SBNation Conference Redraft Project: South Florida and Hawaii Selected

The Empire (Commissioned by Team Speed Kills) has selected South Florida and Hawaii in the 10th and 11th rounds of the SBNation Conference Redraft Project. If you are unfamiliar with the project, please read this.

Here's a look at The Empire so far:

Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas A&M
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Arizona State
Oregon State
South Florida
Hawaii

I think that the Bulls and Warriors were huge additions to the conference. With the South Florida pick, we are now into Florida, which is huge for TV purposes and recruiting. And with Hawaii, we have a good football and baseball program, a chance to play 13 games every season, a unique TV time slot, and little bit of history in football. Not to mention a great stadium, great fans, and great weather.

After the break we'll look at how the Beavers fit into the conference with these two new teams, take a look at how The Empire stacks up against everyone else, and ask for advice on who The Empire should select next.

In our last post, we divided the Football conference into two divisions. Here they are, with the addition of USF and UH.

West

Hawaii
California
Oregon State
Arizona
Arizona State
Texas A&M

East

Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Connecticut
South Florida

I said last time that Oregon State would be third in the west behind Arizona State and Texas A&M, and I still think that's true. After that I think it would go Hawaii, California, Arizona.

In Basketball, I had Oregon State as the seventh best team in the conference, in front of the Sun Devils and Sooners. With the addition of Hawaii, I think we move down to eighth, as the Warriors play some okay basketball.

Having Hawaii in a baseball conference would be fun, as the Beavers have had some good battles with them. I still think we are the best baseball team in The Empire, but Hawaii would compete with Texas A&M and us for the championship.

How does The Empire stack up against other conferences?

First, let's take a look at the five other conferences:

Cult of Les Miles: LSU, Michigan, UNC, Stanford, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Mississippi

House of a Thousand Sanctions: USC, Notre Dame, Oregon, Tennessee, Syracuse, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, BYU, Vanderbilt, NC State 

Conference TMZ: Ohio State, Florida State, Louisville, Michigan State, West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Utah, Boise State, Cincinnati

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Florida, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Miami (Florida), Auburn, Kansas, Illinois, TCU, Colorado, Indiana, Texas Tech

The 12 Pack: Texas, Georgia, UCLA, Wisconsin, Washington, Duke, Clemson, Virginia, Boston College, Minnesota, Purdue

In our last post, I said that the only conference that was better than us was the Cult of Les Miles. However, I think we got the much better deal in USF and UH, while the Cult selected Georgia Tech and Mississippi. The GT pick was alright because it gets them into Atlanta, but Mississippi is filled with mediocre sports teams.

As long as we make a couple of solid selections down the stretch, I think we will have the best fake conference out there. Which brings us to:

Who should The Empire take next?

We stil have to wait for six selections before we make our next pick, but the two teams I think we should be looking at are Fresno State and Mississippi State. I think Fresno State would make the most sense, as they are located in California, have good football and baseball teams, and have great fans.

However, Mississippi State is the best remaining team in the SEC, but I think we could still wait a round to get them, especially if some conferences decide to quit after just twelve teams.

Let us know who you would select, and we will be sure to pass it along in the war room.

--Connor