How many yes votes do you think we have so far?

[Uconn77Duke74]

Baylor was too busy hitting on Herbst to get their vote in.

 

[Tigerx3]

Adding Memphis does nothing for B12 recruiting. Larger stadium with fewer fans. Fedex stuff has already been debunked.

Memphis Location is closer to everyone more than almost anyone for some of the outliers.
Memphis fan base has been erratic but when we've won like the past couple of years we draw in the middle of the pack for a B12 school. Several stadiums less than 50k. We expect to top 48k to 50k average this year.
Memphis is in the heart of SEC country. The B12 schools are most assuredly looking for payback to A&M and Mizzou.
Memphis owns the Memphis tv market and the Memphis tv market is a big-time college football draw top ten% in viewership.

Just how is the Fedex stuff debunked? The offer is on the table to (1) Sponsor championship FB game, (2) negotiations are to consider other championship games, (3) sponsorship will extend to the league, and there is a guarantee to help cover the balance of difference if new invites (as is expected) are asked to take a smaller cut as a phase-in. I don't exactly what that means but Fedex is already a great corporate partner and Fred Smith plus several high ranking EVPs make significant personal commitments. I can introduce you to a WalMart family heir who is an alum or Sax 5th Avenue retired CEO who is an alumni. All of these folks would have done the same thing for the Big East invite but the Big East bailed and we ended up with a step above CUSA that did not merit that kind of commitment. Lot's of people can sponsor the B12 but how many carry the weight of sports advertising that is Fedex? Only a hand-full.

All of us have our warts. Memphis is not first in most areas of review but we are close in several and we are last in two but when taken as a package and add in the Fedex experience I like our chances. Even our negatives, like academic ranking (popularity contest) is addressed with our service to minority populations and our success in graduating them. We are in the heart of the Civil Rights historical struggle and a historical music center. Plus we keep proving the food here kick butt.

You guys have some positives and some negatives. Just nobody knows for sure what ESPN is willing to do for you. I wish you guys luck it's just hard to see why so much venom spews from fans over this stuff.

 

[Tigerx3]

I think we're clearly a better program overall than Memphis, and the B12 knows that, too, but the problem is, this isn't in a vacuum of Pure Value. Geography may not be the factor, but it's certainly a factor. If you're not going football-only, that's a lot of lacrosse flights to Storrs, and it all adds up and turns into a scheduling headache.

Plus, the idea that FedEx doesn't matter is silly. Could Nike technically fund Oregon? Of course not. But Phil Knight could and did. T. Boone Pickens certainly helped Okie State. Wealthy donors can be a huge boon to a program and if you're on the fence about two programs, you might think, well, gosh, this FedEx guy could maybe turn Memphis into a Okie St Lite.

Again, I think objectively, we're the better program, but the geography and recent lack of football success could really be enormous dealbreakers for us at the moment, and tearing down Memphis as such a ridiculous pick seems naive to me.

This!

 

[CL82]

Even our negatives, like academic ranking (popularity contest)

lol

 

[Matrim55]

Memphis is in the heart of SEC country. The B12 schools are most assuredly looking for payback to A&M and Mizzou.

That's a whopper of a false equivalency you just constructed.

 

[WestHartHusk]

That's a whopper of a false equivalency you just constructed.

Ueah, that'll show them

 

[UConnDan97]

Iowa St is AAU. In other words, academics matter. I have them as a 'Yes'. But my opinion counts as much as much as a flaming bag of poop.

I just got off of a conference call with the flaming bag of poop. He votes yes...

 

[Charley Horse]

I love this topic, it really captures the imagination. But I don't think it's about a simple yes or no. It's about bargaining.

I suspect each of the ten Big 12 schools will come to the table ready to fight for as many as five different favorites. What I believe works out so beautifully for UConn is that while they may not be everybody's favorite, they may very well be one of the only schools in nearly everybody's top three.

So just because a team may say no today because they would rather have another team instead, doesn't mean they will still say no UConn after negotiations. I'm sure there will be a lot of "I'll stop pushing BYU, if you stop pushing UH" kind of agreements to cancel out some of the current favorites.

 

[Redding Husky]

With the networks cracking down, I think they only get two schools. Texas gets Houston, Oklahoma gets BYU.

Then the AAC gets Rice. The AAC's academic profile goes up and its athletic profile goes down.

And life goes on in purgatory.

 

[sportsart]

With the networks cracking down, I think they only get two schools. Texas gets Houston, Oklahoma gets BYU.

Then the AAC gets Rice. The AAC's academic profile goes up and its athletic profile goes down.

And life goes on in purgatory.

If Houston gets in there will be 4 schools.

