Memphis proposing lucrative offer to join Big 12, but it lacks support from conference leadership: Sources

[CL82]

"We're so proud of being an in the American conference that we just offered someone $200 million for a five-year lease so we could get the hell out."

 

[Orc]

I give Memphis points for trying. What is UConn doing?

Actively monitoring the situation

 

[Fishy]

If Fed Ex really decides to get serious they can buy Memphis way in . The 2 big shipping companies UPS and FedEx have a lot of pull in many circles both money wise and political.

No, they cannot.

Where do people come up with these things?

 

[Fishy]

This is biased, but what makes Memphis attractive other than FedEx money? Highest crime rate in the country, seems the BB program is always under scandal. FB program hasn’t done much, it’s a city school with low end academics. The whole school has a layer of grime on it. Bringing in Memphis feels like bringing a Casino into Darien. They got no choice but to pay up.

Nothing.

It’s an awful school in an awful city in an awful part of the country.

We already knew that no power conference even wanted to speak to them, but now we know that it’s so bad that you can put $250,000,000 next to Memphis and they’re still not pretty enough to date.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It really sucks college sports is in a place where a brand like Memphis has to offer 250 million dollars to even have a chance of fair competition. We better get comfortable.

I'm not sure what leads you to believe that Memphis, as a brand has any positive capital.

They had a three decade stretch (beginning in the late 1970's) where their football program had zero winning seasons. The flagship of their athletic department (men's basketball) has with very few exceptions followed quality seasons with sanctions for some violations.

They aren't a program that a conference of any substance would look at.

That said, from what I know about the bulk of the membership of the current BE, our conference would not turn down that financial offer.

 

[CL82]

They aren't a program that a conference of any substance would look at.

That said, from what I know about the bulk of the membership of the current BE, our conference would not turn down that financial offer.

Agree with both statements.

One wonders of Memphis would have made it it's $250 million play for big 12 membership if it didn't think it had a place to park it's basketball and Olympic sports.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I have been firmly anti-Memphis to big east but if they paid their way in I might be alright with it

 

[ZooCougar]

I have been firmly anti-Memphis to big east but if they paid their way in I might be alright with it

Their money is fugazi.

And there is no way they get into a conference without paying their way in now.

 

[MKH2317]

If it wasn’t obvious before it is now. UConn’s only hope of finding a conference home for football is joining a watered down ACC with Memphis and USF etc.

The ACC exit fee drops to a low of $75mill in 2030-31 so 2032 is the earliest that can happen.

Funny you should mention this. After this thread came up I took to chatGPT for some CR questions and answers. I requested concise, one word answers unless otherwise specified.
Will UConn get an invite from the Big12? No
Will UConn ever join another conference? Yes
Which one? ACC
When? 2030
With who? Likely Memphis, USF or WVU
Who will UConn replace in the ACC? FSU or Clemson
In 2030, which conference will be more dominant, the Big12 or ACC? Big12
Where will FSU and Clemson go? SEC

Just a robot but fun nonetheless. Seems like AI would agree with your prediction!

 

[ZooCougar]

Funny you should mention this. After this thread came up I took to chatGPT for some CR questions and answers. I requested concise, one word answers unless otherwise specified.
Will UConn get an invite from the Big12? No
Will UConn ever join another conference? Yes
Which one? ACC
When? 2030
With who? Likely Memphis, USF or WVU
Who will UConn replace in the ACC? FSU or Clemson
In 2030, which conference will be more dominant, the Big12 or ACC? Big12
Where will FSU and Clemson go? SEC

Just a robot but fun nonetheless. Seems like AI would agree with your prediction!

The robot doesn’t know about Rule 1.

 

[Kolumbo]

The Big 12 just got the Corner 4 windfall and whatever your opinion is of the Corner 4, it was a major coup. I personally think they were huge additions

The Big 12 isn't going to follow that up with Memphis. In terms of perceptions, that's like 4 steps forward, 5 back

UConn may not get a Big 12 offer but it is still a much better candidate than Memphis. All Memphis did was show desperation and rejection

$200 million in sponsorship. Big Pffffffft. It's not like each program is receiving a one-time $12 mill cash payment which wouldn't mean much anyway. I don't even know what that would look like. Free Fed-Ex commercials? That's BS. Money talks and BS takes the bus

 

[ZooCougar]

If you want to see a place that is fully off the rails and have some schadenfreude then check out the AAC and Realignmeny boards on csnbbs.

 

[uconndogs]

This whole thing amazes me. Memphis is willng to drop a quarter bil to get into a conference under a structure that currently doesn't have any control over payroll costs. So they want to make this "investment" without any way of knowing what the return (or more likely.....burn) will be. Major college athletics is fully off the rails. They are so far afield from academic mission on this it's sad. Decades ago the Ivies made exactly the right call.

