NCAA Conference Re-Draft Project: Three Rounds Deep

Earlier this month I posted about the SB Nation Conference Re-Draft Project, and I asked for opinions and ideas from ASU fans. Since that time, we've completed three full rounds of the draft, and I'm happy to say that I have picked the best conference thus far.

I had the fifth, the eighth, and the 17th pick. With those, I selected USC, Notre Dame, and Oregon. So far, I've developed a highly profitable football conference with three huge, attractive features.

1. USC owns the Los Angeles market.

Despite the postseason ban, the Trojans are a legendary football school. Their recent successes cannot be forgotten, despite what the NCAA has to say about it. They are the most significant college football program west of Texas, no exception. They also happen to occupy the Los Angeles market. Huge win for a Pac-12 blogger.

2. Notre Dame has its own broadcast deal with NBC.

As part of Notre Dame entering our newly founded conference, some changes will have to be made to their TV deal with NBC -- mainly, NBC will be our target as the official broadcast partner of the conference. The presence of the Fighting Irish nearly guarantee that a lucrative deal for the conference will be in place. Besides, Notre Dame's presence in the midwest is huge for recruiting.

3. Oregon can tap into Nike.

We're going to see a revolution in how the conference is fitted in terms of apparel. Notre Dame will sacrifice their alliance with Adidas and forge a path ahead with Nike, along with every team that is picked into the conference in the future. Not only that, but the Ducks have an epic football stadium (Autzen) and the nicest college basketball arena in the country (Matthew Knight Arena). We cannot lose with Oregon.

In summation, this conference has its own built in television contract, one of the most significant media markets, and the biggest sports equipment company on the face of the Earth. Does it shock you that we've only picked three teams so far, and we've already developed an entire conference strategy?

With every pick moving forward, we will add to the prestige of this conference by adding missing pieces. What do you think we're failing to account for? Do we need to add a historical basketball superpower like Connecticut? An academic giant like Stanford? Another significant media market? Let me know in the comments below. For a rundown of how the first two rounds went, check out Cowboys Ride For Free.