Above is the map I've created showing the approximate geographic locations of my new conferences. A big hat tip goes to TJ Sport Source for their NCAA Football Map. One major note-I did all of these dots myself, so some might be a little bit off.

On Thursday, The Miz posted his Terp friend's NCAA expansion plan. Tonight, it's my turn. I did my best to keep rivalries together and tried even harder to align the conferences geographically. The topic, as stated earlier, is: If you had the opportunity to completely rework NCAA D-1 football and basketball, how would you organize conferences, set schedules and determine champions? I skipped the basketball equation, choosing to keep it the same. The only changes come in football and they come in the form of 8 completely new conferences of 16 teams each.

Today we have a pretty in-depth guest post from my buddy Chris Hurst, who is a 2007 alumnus of the University of Maryland. A few nights ago, the two of us got to discussion conference expansion, and we threw out a hypothetical situation. If you had the opportunity to completely rework NCAA D-1 football and basketball, how would you organize conferences, set schedules and determine champions? After a lengthy discussion, Chris did me one better and came up with this post. The rest of the FFODC will chime in with our individual plans later in the week, so please tune in. Since this is a hot-button issue, please feel free to chime in with what you guys would like to do if you had control!

With the Big Ten and SEC about pull the trigger on expansion, I took a look at what I would like to see if I was in charge of the NCAA Conference Realignment - starting from scratch.

In my view, the NCAA will be split into 4 16-team Superconferences.  Each conference will be broken up into 4 pods of 4 teams - this is where the rivalries are.  This also helps set up both football and basketball schedules.

Mike Harris of Nationals Fanboy Looser made a good point on Saturday, saying, "First 40 (games) are early. Next 80 at midseason. Final 42 are the end game." The Nats, by this measure, have reached the end of the "early" stage of the season at the .500 mark. If you told me that would happen on April 1, I would have been ecstatic. If you told me that a week ago, I would have been a little disappointed, as the Nats were sitting at a 20-15 record; .500 would mean 5 straight losses. But back to the "early" talk; now we are at the point of the season where sample sizes are getting large enough to begin to make judgments on players and the contenders and pretenders begin to separate themselves. Today we'll take a look at what Nats appear to be making a push for contention and which are dragging the team back down towards the cellar.

Four straight losses to end the regular season isn't exactly what head coach Pete Hughes wanted from his team as they head to the school's second-ever ACC Tournament, and first-ever in this format. Those four losses could be attributed to the Hokies clinching a spot in the tournament, as the team has not won since, but that's not the main concern.

Can anyone tell that I'm ready for football season yet? I've been thinking about the possibility of WVU having to join the ACC and all the fun we could all have again at their collective expense. I had a little extra time tonight and found myself on YTMND. If you're bored, head on over here and enjoy the gloriousness of Mr. Wayne Ward. Make sure your volume is on...

http://vtwvu.ytmnd.com/

H8U WVU.

The Washington Nationals' 5-3 victory over the New York Mets last night was one that most likely would have gone down as a loss the past two years, but this year it's different. The two previous squads most likely wouldn't have responded after an inside-the-park home run by Angel Pagan, or an improbable triple play started by the Mets center fielder. They would see things aren't going their way, and packed it in for the night hoping the next day brings a chance at victory.

Instead, this 2010 version of the Nats fought back with a determination that they were winning Wednesday night's ball game. After the inside-the park homer in the top of the fourth, DC responded with two of its own thanks to a bases loaded, no out situation. After the triple play, Livan Hernandez got out of a bases loaded, one out mess by only allowing one run to score on a sac fly, a mess that would have most likely been a big inning for the opposition in years past.

As a college football fan, I'm certainly into traditions, as I'm sure all of you are as well. As Virginia Tech fans, we certainly value things like the Walk, the Enter Sandman intro, the touchdown pushups, key plays and more (rest in peace 'Stick It In'). One thing that always bothered me a bit was the student body's apathy to learning the words to the fight song or the VPI Victory March. Sure, we all learned the Old Hokie chant during orientation, but when do we really use it? We hear those two songs multiple times per game, and I really wish the student body knew more than chanting "Hokie, Hokie, Hokie HI!" or "H-O-K-I-E-S HOKIES!" I honestly think we're better than that, but the words aren't exactly easy to learn. I'm going to take this week to at least try and do my Hokie diligence and introduce you to some of the songs that I think we SHOULD know as fans. I'm not saying we need to turn into UVA and hug and sway, but it would be fun for more people to be able to belt Tech Triumph on Saturdays after a big play or touchdown.

Unfortunately, our VPI Victory March has become a bit outdated. The original version was written to highlight old school Tech rivals like VMI and Georgetown, and revised in 2000 to point out newer rivals in Miami, UVA, Syracuse and WVU. As much as I still hate all of those schools, I think that the Hokies could certainly use an updated version of the song to incorporate our new ACC rivals. After some deliberation, I sat down and cranked out a new version of the old hit. It pulls bits and pieces from the older versions, but actually contains two verses (one before and one after the break strain) which fit better with the way the MVs actually play the song. I'd like you loyal readers to give it a look and offer any suggestions you might have. With enough positive feedback, I might just try and submit this to the powers-that-be as a legitimate edition of the traditional song. Check it out!

So I finally took the time to re-write it with a nod to the old version and to cover all the ACC teams. It's also complete with two verses. Click here to get the audio for the song and tell me what you think...

You have seen the Tar Heels tumble,
You have made the Eagles cry;
And you know that Georgia Tech
Once tried to sting ol’ V.P.I.
You know that worthy teams from College Park
Have fought with all their might;
And now it's time to show the world
That vict’ry is ours tonight!

Break Strain:
GO, TECH!
GO, TECH!
H-O-K-I-E-S, HOKIES!

You have seen Miami humbled,
You have passed the Devils’ test.
And you know that UVA
Has seen the Hokies beat their best.
You know those guys from Clemson, FSU
From Wake and N-C State
Will fight and flail with no avail
The vict’ry is ours to take!

So apparently my comments about the future of sports in the DMV the other day weren't acting as any type of jinx on Tuesday night when the ping pong balls finally bounced the right way for the Washington Wizards. D.C.'s most maligned franchise over the last two years (and that's seriously saying something) got a major boost by raking in the top pick in the NBA's 2010 Entry draft.

What?!

Yep. The Wizards. The team that seems to have fallen in draft position just about every year in the last twenty. The team that was awarded the top pick in 2001 and managed to draft one of the biggest busts of all time in high school standout Kwame Brown. That team.

Why should we all be so excited? Drafting John Wall doesn't guarantee any sort of resurrection for the franchise. Heck, it doesn't even guarantee that they'll be a factor in the playoff picture anytime soon. What it does mean is that this team will be watchable again, which is something that certainly hasn't been the case for the last two seasons. John Wall is the kind of guy that should bring some buzz to Verizon Center on nights when the Caps are off. He's the kind of guy that attracts higher-quality free agents to the district. More than anything, he's the kind of guy who's mug you can plaster all over Chinatown and market on a large scale. This little lucky victory is symbolic of Ted Leonsis and his penchant for building success out of almost nothing. Hopefully Ted's influence can continue to bring the Wiz some good vibes over the next few decades.

Along with this, we should see some form of rebranding around the number one overall pick, hopefully involving a color change back to the red, white and blue. I can dream now can't I?

...at least we should now that we've seen the arrival of McNabb, Strasburg, now Wall (hopefully) and Bryce Harper (hopefully). Along with the long-term deals for Nick Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, things are certainly looking up around here.