Semi-OT: Big 12 to Expand

[prebilliken]

USA Today: Big 12 will expand.

These shifts in conference landscape effect everyone, not just football schools.

I would like to kick off my favorite off-season drinking game: How can I speculate on this news leading to SLU in the Big East?

[kshoe]

Personally, I highly doubt it does much for SLU as this one could be relatively well contained within the existing big 12 and AAC.

But if you want a long shot...assume two teams like cinci and Memphis leave the AAC. Uconn would hate that conference even more than it already does. Perhaps they find a sub-division conference to place their football team in and join the big east for everything else. The need to balance could lead to a 12th school being picked, presumably not from the east coast. 

[slu72]

Right now the Beast looks to be a pipe dream if they only add four teams. Schools I would see ahead of us at this point would be WSU, Richmond, Dayton, and/or VCU or Davidson. Those teams have solid fan bases, the  major sports attraction in their respective cities, and have winning traditions. They currently have a 5 team footprint in the Midwest and the same in the east. So Dayton and WSU could go Midwest and Richmond and VCU or Davidson the east.

We may very well have blown our chance at the Beast. Another ill of the Jim Crews virus.

[slu72]

Not sure what UConn would do if the ACC got raided, but Kshoe's scenario makes sense. UConn went big time FB to get into the ACC. Didn't happen, so they may be thinking time to cut back on those resources and stick primarily with their strong suit, Men and Women's hoops.

[Cowboy]

3 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Right now the Beast looks to be a pipe dream if they only add four teams. Schools I would see ahead of us at this point would be WSU, Richmond, Dayton, and/or VCU or Davidson. Those teams have solid fan bases, the  major sports attraction in their respective cities, and have winning traditions. They currently have a 5 team footprint in the Midwest and the same in the east. So Dayton and WSU could go Midwest and Richmond and VCU or Davidson the east.

We may very well have blown our chance at the Beast. Another ill of the Jim Crews virus.

 

-I think FrB not having a good relationship with his fellow Jesuits has much more to do with us not being in the BEast than Crews 

[Pistol]

"This represents potentially the last major realignment for quite some time, and the opportunity for schools outside the Power Five to jump the fence — particularly as the financial gap has widened — is going to create tremendous pressure on administrators.

It is also going to shake up several conferences. It’s possible the American Athletic Conference, which has been the top league outside the Power Five, could lose multiple teams. The dominoes could fall all the way down to a school such as UMass, which currently does not have a home for football and is playing an independent schedule while waiting for a spot in a Football Bowl Subdivision league to open up.

And, according to Bowlsby, the process could move quickly enough that a September vote on how many and which schools to add isn’t out of the question."

So there's where it could impact the A10.

This has been a regular news item here in Cincinnati - UC wants out of the AAC and into a power conference very, very badly. Seating capacity in the football stadium is an issue, although a recent expansion helps. (My own opinion is that it's one of the best venues in football, located right in the middle of campus, surrounded by buildings and making the noise sound like the stadium is way bigger than it is. Just a really cool setup.) UC would be a nice travel partner for West Virginia, which is under 5 hours away. I don't think the school is ranked as high as most others in the Big 12, but I think it has a better reputation than Memphis, which many think is the most likely candidate.

Tulane and Colorado State seem like reaches. BYU and UConn present logistical challenges. Boise State doesn't do much for TV markets or academics. USF has been stagnant and UCF has yet to fulfill potential. Even with in-state resistance, I have to think Houston is in the mix. I'd guess Memphis and Cincinnati are the best candidates.

[slu72]

47 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

 

-I think FrB not having a good relationship with his fellow Jesuits has much more to do with us not being in the BEast than Crews 

No argument here. But had we kept the NCAA string going, rather than being the whipping boy of the A10 the last two years, we'd have enhanced our chances by having a strong competitive program. Plus Biondi's gone and Pestillo seems to be more dedicated to athletics than Fr. B.

[Cowboy]

37 minutes ago, slu72 said:

No argument here. But had we kept the NCAA string going, rather than being the whipping boy of the A10 the last two years, we'd have enhanced our chances by having a strong competitive program. Plus Biondi's gone and Pestillo seems to be more dedicated to athletics than Fr. B.

