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

[ConnHuskBask]

My problem with Fred Smith (?) as some sort of super booster is that he will only step up if Memphis is in a BCS/P5 conference. Otherwise he doesn't really care that much? What kind of super booster is on the sidelines the last 20 years?

It's the same exact bs we read for a decade when they were attempting to get into the real Big East. Also known as the best Basketball league of all time, which is in Memphis' wheelhouse.

If they didn't step up then, how can anyone reasonably assume they are going to step up now.

I'm like beside myself that these teams were emergency adds to the Big East after the raid of WV, Pitt, Cuse, Rutgers and Louisville and in two seasons have sone how seemingly erased decades of futility and passed us overnight.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I would be surprised if Memphis is a realistic candidate, their academics are terrible.

True, their academic rep is so bad that ny comparison Cougar High looks like Cougar Community College

 

[dr.holiday]

So are Louisville's, Cincy's and Houston's and West Virginia's

Cincinnati is actually a pretty good research university. They also have an endowment of 1 billion.

 

[CL82]

Iowa State is a NO.

As for Chip Brown's whispers, he says Memphis is in.

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

 

[upstater]

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

Twice their president has highlighted the geography issue for Olympic sports, and once he specifically mentioned UConn.

 

[uchusky32]

-2, the B12 allows BC and Fl St to cast votes.

 

[Dooley]

Rule 1

It's truly amazing that CR Rule 1 applies each and every time. Every time - new metric. This round's new metric: corporate bribe money. Unreal.

 

[CallMeBruce]

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.

Let's get a few things straight about travel. The Big 12 doesn't even sponsor lacrosse, so there are, in fact, no lacrosse flights to Storrs from Big 12 country. In fact, let's get specific about which sports would end up in the Big 12.

Football - One game most weeks is manageable to almost anywhere.
MBB/WBB - A fair amount of travel, but these are revenue sports and the travel isn't much worse than in the American already. Any Big 12 team would be traveling to UConn for basketball maybe once a year.
Baseball - Already a ton of baseball travel as it is, largely mitigated by the fact that they play 3 games series most of the time.
X-Country - travels a handful of times a year to a few large meets. Travel is largely unaffected.
Golf - travels to a few tournaments all around the country as it is. Travel is largely unaffected.
Rowing - travels to a few races a year. Travel is largely unaffected.
Tennis - travels around the country as it is. Our team spent a week in California last year.
Women's soccer - This one might be a little annoying, but again, you're still talking about 1 trip a year.
Volleyball - already travels to Big 12 country regularly. Again, it might be one trip a year for visitors.

We have easy access to a mid-sized international airport. There is no reason for travel to prevent the Big 12 from picking the best academic, athletic, and financial option for themselves.

 

[JSM1970]

They are but their undergrad is lousy, and aren't those the ones the athletics apply to

Cincinnati is actually a pretty good research university. They also have an endowment of 1 billion.

 

[Dooley]

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.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Twice their president has highlighted the geography issue for Olympic sports, and once he specifically mentioned UConn.

Well the good news is that ISU (maybe TTU) may be the least important school in the conference, so the fact that they mentioned us means that someone more important has pushed for us.

 

[CL82]

Twice their president has highlighted the geography issue for Olympic sports, and once he specifically mentioned UConn.

What? It's 1200 miles, just a walk in the park Kazansky.

I think it is managable. Track and field/cross country occur at a single location with multiple schools. They might end up at UConn once ever 10 years? Same with swimming/diving and gymnastics. Football, men's and woman's basketball, soccer and baseball (which Iowa State doesn't offer, but they do have woman's volley ball.) So really you talking about travel only when you are playing nationally recognized teams (Basketball and soccer). Not a bad trade off.

 

[CL82]

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.

We, of course, are not, so there's that.

 

[UConn Dan]

I think we have 6 right now.

I think we can flip TCU with the Del Conte connection if forced hard enough, and then maybe Baylor comes along for 8. I don't think Texas wants to travel far, and NYC market probably doesn't appeal for them (I think NYC market appeal has a greater impact on WVU, the Kansases, Iowa State and the Oklahomas) . Although Iowa State has previously mentioned travel as a concern, I think they are more concerned about adding another Texas school and I think academics do matter to them.

I think if it's 2 schools and they focus east (as they should), UConn and Cinci are the adds. If the focus on brands alone, it has to be UConn and BYU. But the politics and the geography thing, I just don't see how we get in unless they add 4.

#PrayFor4
#RuleNo.1
#NutKickComing

Texas-no
Texas Tech-no
TCU-no
Baylor-no
Iowa State-yes
Oklahoma-yes
Oklahoma St-yes
Kansas-yes
Kansas St.-yes
WVU-yes

 

[Excalibur]

Five:

Texas-no
Texas Tech-no
TCU-no
Baylor-no
Iowa State-no
Oklahoma-yes
Oklahoma St-yes
Kansas-yes
Kansas St.-yes
WVU-yes

Ultimately I think ISU falls in line. The problem is that I think we only have two "strong" supporters (WVU and OK), so I fear that they may trade their support for us for something else they want . . .

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think TCU is a yes, Iowa State is a no. Still at 6.

Our problem may be that we are no school's #1 choice.

 

[Exit 4]

Five:

Texas-no
Texas Tech-no
TCU-no
Baylor-no
Iowa State-no
Oklahoma-yes
Oklahoma St-yes
Kansas-yes
Kansas St.-yes
WVU-yes

Ultimately I think ISU falls in line. The problem is that I think we only have two "strong" supporters (WVU and OK), so I fear that they may trade their support for us for something else they want . . .

Yes, but hopefully and its the only way, the TX schools will trade their votes for something else too - UH.

At the end of the day, this is about being a good partner to FOX and FOX will want some combination of Cincy/UConn/BYU/and one of UH/directional FL/UM/Temple or Tulane. FOX has to scare them straight.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

It's truly amazing that CR Rule 1 applies each and every time. Every time - new metric. This round's new metric: corporate bribe money. Unreal.

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.

 

[MattMang23]

Was in Lawrence, and according to people in the KU AD, Big 12 schools have not voted on any schools yet.

Probably not officially until they have a consensus on who's being invited. But I would be utterly shocked if preliminary votes haven't been taken to gauge where people are at. You can't really bargain and negotiate things if you don't have an idea where the other side stands on an issue to begin with.

 

[amory]

Probably not officially until they have a consensus on who's being invited. But I would be utterly shocked if preliminary votes haven't been taken to gauge where people are at. You can't really bargain and negotiate things if you don't have an idea where the other side stands on an issue to begin with.

This. They're only going to "officially" vote when they know what the outcome is going to be.

 

[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.