I like the pods...I like regionality of opponents.
Blame Delaney for nixing the idea that the ACC had put forth...that would have allowed pods or more than two divisions.
Maybe...Delaney was worried that by playing five ACC games, Notre Dame could be put in a pod...and if they were a pod winner and highly ranked...possibly be slotted for an ACC Championship game. The "open architecture" of having the authority to develop one's own championship methodology that the ACC put forward, had to cause some hiccup somewhere in the Big 10.
You can still have rotating Pods. We've been over this before. You can play everyone in a conference twice in a span of six years. You just change the divisions every two years. Again, let's say The Big10 goes to 20 (you can do this with 16 too) with Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas Tech, UConn and WVU (just using these six as an example, not say that this is plausible). You set up you "Pods" with regionality and rivalry. It might look like this:
Pod 1: UConn, PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, WVU
Pod 2: Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, Purdue
Pod 3: Illinois, NW, Wisky, Minny, Iowa
Pod 4: Nebraska, Kansas, TTU, Oklahoma, Texas
Years one and two:
Division 1: UConn, PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, WVU, Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, Purdue
Division 2: Illinois, NW, Wisky, Minny, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, TTU, Oklahoma, Texas
Years three and four:
Division 1: UConn, PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, WVU, Illinois, NW, Wisky, Minny, Iowa
Division 2: Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, Purdue, Nebraska, Kansas, TTU, Oklahoma, Texas
Years five and six:
Division 1: UConn, PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, WVU, Nebraska, Kansas, TTU, Oklahoma, Texas
Division 2: Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, NW, Wisky, Minny, Iowa
You keep the regionality of the conference with your permanent games, but you play everyone. The only stipulation in the CCG rule is that you play everyone in your division. It doesn't say that the divisions stay the same every year. You play everyone in your division. Then, after two years, your division changes. With the above plan, you have nine games in your division, so all of the conference games count.