 

[Redding Husky]

If Houston gets in there will be 4 schools.

If there are four, I think we're in. But you guys follow this closer than I do.

 

[CL82]

We have zero, until we have 8.

I don't think there's a way to handicap this. We won't know until we know.

 

[UConnNick]

Why is Iowa St. a no? They aren't still bitter over the mascot thing, are they?

Perhaps they're still pissed off that we whacked them pretty good in football during the 2002 season on our one road trip ever to Ames. They're a weak football program in the B12, so they may be envisioning history repeating itself.

 

[Tigerx3]

The FedEx bribe talk is so ridiculous. The bribe amounts to "nothing" more or less.

They're a publicly-traded company; they are not going to commit to paying above-market for anything. They can only offer promises with essentially no economic value.

It's like me offering to "contribute" $100M to the U.S. Mint by ordering 100 million dollar bills. Doesn't move the needle.

If FedEx execs were offering to donate millions from their private holdings, that would be one thing. But they're not. This is an obvious PR con job.

I know fans of each school are going to put a biased slant all information but you should look closer at the agressive sports marketing and advertising philosophy practiced by FedEx. Publicly held yes but don't underestimate the power Fred Smith welds in all aspects of company leadership. If he commits to something and puts it writing as he did in this case he already has enough support to back it up. The Sponsorship offer is real and it is substantial and The FedEx sports advertising clout is undeniably among the most influential.

The FedEx execs separate from advertising dollars are committing millions. The donor list already affirms that. Everyone understands what the B12 invite means to any of our cities and all candidates are lining up the support with extreme urgency.

Try another apology. The mint one you provided is faulty.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I know fans of each school are going to put a biased slant all information but you should look closer at the agressive sports marketing and advertising philosophy practiced by FedEx. Publicly held yes but don't underestimate the power Fred Smith welds in all aspects of company leadership. If he commits to something and puts it writing as he did in this case he already has enough support to back it up. The Sponsorship offer is real and it is substantial and The FedEx sports advertising clout is undeniably among the most influential.

The FedEx execs separate from advertising dollars are committing millions. The donor list already affirms that. Everyone understands what the B12 invite means to any of our cities and all candidates are lining up the support with extreme urgency.

Try another apology. The mint one you provided is faulty.

The word you're looking for is 'analogy.' An apology is what you should be asking Memphis State College for.

 

[billybud]

The metrics being competed against aren't all weighted evenly by each voting school...and sometimes the conference.

example... the B1G...academics trumped athletic performance when Rutgers was taken.

...the ACC valued football when Louisville was taken

What will the Big 12 weight more heavily...market, athletic performance, football, academics, Texas politics?

That's the question.

 

[Gringo]

The metrics being competed against aren't all weighted evenly by each voting school...and sometimes the conference.

example... the B1G...academics trumped athletic performance when Rutgers was taken.

...the ACC valued football when Louisville was taken

What will the Big 12 weight more heavily...market, athletic performance, football, academics, Texas politics?

That's the question.

Agree with your overall point but Rutgers was not chose for its academics. The sole reason they were chosen was their proximity to NYC.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The metrics being competed against aren't all weighted evenly by each voting school...and sometimes the conference.

example... the B1G...academics trumped athletic performance when Rutgers was taken.

...the ACC valued football when Louisville was taken

What will the Big 12 weight more heavily...market, athletic performance, football, academics, Texas politics?

That's the question.

Phewww. Thanks for pointing that out.


Does this practice of different weighting apply to other voting categories as well?

 

[CTMike]

I know fans of each school are going to put a biased slant all information but you should look closer at the agressive sports marketing and advertising philosophy practiced by FedEx. Publicly held yes but don't underestimate the power Fred Smith welds in all aspects of company leadership. If he commits to something and puts it writing as he did in this case he already has enough support to back it up. The Sponsorship offer is real and it is substantial and The FedEx sports advertising clout is undeniably among the most influential.

The FedEx execs separate from advertising dollars are committing millions. The donor list already affirms that. Everyone understands what the B12 invite means to any of our cities and all candidates are lining up the support with extreme urgency.

Try another apology. The mint one you provided is faulty.

FedEx money only means anything if it's over and above what the B12 could get from other sponsors and advertisers. Where has it been stated that FedEx is paying over market rates for both, and if so, won't shareholders want to know why they are overpaying?

FedEx isn't the only sponsorship/advertising game in town.

 

[CL82]

FedEx money only means anything if it's over and above what the B12 could get from other sponsors and advertisers. Where has it been stated that FedEx is paying over market rates for both, and if so, won't shareholders want to know why they are overpaying?

