One idea is to put Phil and Vick in the same Conference based on Phil's "outrage" at the logo color similarities...

I think we should name the conferences after legends - hopefully we have lost anyone to death but that would be my first idea. My second idea is to name it after the creaters the Allan and Max conferences.......just ideas

happy to be paired with those evil chameleons. please add Tucson and Pekin to confuse them further!

I like the idea of the 4 conferences separated geographically - N/E/S/W or NE/NW/SE/SW?

However I'd also prefer to have a rivalry with Andy's Denali. Is Alaska near Tennessee?...

But I also like Aires' idea about naming the conferences after volleyball legends. I don't know anything about volleyball so I had a quick look at the Hall of Famers - William G Morgan & Harold Friermood were godfathers of the game and then you have the likes of Karch Kiraly, Giba, Lorenzo Bertinelli, Regla Torres, and Jennings & May-Treanor.

You could also mix them up so you'd have the William Morgan Northern Conference, Kiraly Western Conference, Jennings May-Treanor Southern Conference and the Bernardi Eastern Conference.

I like the idea of geographic conferences because I think it adds to the significance of choosing real places for our team names.

But it could also be a situation where we organize based upon our team names. I could see a Canine and friends based conference, a plant and fungi conference, maybe an aquatic conference, haha.

Suggestion #1 - regional/geographic by teams - conference names can of course be anything desired

West: Albuquerque (NM), Antioch (CA), Carlsbad (NM), Portland (OR), San Diego (CA), San Jose (CA), Santa Clara (CA), Tucson (AZ)

Midwest: Alton (IL), Chicago (IL), Mendon (IL), Pekin (IL), Quincy (IL), St. Charles (MO), Teutopolis (IL), Ames (IA)

South: Arlington (TX), Baton Rouge (LA), Dallas (TX), Merritt Island (FL), N'Orleans (LA), Starkville (MS), Columbia (SC), Kentucky (KY)

North: Manitowoc (WI), Sheboygan (WI), Denali (AK), Mat-Su (AK), Bulington (IA or VT?), Schenectady (NY), Cincinnati (OH), Nashville (TN, because the Midwest & South had 8, and Roy asked to be with Andy's team, so it all worked out!)

Suggestion #2: mascot groupings

Land Animals (need a better name for this): Chameleons, Wolves, Moose, Chihuahuas, Pandas, Anteaters, Bulldogs, Bloodhounds

Aquatic: Anglerfish, Swordfish, Shrimps, Bullfrogs, Manatees, Swamp Rats, & then two 'fishers': Eagles & Raccoons

Mythic: Sasquatches, Gargoyles, Vampire Bats, Winged Hogs, Scarecrows, Twisters (alive), Rabid Biting Mules (that wear shirts), & the Kittens, because the mascot has wings so they're flying kittens

Plant: Saguaros, Shamrocks, Mushrooms, Peas, Artichokes, Bananas, Crazy Tomatoes, & the arboreal Squirrels (who live in plants, close enough).

I'm totally open to re-arranging though!  Scarecrows with their pumpkin heads to plants, Squirrels to Land, Moose to Aquatic (wading in rivers and eating the plant life there?), and Manatees to Mythic as representing the Merfolk?

I prefer geographic groupings myself even though we don't get 4 new and 4 old in each conference but I don't think this is a deal breaker for Al. 

It matters not as I will win everything anyway.

Does that help?

:)

I prefer geographic groupings. If it helps my Squirrels are open to move somewhere else to help getting 4 new 4 old. Just dont move us to Russia !

If I got my request, I'd be in the same conference with Baton Rouge (MikeH) and Teutopolis (MikeC)

I prefer to be in a league of my own.

Why? Is that the only way you can win anything? Inaugural season notwithstanding.

I like Kevin's suggestion #1 based on geographic groupings.

Thanks for all the ideas above, I really appreciate it.  It is hard to put ideas like rivalries/suggestions into tangible 8-team conferences.  Thanks to Kevin in particular for his sets of options. 

The geographic aspect is pretty hard to firmly nail down and a couple of our "colleges" cities are a little ambiguous.  I even plugged some things into a mapping program to visualize this a little more (realistically about 1/2 are in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, or Wisconsin).

Here's my suggestion on a potential setup with a geographical name and then to the right of the slash (/) a Conference name.  I won't pretend the geography is perfect but I tried to take into account locations while also getting a 4 old/4 new teams in the mix.   Conference matches (league/conference tourney) represent about 50% of all your matches so it does not mean you'll only interact with the other 7 teams in your conference all the time. 

That seems to work Al, pretty much geographical. Of course, just as in true college sports, the SEC is king. ;-)

Must admit I'm looking forward to playing the other Big 6 and Dallas :-p

Happy with the proposed conferences. Mine is aptly called the BIG 8 but should be renamed the BIG 1 as we're the biggest team in that conference obviously and will draw the biggest crowds with our team of superstars.

Looking forward to upsetting the natural order, especially the Sellers boys and a certain Star Wars fan ;)

I completely agree Steve, BIG just doesn't cut it when describing Dallas does it?

More like MASSIVE Dallas.

love the conferences! Any chance we can make the MAC more of like a major conf like the others.  Maybe the Big East? No offense to those who are MAC fans

All good to me.  I had a similar suggestion to Kevin's grouping by Mascot type, based on the four elements Earth (Veg and herbivores), Air, Fire  (Carnivores) and Water, but very happy with Geography as well.

MAC makes me think of Mac and cheese.  The Big Cheese conference...

Thanks for the feedback!

Aires mentioned Big East.  I'll admit to considering Big East and then dropping it because of my old brain thinking who was in the Big East.  It used to be almost all teams in states bordering the Atlantic Ocean.  Today the Big East is: Indiana, Connecticut, Nebraska, Illinois, DC, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

I'm good with replacing MAC with Big East.  With the exception of Portland (which still 'might' change), I think most of the our teams are in states where the real Big East teams are in...

I am offended at my omission from the list of "MSWL Legacy Managers." I have been yet again infringed.

Love the natural rivalries in the SEC (though I am a BIG EAST guy myself, go Friars). Phil, I think the hat kept you out.