Conference Realignment Auction: Introducing the Freedom 16 Conference

QUICK FACTS
Name: Freedom 16 Conference
Northernmost School: Northern Illinois
Southernmost School: Central Florida
Easternmost School: Navy
Westernmost School: Northern Illinois
Football Championship Venue: FedEx Field (Washington, DC)
Basketball Championship Venue: Verizon Center (Washington, DC)
Baseball Championship Venue: Nationals Park (Washington, DC)

THE CONFERENCE

When it comes to fantasy intercollegiate athletic conferences, you are looking live at the absolute best way to spend an arbitrary amount of fictitious dollars in the face of a dozen other jackals who think they know best how to allocate resources and build a championship level conference. They are wrong. There is no alternative plan, this is THE plan.

There are 16 teams, two divisions, a major geographic footprint that covers nearly every major market from Chicago over to DC and down to the Gulf of Mexico. DC, Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville, and on and on are all served by the Freedom 16. All championship venues are in our nation’s capital, even the Olympic sports like golf at Congressional. It is the blend of major athletics with the epicenter of power and politics. Excellence ensues.

Other conferences may give you one or two name teams in their ranks. Kudos to them. The Freedom 16 gives you excellence in nearly every sporting endeavor. There’s the blue-blood basketball programs like Kentucky and Duke along with football powerhouses and recent BCS participants like Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Northern Illinois. Even the "non traditional powers" like Morehead State are up and comers with a strong tradition in sports like women’s volleyball and baseball, the latter a hallmark of Kent State. We have revenue sports, olympic sports, and gender opportunities well planned and well executed.

We also look at our fan experiences, and the Freedom 16 offers some of the best road environments to take in an athletic contest. From the tradition of the Midshipmen at the Naval Academy to "Enter Sandman" at Virginia Tech to The Grove at Ole Miss, the fan experience is unmatched in our new conference realignment. If you cannot attend a game in person, you can enjoy most any athletic contest carried on one of our regional or national partners providing network coverage as part of any cable package in our conference footprint.

The plan for our conference architecture was meticulous and exact. There were some cornerstone teams to set the conference apart (Duke, Kentucky, Clemson, Penn State) and other large value teams added. Remaining spots were sought to be filled by regional hosts that created natural rivalries (Western Kentucky-Morehead State or Navy-Georgetown). Most divisional games require very little travel and allow for maximum fan attendance and easy accommodations.

Members are full members only and expected to participate in all varsity offerings. Divisions are enacted on all sports with a rotating home and home with divisional opponents on a two-year basis. In football, there is one protected rivalry for each member from across the division, and the other conference game (for a total of 9) is on a rotating basis.

All told, the Freedom 16 is the new benchmark for academic excellence, athletic prowess, and considerable alumni and fan support. It is a conference that is poised for success in and out of the fields and courts and we welcome you as a fan.