If anything, college athletics are going to be de-emphasized over the next few decades.  We are one or two more Miami of Florida scandals away from a public demand for scaling back big time athletics.  Building semi-pro teams on college campuses has already reached about its zenith IMHO.  Creating a "super division" would just end all pretense of amateurism, which is not what even the big time programs really want to do.  In addition to those factors this will be fought not only by the Gang of 5 Conferences but also by those schools with big time basketball and either no football or FCS or lower football.  Then there's the anti-trust implications.  This thing is really thorny, and I don't expect anything like a "supper division" in the NCAA any time in the foreseeable future.

Maybe.  But it could also be argued that the advent of constant and ubiquitous media has provided more opportunities for players.  Better coaching, more chances to develop.  Such that more schools than ever can compete.  The top 4-6 teams are probably uniquely good.  The 60 or schools (or more) after that all can well compete with each other on most any weekend.

I know some will disagree, but if injuries don't cream us last year, we make some significant noise.  A lot of teams have that type of potential....In contrast, 20 or so years ago, the top 20-30 or so teams were world's better than the rest of the crop.

This will upset such as Oz, but these days 2-3 teams can give columbus a game in a given year.  Years ago, once in a while a MAC team could play with them.

I agree that it's inevitable.  They'll figure out the anti-trust, PR and money concerns and create their own world without us.  But somebody on the national level has to point out the fallacy of their argument that they play tough schedules week in and week out, unlike the G5 teams.  If you look at any ranking service, you'll find a goodly number of "power conference" schools in the bottom third of 1A.  The Orlando Sentinel has nine of them in the bottom 40 (Colo, BC, Kansas, UK, Syracuse, Cal, TxTech, Iowa St & Wake).  Sagarin usually has one or more of them ranked lower than some 1AA schools; the last Sagarin for 2012 had NDakSt at 35, ahead of 34 "power conference" teams).  Most "power conferences" have their share of cupcakes.

I think the key to all this will be placating Notre Dame.  They won't want to join a conference, but will need to be in the mix for the big kids' national championship.  Will aligning themselves with a conference be enough to get in the mix for an at-large bid in the playoffs (it looks like the playoffs will soon expand to eight teams; my guess would be the champs of the five "powers" and three at-large)?

A lot of the new division talk isn't just for the ACC, SEC, PAC-12, Big XII and Big Ten. There is interest in including the G5 leagues in that and the top basketball leagues like the Big East, A10, WCC and Big West. Ivy League I could see due to their performance in Olympic Sports. A new Division 1 with 15 conferences and 180 teams for basketball that wouldn't have so many automatic bids and conferences with voting rights.

It's my understanding that Chicago still maintains some kind of academic affiliation with the Big Ten and that they never actually withdrew from the B1G but that they indefinitely suspended athletic competition.  My father was a UC grad and he was there when the de-emphasis of football began and it was dropped soon after he graduated, so perhaps I've absorbed some legend along with the facts in this situation.

So will the top 60 schools be willing to forego a fifth or sixth home game for a roadie against, for example, Ohio State or LSU?  I think not.  Even if there is a new, second tier, the top 60 need some way to guarantee their extra one or two home games, and those aren't coming against the bottom tier of the top 60 teams.  I believe this situation will not change the landscape significantly from the present state.  Can you see Vandy or Indiana only playing four home games so Bama or tOSU can have eight?  I can't. 

The most likely scenario is a new Division. Division 1-$$$ and then Division 1a and 1aa. So all the people that want Ohio to drop down to FCS/Div 1aa could get their wish. Just like how teams play lower division games, the big boys will still play the smaller schools to get there 7/8 home game schedule.

The only problem is how they handle basketball.

Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do..........

www.youtube.com/watch