Memphis and Cincy to Big 12?

[adoraz]

Not a good night for Uconn.... lost to Yale now this:

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men ... story.html

[Jet915]

That would definitely suck for UCONN, would make them decide sooner rather than later to abandon football or not....

[gosports1]

a uconn loss to yale is good for PC, although PC losing to BC doesnt help.

im not sure im buying the b12 story. If true however, what would UConn and the AAC do?

[TheBasketballOpinion]

I was able to get McMurphy to respond to these rumors:

"@BasketballOP Yes. They’re as legit as the 10,000 other Big 12 expansion rumors"

https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status ... 8416356352

[robinreed]

That would definitely suck for UCONN, would make them decide sooner rather than later to abandon football or not....

I do not think that UCONN will ever drop football. The state and taxpayers have put up far to much money for the UCONN administration to offend them in this way. True UCONN loses money on football but according to a statement their president made about two years ago football gives them prestige and is a big draw for gaining students. Also almost all large research universities have football and she wants UCONN to be a large research university.

However if Memphis and Cincinnati leave the AAC UCONN may look elsewhere for basketball and the Big East would be close to the perfect home. Their football could go independent or to a conference such as the sun belt which may accept football only members. We should not be opposed to adding a football school if I remember correctly UCONN and the C-7 got along fairly well in the old BE. I may be wrong about that as X was in the A10 and I did not follow them as closely at the time. However I believe that UCONN was one of the schools which supported nova's bid to join the BE as a football member when the fiasco occurred.

As to the veracity of this rumor I can only say that whenever B12 expansion rumors occur Cincinnati, UCF, Memphis and BYU always seem to be the schools mentioned. Does this mean expansion is imminent? I don't believe so but when it occurs it will likely involve all or at least 2 of those 4 schools. That could be good for the BE and bad for UCONN as 3 of them are in the AAC.

[robinreed]

More complete post from ESPN radio


Nashville radio host: Memphis to the Big 12


And the realignment rumors keep spinning.

According to a radio host in Nashville on 102.5 the game, the Big 12 — which does not currently have a championship game — is going to add two more teams in the offseason and, according to his information, those two teams will be Cincinnati and Memphis.

This, of course, isn’t Pat Forde or Pete Thamel reporting here. But it’s certainly fun to think about, isn’t it?

The Tigers won the American Athletic Conference this season, their first conference championship in football since 1971. Coach Justin Fuente has led one of the more impressive turnarounds in the country, taking the Tigers from 3-9 in 2013 to 9-3 just a year later.

“I’m being told that (FedEx CEO) Fred Smith has obviously opened up the checkbook and is helping ease this process along,” Darren McFarland said today on Sports Night.

The idea here is that the Big 12, currently with 10 teams, would be penalized by the College Football Playoff committee for not having a conference championship game. Baylor and TCU are currently on pace to be co-champions of the league this season.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the Oklahoman in October that he didn’t see any obvious candidates for expansion.

“In our case, I don’t know that there are a lot of obvious candidates out there,” Bowlsby said in a Q&A with The Oklahoman. “We’re distributing about $25 million per school through our distributable revenue, so anybody that would be considered for expansion in our league would have to bring at least pro-rata value.”

The Big 12 would be the ideal and most logical spot for Memphis in terms of conference footprint. The reasons are obvious: You get the Mid-South eyeballs on TV, it’s a fertile recruiting ground, and the football program is now competitive. There’s serious upside here.

Basketball, of course, would be a seamless fit, with the program’s passionate fan base and consistent financial support over the years.

Add to that the fact that T. Boone Pickens, the outspoken Oklahoma State booster billionaire, mentioned Memphis as a potential target for Big 12 expansion in November.

"Memphis wants in," Pickens said.

Conference expansion and realignment has a funny way of starting rumors, and I certainly can't vouch for his accuracy, but this is the first I’ve heard someone in the media say, authoritatively, that Memphis is in the conversation for Big 12 expansion. The audio is below (start at the 9:50 mark).

[Jet915]

Haha, SMU football won their first game of the year at 2 win UCONN today.

[falcon]

I think Memphis will be joined by Colorado St. as the two new schools.

[notkirkcameron]

I think Memphis will be joined by Colorado St. as the two new schools.

Dominoes fall.

Colorado State has upgraded facilities, and would deliver the Denver market, however, their inclusion has to be based on how much of any Big 12 expansion is bent on making life easier for West Virginia, which would imply eastward expansion. Adding Colorado State would make the Big 12 the only Football 5 Conference to span three time zones (and first if you don't count the Big East's football death throes trying to add Boise State and San Diego State).

IF Colorado State were added, the Mountain West would need to add another team to get back to 12 and stage a conference championship game. BYU would be the obvious candidate, but assuming they maintain independence, there aren't that many attractive candidates out there with the demise of the WAC. Idaho and New Mexico State fit the footprint, but neither one really moves the needle, or gives the MWC something they don't have already

It's not inconceivable that rather than add one of those two Sun Belt schools, the Mountain West would have to raid Conference USA, and I'd have to think UTEP or UTSA would be leading candidates.

[SJU1987]

UCONN is coming back to the Big East. SMU would be a good addition also. They both have terrible football . Add Gonzaga and the Big East will be great.