Everybody knows that, parallel to ours, there are universes where the people, places and things of our world exist but just slightly...different. Duh. Why do you think everyone is watching all this Lost and Fringe? For the complicated romantic subplots? PLEASE.
We haven't seen what our sideways worlds look like but it's fun to make wild assumptions about the way things have been going over there. Three things we can be sure of...
1. In at least one of them, Hitler rules the world. And you're him! (TWIST!!!!)
2. In at least one of them, we live in the United Tribes of America and white people run the casinos (MESSAGE!!!!)
3. In none of them does the BCS exist. Obviously, its too stupid an idea for multiple universes to come up with at the same time.
And of course, there is no Big East Conference in those universes. Which begs the question...what conference IS Syracuse in over there? Here's some possibilities.
The Eastern Conference
In one world, Joe Paterno's grand vision of the future has been realized. And a Utopian society reigns.
Conference Members: Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Maryland, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, St. Johns, Syracuse, Temple, Villanova, West Virginia
Football Outlook: That's a pretty solid 9-team football conference, led by Penn State, West Virginia, Piit and BC. Even the middle and lower-tier teams are either good now or historically-good.
Basketball Outlook: Not quite as good as our Big East, thanks to Penn State. But adding Maryland and Temple into the mostly-Big East mix makes it pretty formidable.
Lacrosse Outlook: Syracuse and Maryland dominate but they get some help from Nova, Penn St., G'town, Providence and St. John's.
The Big Apple Conference
Early in the 20th century, many of the New York state teams look around at each other and said, "Hey, let's be buddies." As time went on, more schools joined the fold.
Conference Members: Albany, Army, Binghamton, Buffalo, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Hofstra, Manhattan, Siena, St. John's, Syracuse,
Football Outlook: I'm guessing that at some point Syracuse and Army both went 1-AA. So to answer the question...not great.
Basketball Outlook: You might as well call this the "gritty" conference. Lots of tough small schools. Syracuse is obviously the crown jewel but there's quite a few solid mid-level teams in there as well.
Lacrosse Outlook: Syracuse is the elite program but there's tons of good teams mixed in there as well. Don't be fooled by the lack of namebrand, this would be a great conference.
The Tri-State 10
A hybrid version of the Eastern Conference and the Big Apple Conference seems to have formed in one world.
Conference Members: Army, Connecticut, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John's, Syracuse, Temple, Villanova
Football Outlook: Decidedly dominated by Penn State, the league has seen a recent rise of challengers to their throne, including Pitt, Rutgers and UConn. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume St. John's is terrible.
Basketball Outlook: Good but not great. UConn, Pitt, Syracuse and Nova are the big four but there's plenty of good programs in there. Everyone brings tradition and history to the table.
Lacrosse Outlook: Six-team league is only slightly worse off than our Big East. Lacks a really good 2nd-team to follow Cuse.
The East Coast Conference
In this world, there are four mega-conferences and they suffer no fools. Or non-football programs.
Conference Members: Boston College, Clemson, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Carolina, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia
Football Outlook: AMAZEBALLS!
Basketball Outlook: AMAZEBALLS!
Lacrosse Outlook: What the hell is lacrosse?