Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[MUPanther]

ECUAthletics ‏@ECUAthletics 3h3 hours ago
Looks like @ECUAthletics would be an excellent travel partner along with @WVUSports!


Always nice to have a current member of a conference actively seek, through social media, to leave and join another conference - especially when said university has a 2% chance of getting a Big 12 invitation.

Well, this is what ECU's AD said: "I believe strongly East Carolina deserves to be in the Big 12 as we can deliver the entire state of North Carolina."

Paul Finebaum (SEC hack) and Sportscenter then made fun of the comments....

Finebaum said the AD should go into politics because he is making speeches/comments that he can't back up with facts....Finebaum mentions the 4 ACC Schools plus the "border" schools in South Carolina...

Host is laughing in hysterics...when he can barely say "ECU couldn't even deliver the greater Greenville area"...

Finebaum then said "I live in North Carolina...and until you read that statement, I had no idea that school was even IN North Carolina."

I do enjoy Finebaum dry sense of humor. Again, ESPN is lacking class in its views of ECU. Great stadium. Great attendance. Some so-called power 5 wishes they were ECU. That being said, ECU has 0% chance to be in the Big 12.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN - July 20, 2016

BYU & Houston (5 votes each) top @ESPN poll of Big 12 coaches on expansion. Next: Cincinnati, Memphis (4 votes each); CSU, UCF (1 vote each)

A search of recent articles about Big 12 expansion shows that the same four names keep popping up – BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and Memphis – with UConn and the University of Central Florida getting some notice.

The Big 12 waited too long to expand so here are its only options – USA Today – July 20, 2016

Here are the five best candidates potentially in the running (in no particular order).

Central Florida
Why it’s good: The Big 12 gets a recruiting footprint in the state of Florida. It also gets the Orlando TV market. UCF’s athletic department is struggling right now, but Baylor can tell you its experience with the Knights from the 2013 season Fiesta Bowl when UCF pulled off a 52-42 upset.
Why it’s bad: UCF is coming off a 0-12 season and is in rebuilding mode. If another school from Florida — like say, South Florida — doesn’t come along, then does the Big 12 want to extend its brand out there?

Cincinnati
Why it’s good: Success in football and basketball, former Big East member, and it makes geographic sense for West Virginia and potential new school Memphis.
Why it’s bad: Not many cons here.

Houston
Why it’s good: In Tom Herman’s first year as head coach last year, the Cougars beat Florida State in the Peach Bowl. It’s another Texas school, which keeps things tight geographically, but do Texas, TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech want added recruiting competition?
Why it’s bad: What happens when the football program loses Herman for a bigger job?

Memphis
Why it’s good: Nice TV market, recruiting area and new BBQ for visiting fans to try. Football and basketball success and it’s in SEC country, which the Big 12 has to like.
Why it’s bad: Can the Tigers have sustained success down the road? Maybe this doesn’t matter after what Bowlsby said about members growing over time.

BYU
Why it’s good: National brand and probably the most successful football program over time of any other candidate. Very faithful fan base. The Cougars beat Texas back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, too.
Why it’s bad: No geographic partner out West, unless perhaps Colorado State also joined. Not playing on Sunday is an issue. BYU could come in as a football-only member, but that might not be in the best interest of the conference.

Evaluating top Big 12 expansion candidates – Abilene Reflector-Chronicle – July 27, 2016

THE FAVORITES

Houston: Few schools have enjoyed the kind of political push that Houston’s received during this past week. From the Texas governor to school officials at Texas and Texas Tech, it appears everyone is in love with the Cougars. Don’t be fooled, these Lone Star endorsements are huge and make UH an early front-runner in the race. It doesn’t hurt that the school is going through a football renaissance under coach Tom Herman and the Houston television market is among the top 10 in the country.

BYU: Bowlsby said one of the criteria for a candidate is fan base and few schools have as much of world-wide presence at BYU thanks to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. It’s one of the reasons the school created its own network — BYUtv — that is available in more than 65 million homes. And the Cougars averaged more fans at home football games (58,532) than eight of the 10 current members of the Big 12 last season. That said, the Cougars only make sense as a football-only member thanks to the school’s stance against playing sports on Sundays.

UConn: Let’s not sugarcoat it any further; the Big 12’s interest in Connecticut would be mostly for its basketball programs and television market. Football is somewhat of an afterthought in this scenario when you consider the Huskies have won less than 46 percent of their games since 2000. The men’s basketball program has won four national titles — twice in the past six seasons — while the women’s program is the gold standard for excellence after winning four consecutive national titles. Then there is the TV market, which could provide millions of eyes from the Northeast not traditionally exposed to Big 12 schools. The Huskies’ athletic department also is on par with most Power 5 schools in total revenue.

Cincinnati: It’s no secret the Big 12 had interest in expanding its foothold East the last time realignment reared its ugly head. The league missed out on Louisville, instead going with West Virginia. Adding Cincinnati would provide the Mountaineers with a geographic rival in the league. The Bearcats’ football and basketball programs have excelled and the television market is one of the top 40 in the country. Nippert Stadium has been upgraded, but it would need to be expanded past its current 40,000-seat capacity.

