It happens early in the life cycle of any American sports fan getting into European soccer for the first time: the "Oh wow, relegation is amazing" realization, followed pretty quickly by the "We should have this in [insert favorite sport]!!" declaration. Promotion and relegation is an incredible concept, a way of inserting meritocracy into a widespread and popular sport, and it is absolutely foreign to American sports. Even Major League Soccer has resisted it, and it's a soccer league! With 29 teams!
Still, the concept is ripe for what-if exercises, especially within college sports, where conference membership is often based less on merit and more on which neighbors you were playing against 90 years ago.