How's this scenario?
The history of Division I remains unchanged until 1975 when the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) offers membership to William & Mary and they accept. They begin play in 1977. This results in Georgia Tech remaining with the Metro Conference. The next big change is that Holy Cross and Rutgers are among the founders of the Big East. Villanova joins in 1980.
A side effect of Georgia Tech remaining in the Metro is that Raycom ("superconference") report is commissioned earlier than OTL. The report recommends expanding the conference to sixteen member schools. The expansion schools include some major independents such Penn State and Pittsburgh. These schools are invited the Metro's annual meeting where the report is presented. As with OTL, the Metro rejects the report's recommendations. This leads Metro members Florida State and Georgia Tech talk with the invited schools about creating a new conference. In 1988, they establish the Eastern Seaboard Conference (ESB) with play to begin in 1990. The founding members are Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, South Carolina, Temple, West Virginia, and Virginia Tech. They sign a big money television contract with NBC.
The ESB's creation begins a wave of conference realignment. The SEC decides to expand to twelve. They approach Texas A&M (and Houston), but they are unwilling to pull the trigger. So, the SEC ends up grabbing Arkansas from the Southwest Conference (SWC). To reach twelve, SEC adds Louisville. Kentucky objects, but they lose to expansion vote, 7-3.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame attempts a secure their own television contract, but was unable to find any takers. At the same time, the Big Ten decides to explore their expansion options. They approach Notre Dame. The negotiations are going well until the Indiana AD shoots his mouth off and angers the Notre Dame alumni. This leads Notre Dame to joining the ACC. For their part, the ACC agrees to expand to twelve by 2000.
Not wanting to be left behind, the Big 8 decides to expand to twelve. Their initial choices are BYU, New Mexico, Texas, and Texas A&M. However, pressure from the Texas Lt. Governor results in the Big 8 taking two additional Texas (Houston and Texas Tech) in place of BYU and New Mexico. Due to the Big Ten trademarking "Big 12", the new conference is called the Golden West.
The remaining SWC members keep the conference going by adding other Division I-A independents. The Metro Conference decides to sponsor football in 1994. Just as in OTL, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) expands to sixteen by absorbing teams from the collapsing Big West. This arraignment only lasts three years. Tension between the old and new members results in some members forming a new conference, the Heartland Conference. In 2000, the American South Conference is formed by the remaining Division I-A independents.
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DIVISION I-A (2000) - 118 schools
THE POWER SIX
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC: Buffalo, Clemson, Navy, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest,
COASTAL: Connecticut, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, William & Mary,
BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
EASTERN SEABOARD CONFERENCE
NORTH: Boston College, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple
SOUTH: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia Tech
GOLDEN WEST CONFERENCE
NORTH: Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska
SOUTH: Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
PAC-10 CONFERENCE
Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Washington State
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
EAST: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
WEST: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State
THE MID-MAJORS
AMERICAN SOUTH CONFERENCE
Army, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, South Florida, Troy State
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State. Nevada-Las Vegas, New Mexico, Texas-El Paso, Utah, Wyoming
METRO CONFERENCE
Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Northern Illinois, Southern Mississippi, Tulane
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE
Arkansas State, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, Rice, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Tulsa
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State
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In 2004, the Big Ten decided to expand into new television markets. The targets would be the New York, Pennsylvania, and DC/Maryland markets. They approached Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers plus Notre Dame for additional national coverage. Both Maryland and Notre Dame were unhappy, so they accepted the Big Ten's invitations. However, they were surprised when Penn State and Rutgers rejected their offer. Both schools were satisfied with the ESB. The attempted raid on their membership spurred the ESB into action. To block further expansion into their "territory", the ESB began talking to some ACC members. Duke and North Carolina were the first to be invited. The two With South Carolina already in ESB, Clemson knew they wouldn't be invited to join. So, they jumped to SEC. North Carolina State followed suit for the same reason. Later that year, the ESB became the first major conference to reach sixteen teams by adding Virginia (as "suggested" by the state legislature) and Connecticut. The remaining ACC schools invited additional schools to keep the conference alive. However, it would no longer be viewed as a major conference.
It wasn't until after the dust had settled with ACC that the PAC-10 began its expansion. Their first move was to add Colorado and Utah. Talks with Texas and Oklahoma followed. In response, the Big Ten invited Missouri and Nebraska and both accepted. This lead to Kansas and Kansas State applying to join the Big Ten. However, only Kansas was accepted. The Big Ten decided that Iowa State would be its sixteenth member (ignoring Iowa's objections). Seeing the writing on the wall, Texas A&M left for the SEC. At the same time, the PAC-12 admitted Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech. The SEC would also grow to sixteen by adding Houston.
The realignment of the Power Conferences also caused some adjustments among the mid-majors. In addition, Division I-A and Division I-AA would be renamed Division I FSA (Football Subdivision Alpha) and Division FSB (Football Subdivision Beta). In 2014, the Sun Belt Conference transitioned from Division I FSB to Division I FSA.
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DIVISION I FSA (2020) - 132 schools
THE POWER FOUR
BIG TEN CONFERENCE
East Pod: Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
North Pod: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin
South Pod: Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
West Pod: Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame
EASTERN SEABOARD CONFERENCE
East Pod: Boston College, Connecticut, Rutgers, Syracuse
North Pod: Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
South Pod: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, South Carolina
West Pod: Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, West Virginia
PAC-16 CONFERENCE
East Pod: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
North Pod: Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
South Pod: California, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA
West Pod: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
East Pod: Clemson, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina State
North Pod: Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
South Pod: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State
West Pod: Arkansas, Houston, Louisiana State, Texas A&M
GROUP OF EIGHT (formally the Mid-Majors)
AMERICAN SOUTH CONFERENCE
Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, South Alabama, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, Troy State, Western Kentucky
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Army, Buffalo, Marshall, Massachusetts, Navy, Old Dominion, Wake Forest, William & Mary
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Kansas State, Nevada-Las Vegas, New Mexico, Texas-El Paso, Tulsa, Wyoming
METRO CONFERENCE
Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, East Carolina, Memphis, Northern Illinois, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Tulane
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE
Arkansas State, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, Rice, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian
SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Liberty
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State