FedEx isn't the only sponsorship/advertising game in town.

...and the fact that never materialized in the AAC should make any reasonable person skeptical.

 

[SubbaBub]

They don't even know what they are voting to achieve yet, so individual school voting hasn't happened yet.

I do think individual schools in the XII have favorites based on what they think they want. I think all 12 would vote for UCONN if presented as the best option for any one slot.

But right now you have UT pushing UH for non-CR related reasons. You have OU pushing against UT domination and everyone else choosing sides or sitting out. The Texas schools are waiting to see what UT is going to want or allow. The non Texas schools want a the most viable league with the most visbke network. All 10 would like to see a better academic school and cultural fit (think like a president), but thisewill take a back seat to the money and internal politics.

Even the vote on 12 vs 14 is dependant on who they 12 or 14 were.

I think all 10 would like to stay at 10, but 9 of them know that us suicide. Then the question is 12 vs 14. I agree that there is not a compromise outide (BYU and UCONN) that can be reached for 12. Not as long as UH is in the mix and not as long as some teams think UCONN is a far away non FB school, which I am sure some do rightly or wrongly.

A few schools also like cincy, because they are OK in all boxes. A few hate BYU for being a larger version of Baylor with none of the cache of ND. No one really likes Memphis unless you ignore everything before last season and a few probably like CSU because they remember CU being in the league. One or two might be talked into a FL school.

So if I'm a seersucker suit wearing President of a XII school, I can see why this is messed up. Someone will be a bit unhappy and all will be underwhelmed the minute the press conference is over. If they could have any of the 4 that left back they would take them. If they could have any of the P5 schools on their wish list they would.

The haven't come to grips with the fact they are a 6 level of a conference looking for 9 level schools and they are struggling with that.

If UT really wants UH then we are in. If UT will accept 12 without UH, then there is some possibility they will take BYU and Cincy because FB and geography. It might take a pay hit from the networks to make that fly, but it is doable. The best 12 is UCONN and either (cincy or BYU). The best 14 is those three plus either UH or UCF.

If I'm leading that deliberation my first question is what is most important to each school. Top three from a list of criteria. Name one item you can't live with (not a school name) but a concept or outcome. Then stay at 10, 12 or 14.

You now at least have a manageable board to refine alternatives that stand a chance.

 

[SubbaBub]

My board if I'm OU.

1. Guaranteed revenue in line with SEC and B1G.
2. Increased chances at CFP as shown in projections.
3. Commitment to XII long term stability (this is a white lie, but politically useful)
3a. (Secret) break up the power of the Texas block.

Can't live with: the status quo.


You'll note that at no time did I require a conference network, an extension of the GOR (others will do that), an end to the LHR, or undermining UT's plan for a Houston campus.

My board for UT:

1. Keep the LHN for the duration of its contract with ESPN (we got our $$$)
2. close the deal on the Houston campus project.
3. Keep the XII close to its traditional roots. (Even though this isnt actually a real thing)
3a. (Secret) maintain UT as the dominant school in the XII and midwest. (Keep doing WTH we like)

Can't live with: any talk of a GOR extention (see 3a, we want to control our destiny in 2025)

You can make up others for the other schools and networks if you like, but other than the network's cost valuation, this is the meat right here.

UT is happy to stay where it is or is willing to exploit this and OU is feeling a little Nebraska-y.

 

[Redding Husky]

I'm wondering about this best-case scenario for UConn:

Northeast - *UConn, WVU, *Memphis, *Cincinnati, ISU, Kansas, KSU
Southwest - OU, OK State, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Texas, *Houston

Possibly substitute a Florida school for Memphis. In this scenario:

1) Texas gets Houston and their new branch school in Houston.
2) The northern schools get: a) three schools outside of Texas, to diminish the power of the Texas schools, b) in their mind, a relatively easy path to the conference championship game, and c) some "basketball" schools added to the conference.

But what does OU get out of this? They keep their annual games with Texas and OSU, but not much else.

 

[Tigerx3]

FedEx money only means anything if it's over and above what the B12 could get from other sponsors and advertisers. Where has it been stated that FedEx is paying over market rates for both, and if so, won't shareholders want to know why they are overpaying?

FedEx isn't the only sponsorship/advertising game in town.

Read and understand the entire post. As far as I know nobody else has stepped up but no, I'm not claiming they are the only ones capable. But, they are one of the big dogs that sit at any media table and be respected and listened too. That you can't argue. If it's not an issue or no value, where are the others that are aligned to a candidate? Find another arguement

 

[Tigerx3]

People, I'm not claims we are in. I'm just saying let's wait and see. You might see more support than you're giving us credit for.