 

-I didn't know the BEast was sending invites

[Old guy]

2 hours ago, slu72 said:

No argument here. But had we kept the NCAA string going, rather than being the whipping boy of the A10 the last two years, we'd have enhanced our chances by having a strong competitive program. Plus Biondi's gone and Pestillo seems to be more dedicated to athletics than Fr. B.

Pestello

[TheA_Bomb]

This isn't expansion this is approving to examine the possibility of expansion.  Texas doesn't need expansion and is in the driver's seat with OU.  

UH adds nothing B12 owns Houston TV market already why would they boost them to being a greater recruiting challenge?

UC maybe

Memphis maybe

USF or UCF bring for recruiting, new tv markets

UCONN maybe but way up there

BYU maybe 

 

None excite me as a Texas grad/fan.

[prebilliken]

3 hours ago, slu72 said:

Right now the Beast looks to be a pipe dream if they only add four teams. Schools I would see ahead of us at this point would be WSU, Richmond, Dayton, and/or VCU or Davidson. Those teams have solid fan bases, the  major sports attraction in their respective cities, and have winning traditions. They currently have a 5 team footprint in the Midwest and the same in the east. So Dayton and WSU could go Midwest and Richmond and VCU or Davidson the east.

We may very well have blown our chance at the Beast. Another ill of the Jim Crews virus.

The Big East isn't going to leave behind public schools to go join with public schools ago.

Dayton adds no TV market they don't already have.

If they add two teams, we are in.

[billiken_roy]

we will not be asked to upgrade conferences until the program proves it is back to where it was 3 years ago.  until then we are lucky we are in the A-10.   

[BLIKNS]

So the 10 member Big XII could be expanding< sure wouldn`t want a league to have the same number of schools in it`s conference as the name suggests.

So I guess 14, Houston I say gets an invite for being Texas.  Cincinnati would be my guess for 2nd, travel partner with West Virginia.  UCF is a serious contender, and sleeping giant, ready to erupt, now I am biased here, since we had a daughter graduate for there( Charge On!)... 2nd largest school in the country( only Arizona State is larger),  ORLANDO market,. Big XII would like a footprint in Florida for recruiting.  Last season was a disaster, lost all the momentum they had after the Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor.  The football stadium could hinder them, only holds 45,000 or so.  USF would be ideal travel partner, but don`t know if they bring enough juice.

 Memphis would bring a lot in basketball, and would work well with Cincinnati 

BYU seems like a bit of a stretch, as does Colorado State. UConn may be the biggest one hut by all the expansion.

 

So my guess is Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and Memphis gets invites

 

 

 

 

 

[Pistol]

16 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

This isn't expansion this is approving to examine the possibility of expansion.  Texas doesn't need expansion and is in the driver's seat with OU.  

UH adds nothing B12 owns Houston TV market already why would they boost them to being a greater recruiting challenge?

UC maybe

Memphis maybe

USF or UCF bring for recruiting, new tv markets

UCONN maybe but way up there

BYU maybe 

None excite me as a Texas grad/fan.

Texas has always been the most resistant to this, and it means a lot because they're the most powerful player in the conference. But I think the reality is that they need at least 2 more teams to keep up with the other conferences. I agree that no one is a particularly sexy pick, but there are a few reasonable choices.

We're kind of seeing the cut-off point of the true power programs. UConn, UC, Memphis - these schools are terrified of being the last ones standing when the music stops, the biggest athletic programs just outside the power 5 conferences. It puts a dramatic limitation on what they can accomplish.

[HoosierPal]

16 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

This isn't expansion this is approving to examine the possibility of expansion.  Texas doesn't need expansion and is in the driver's seat with OU.  

UH adds nothing B12 owns Houston TV market already why would they boost them to being a greater recruiting challenge?

UC maybe

Memphis maybe

USF or UCF bring for recruiting, new tv markets

UCONN maybe but way up there

BYU maybe 

 

None excite me as a Texas grad/fan.

I think you have hit it on the head.  Will a Texas - UConn football game in Storrs really move the needle?  Will adding the 4th and 5th best Florida programs raise eyebrows?  Does Texas want to help prop up Cincy, knowing that Ohio State will always rule Ohio?  And as you say, Texas already rules Houston, so why bother with the Cougars.

There could be another seismic clash coming, where Texas opts out.  Will the SEC or Big Ten simply sit still and watch the Big 12 pick off the garbage pile?  Why not see if Texas, OK, (or Kansas) want to get into a much better situation than a expanded Big 12 can provide.