Memphis: Much like Cincinnati, Memphis would help expand the league’s footprint. And much like the Bearcats, the Tigers would provide a league with football and basketball programs on the rise. The football program has won 19 games the past two seasons, with quality victories over Power 5 programs Kansas and Ole Miss. With that success has come a spike in attendance at home games. FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith, whose company is based in Memphis, has already thrown his support behind the Tigers, offering to sponsor the Big 12’s new championship game.

No love whatsoever for East Carolina University.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Mike ‏@MBHORNSFAN 7h7 hours ago
Some guy on the Rivals mainboard is reporting that BYU, Cincy, Houston, and Memphis will added the the Big 12 within two weeks.

On July 14, he posted from his source:

I heard that next week at media days they will, announce they are expanding. A few weeks after that they will announce the teams.

Note, this was before the ACC network announcement.

On July 20, after the Big 12 announced it would expand, he posted his personal four choices for Big 12 expansion:

Cincy and Memphis for all sports. As well as BYU and Boise for football only. Those 4 would make a ton of sense IMO

Today, he posted:

Word on the street is that an announcement could come as soon as next week. It looks like the 4 schools will be Cincy, Memphis, Houston, and BYU. Still trying to work out the details with BYU on all sports or football only. This comes from the same person that told me on July 1st that the Big 12 would announce they are expanding during the week of Big 12 media days and two weeks later they would anounce the schools. The marketing/merchandising departments of one school has been contacted by the conference and asked if they could have stuff ready by Monday if needed. I'm just sharing what I heard, so TIFWIW and don't shoot the messagenger.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Texas AND UConn fans be like:

[hortle]

Texas AND UConn fans be like:

Go read their realignment thread on The Boneyard, they are CONVINCED they're getting an invite. I can't think of another athletics program that's been screwed over in each wave of realignment. Well, they chose the football life, so now they get to live with the consequences, while the basketball-only big east members can just sit back and chuckle at the morons scrambling for football tv money...

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Big 12 may expand before the start of football season – New Orleans Times-Picayune – July 29, 2016

The Big 12 Conference apparently wants to handle expansion like checking out in a 10 items or less line at a grocery store.

Three persons with knowledge of the league's expansion process told CBS Sports on Thursday that the league wants to conclude the expansion process by September 2nd, when the conference opens the 2016 season.

The Big 12 announced July 19th it would begin a formal expansion process to add two to four teams.

The sources said the conference doesn't want a drawn-out expansion campaign to overshadow the league's football season.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports that he has "not made any comment on time frame and do not plan any such statement."

If expansion teams are announced before the season, it could give the new members a chance to begin playing in the conference as soon as 2017. The league currently is discussing how it will decide participants for its championship game that has been reinstated for 2017.

The most frequently mentioned expansion candidates are independent BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, Memphis, UConn, UCF, South Florida, and Tulane of the American Athletic Conference, and Boise State and Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference.

With all due respect to the Times-Picayune, this is the first time that I have seen Tulane mentioned as a serious candidate for Big 12 expansion.

[GoldenWarrior11]

http://gridironnow.com/big-12-expansion-aac-mike-aresco?utm_content=buffer6bb15&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The fearless leader, Mike Aresco, acknowledges that the AAC will be losing schools soon. Momentum growing that it'll be BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Memphis.

[Jet915]

http://gridironnow.com/big-12-expansion-aac-mike-aresco?utm_content=buffer6bb15&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The fearless leader, Mike Aresco, acknowledges that the AAC will be losing schools soon. Momentum growing that it'll be BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Memphis.

That would be freakin hilarious if UCONN got left out.

[NJRedman]

Texas AND UConn fans be like:

Go read their realignment thread on The Boneyard, they are CONVINCED they're getting an invite. I can't think of another athletics program that's been screwed over in each wave of realignment. Well, they chose the football life, so now they get to live with the consequences, while the basketball-only big east members can just sit back and chuckle at the morons scrambling for football tv money...

It's delusional over there. To them there isn't a chance they get left out. Anyone who says otherwise is stupid and don;t know what they're talking about or they are trolling. hahaha

God I can;t wait to go over there the day the announcement is made! hahaha

[billyjack]

So, what's the probable outcome in the AAC?
They lose Memphis, Cincinnati and Houston... 2 recent C-USA teams and Cincinnati.

At that point, the AAC still has a lot of options.

They would have:
UConn
Temple
East Carolina
Central Florida
South Florida
Tulane
SMU
Tulsa
Navy football.

I would guess that they add UMass for all sports.
This puts them at 10 for football, and 9 for hoops.
10 for football gives them the option of a CCG.
9 for hoops gives them 16 league games.

They could stop right there and be fine.

Or if they were interested in building programs, on top of UMass they could also add:
Army football.
Rice.

This would give them 12 for football, and 10 for hoops.
Rice and Tulane are kind of twin schools, with great academics, plus Rice has great baseball don't they?
Army and Navy are obviously twins.
UMass and Army football would really help UConn with travel and local interest.

I don't think the Mountain West teams would be interested in jumping to the AAC (Colorado State, Boise, Air Force).

So in the end, it could be:

East:
UConn.
Temple.
Navy.
East Carolina.
UMass.
(Army).

West:
Central Florida.
South Florida.
SMU.
Tulsa.
Tulane.
(Rice).