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Could a promotion-relegation style system come to college football? One official hopes so.

​​​​​​​View Date:2024-12-23 12:20:49

If one official from a Group of Five school had it his way, college football would go to a soccer-style relegation system at the end of each season.

Boise State associate athletic director Michael Walsh is proposing creating an alliance of three tiers of 24 FBS college football teams from the western half of the United States that would be eligible for promotion or relegation at the end of each season.

The teams would come from the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. The proposal was reviewed by Front Office Sports and looks to stabilize schools that have been looking for ways to stay competitive and relevant amidst the latest round of conference realignment.

"Many, many folks are kicking around concepts of relegation/promotion, or mega-leagues," Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez told Front Office Sports. "This is probably the first I’ve seen of someone really putting pen to paper, and looking at it comprehensively."

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Walsh wants to secure a money-making football package and help the less lucrative Olympic sports avoid traveling all over the country to compete.

Teams would get demoted or promoted based on performance, like European leagues such as the English Premier League. For example, Tier 1 would be the top league, and the worst team in that conference would be demoted to Tier 2, with the Tier 2 league champion being promoted.

In the latest realignment, 10 of the 12 schools of the Pac-12 Conference will be playing elsewhere next season, leaving Oregon State and Washington State to find a new home, and hopefully keep their Power Five status.

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