Come to CT this October. Be sure to bring a camera.Not sure if I actually posted this the other day or only thought about posting it, but the truth is there is always a clever group of posters in nearly every Big 12 forum I post on or lurk at who think Tulane, UNLV and possibly Hawaii would be the perfect invitees simply because they're located in destination cities. And now that weed is legal in Colorado, a lot of people are even giving Colorado State a second thought too.
But rest assured, these wise guys hardly speak for the conference presidents.
However, there is this about Tulane which could appeal to conference presidents: if you're looking for a crappy school with crappy sports in a rough SEC town where you could be killed, Tulane's academic reputation is probably a lot more valuable to the Big 12 in the long run than any promises Fred Smith can make on behalf of Memphis.
That said, I wouldn't worry too much about UConn being bumped by anybody. I'm pretty sure the Huskies invitee #3 of 4. Maybe even #3 of FIVE if the conference can figure out how to get rid of Baylor. (Yeah, the continuing allegations are THAT bad).
I get this is a simple example. But this makes it look much closer than it is.Using the assumption that those three are already in, you'd be down to weighing UConn, Colorado State, Tulane, and Memphis. Ranking those teams by things that matter:
Football: Colorado State, UConn, Memphis, Tulane
Basketball: UConn, Memphis, Colorado State, Tulane
Other Sports: UConn, Tulane, Memphis, Colorado State
Athletic Facilities: UConn, Memphis, Colorado State, Tulane
Academics (traditional): Tulane, UConn, Colorado State, Memphis
Academics (research): Tulane, UConn, Colorado State, Memphis
Market: UConn, Colorado State, Memphis, Tulane
Football was decidedly difficult to rank, UConn has the benefit of a BCS bowl the others do not, but recent history is relevant as well. Regardless add them up (4 - 3 - 2- 1) point scale.
UConn - 25
Colorado State - 16
Tulane - 15
Memphis - 14
It's pretty clear if they're deciding between a slightly better academic/research school in Tulane and ignoring everything else, the Big 12 is out of their mind.