 

[brianstl]

I wouldn't be surprised if Tulane gets an invite.  After the state of Texas, Louisiana has been the Longhorns main recruiting ground.  If it is four teams, I would think they will probably be Cincy, Memphis, Tulane and one of the Florida schools.  Cincy is the strongest athletic program and it opens up a prime recruiting ground.  The other three schools give the conference a foothold in SEC country and bring their own prime recruiting areas.

[kshoe]

This isn't really expansion related but I just saw where the ACC is moving to a 20 game conference slate in a few years. Not that those teams were offering home and homes with many quality teams anyway but once you get past the exempt tournaments, the chances of playing a major conference team just took another hit. Particularly if other conferences eventually follow their lead.

[Cowboy]

6 minutes ago, kshoe said:

This isn't really expansion related but I just saw where the ACC is moving to a 20 game conference slate in a few years. Not that those teams were offering home and homes with many quality teams anyway but once you get past the exempt tournaments, the chances of playing a major conference team just took another hit. Particularly if other conferences eventually follow their lead.

 

-BEast plays 18 conf games and starts on NYE, will be interesting to see how the ACC works their conf schedule

-speaking of the ACC, where is the UNC ruling from the NCAA? 

[TheA_Bomb]

4 hours ago, Pistol said:

Texas has always been the most resistant to this, and it means a lot because they're the most powerful player in the conference. But I think the reality is that they need at least 2 more teams to keep up with the other conferences. I agree that no one is a particularly sexy pick, but there are a few reasonable choices.

We're kind of seeing the cut-off point of the true power programs. UConn, UC, Memphis - these schools are terrified of being the last ones standing when the music stops, the biggest athletic programs just outside the power 5 conferences. It puts a dramatic limitation on what they can accomplish.

Texas doesn't need the B12 the B12 needs Texas. Yeah there's debate that the Longhorn network led to departures but would any of you turn down $25mil?  

2024 is when a Grant of rights expires and I'm not sure if anything will happen prior.

A solution not acceptable to UT could send UT to another conference most likely PAC12.  OU might be able to tag along but their legislature would probably demand OSU tag along.

 

If I had to pick, I'd go Boise St and Colorado St.  FL is tempting but the directional schooltoughs are tough to overcome.

 

Tulane isn't even in the conversation though it's a fun road trip and expand into SEC country which is good.

[brianstl]

Tulane was one of the schools invited to make a pitch when TCU and West Virginia were added.  

[Bobby Metzinger]

3 hours ago, brianstl said:

Tulane was one of the schools invited to make a pitch when TCU and West Virginia were added.  

Would be a great economic boost for New Orleans as well. Would be great to see the Superdome packed to the rafters for a Tulane-Texas game. Even looking at baseball, Tulane would be a fantastic addition.

[TheA_Bomb]

Hold the phone there's something going on maybe Texas is supporting UH to B12 perhaps tied to a large lane purchase by UT in Houston that UH does not support but would if they got into B12 maybe.....Texas politics

[Bobby Metzinger]

2 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Hold the phone there's something going on maybe Texas is supporting UH to B12 perhaps tied to a large lane purchase by UT in Houston that UH does not support but would if they got into B12 maybe.....Texas politics

But isn't t.u. the flagship? Can't they buy land anywhere in the state? A&M took over TWU Law in Fort Worth and Tulane has an Exec MBA program in Houston...you see stuff like this all the time.

No Ann Richards this time for UH to worry about...

[TheA_Bomb]

TWU and Tulane are private schools thus their actions aren't controlled by a state legislature.  There was no public law school in DFW area.  TWU in Ft. Worth and SMU in Dallas.  UNT was opening one in Downtown Dallas.  UT powers reportedly thwarted aTm efforts to get a law school for years and this occurred under Rick Perry an aTm grad.

UT isn't just hosting an Executive MBA in Houston apparently it purchased 322 Acres in Houston.  No one really knows why.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2016/7/21/12253514/texas-land-deal-houston-big-12-expansion

While interesting what does it mean for SLU?

Nothing probably except to destabilize a like conference (American).  If SLU wanted back into what is basically Conference USA it might matter.  Maybe it takes away a possible BE expansion candidate competitor off the table.

BE would be great if it happens.  As of now I like A10, it's a solid conference, with like schools and we appear to finally be expanding into recruiting the NE which is natural for our conference.