an incomplete list, of course, and it’s not promotion and relegation in the same way it happens in European soccer, in which teams’ fates are legitimately tied to wins and losses (editor’s note: and ties). This is financial promotion and relegation, and it’s not straightforward. But it does, to an extent, achieve similar ends. Look at Utah, who went from a BCS outcast to a member of a Power Five league. Look at Temple, who was run out of the Big East and brought back. Look at the Big East, which was run out of its own existence in the football space. Look at the fear at places like Iowa State and Kansas State about the Big 12 potentially going under.
It’s not promotion and relegation like many would want it. But if the allure of promotion and relegation is that teams can rise and fall, there’s an argument to be made that this is an equally compelling way to do it. It’s not forced, as it would be were it instituted now in college football. It reflects the fate of these programs, just as it does abroad. It allows for rises and falls. And it incorporates more than on-field results. Those are a piece of it, still, but things like fanbases make a difference, and even things like academics make a difference.
For the third time: No, it’s not promotion and relegation the way we like to think of those things. But for as hated as people make conference realignment out to be, it offers many of the same things promotion and relegation offers. And its glacial pace makes triumph all the more tantalizing.