 

[hank970]

This is biased, but what makes Memphis attractive other than FedEx money? Highest crime rate in the country, seems the BB program is always under scandal. FB program hasn’t done much, it’s a city school with low end academics. The whole school has a layer of grime on it. Bringing in Memphis feels like bringing a Casino into Darien. They got no choice but to pay up.

For sure, a flagship from a big, important state like Connecticut wouldn't want to join any conference with dreaded "city school" members like Boston College, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Miami, or Syracuse. That rules out the ACC and B12. Maybe UConn should sew up the valuable New England market by building and joining a new conference around a nucleus of state flagships like Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Maybe entice NY to declare a state flagship and add it. Grudgingly admit Delaware even though it's down the coast, and then invite some prestigious private schools like Bates, Colby, and a few others. Done!

 

[Kolumbo]

If you want to see a place that is fully off the rails and have some schadenfreude then check out the AAC and Realignmeny boards on csnbbs.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Agree with both statements.

One wonders of Memphis would have made it it's $250 million play for big 12 membership if it didn't think it had a place to park it's basketball and Olympic sports.

My thought was that the plan was to park those sports in the B-12.

 

[ZooCougar]

This whole thing amazes me. Memphis is willng to drop a quarter bil to get into a conference under a structure that currently doesn't have any control over payroll costs. So they want to make this "investment" without any way of knowing what the return (or more likely.....burn) will be. Major college athletics is fully off the rails. They are so far afield from academic mission on this it's sad. Decades ago the Ivies made exactly the right call.

It’s not Memphis’s money. They are broke. They only have a $340M endowment. You think they have $250M in cash?

What they had was some big corporations willing to spend money on advertising that they may have spent anyways-maybe.

It works out to being $3M a school a year if they actually were doling out cash. Which they aren’t.

 

[ZooCougar]

Only way we become appealing at all to the B12 is if we can firmly show some unique ability to capture NYC/NE market in FB and to give those hillbillies some excitement of traveling to NYC and Boston. Going to an airfield outside an insurance capital in New England isn't firing anyone from Oklahoma up.

I don’t care if we go 12-0 in FB next year, we have zero history and do not show any sustainability in the sport. If they were taking us for hoops they would have taken us already, Yormark has greased that pole. To me the only way to do is to show we can somehow be THE college football team of the NE. We have close to zero competition and Yormark seems to enjoy selling creativity.

If the ACC loses FSU/Clemson, it’s likely going to lose a lot more to the B12 and B10. We’ll be running with Wake, Cuse, BC and Pitt. It’s going to look like the AAC 2.0, only benefit being we get some local rivalries in a dumpster fire aftermath. Would really have to hope that Duke somehow gets left behind, otherwise I really don't know what the overall upside is over being in the BE for hoops.

So we should play in front 5000 people at MetLife?

Playing in Ames doesn’t move the needle for me.

 

[Fishy]

Their money is fugazi.

And there is no way they get into a conference without paying their way in now.

Huge issue.

Every conversation Memphis will ever have with a power conference, or perhaps any conference, will start with “In addition to the $250,000,000, what else are you offering?”

I want to start a business that sells something to the University of Memphis so I can fleece them.

 

[Jetskies]

though i have no data to back it up, i still think that it's an asset to have brett yormark as a (quiet) ally of ours. He can't make the powers move at this time, but as long as he is in the room and at the table of talks, he can influence in our direction.
That alone, is probably more valuable than us coming up with 200M dollars just to get embarassed on twitter.

I serioiusly hope DB and JM have made investments in that relationship, even if the Big 12 itself is not keen on us right now.

I agree with others that we're playing the long game here. sigh

 

[Ha Who]

though i have no data to back it up, i still think that it's an asset to have brett yormark as a (quiet) ally of ours. He can't make the powers move at this time, but as long as he is in the room and at the table of talks, he can influence in our direction.
That alone, is probably more valuable than us coming up with 200M dollars just to get embarassed on twitter.

I serioiusly hope DB and JM have made investments in that relationship, even if the Big 12 itself is not keen on us right now.

I agree with others that we're playing the long game here. sigh

Calling them hillbillies does not help. The only thing worse would be to call them deplorable.

 

[Vowelguy]

If you want to see a place that is fully off the rails and have some schadenfreude then check out the AAC and Realignmeny boards on csnbbs.

Dont you mean the American board?

 

[Vowelguy]

Calling them hillbillies does not help. The only thing worse would be to call them deplorable.

If negative comments about other schools on a message board were enough to get you shunned by a league, every conference would have 0 members.

 

[Ha Who]

If negative comments about other schools on a message board were enough to get you shunned by a league, every conference would have 0 members.

 

[Jetskies]

Calling them hillbillies does not help. The only thing worse would be to call them deplorable.

what is this referencing? never heard of that

 

[Jetskies]

Huge issue.

Every conversation Memphis will ever have with a power conference, or perhaps any conference, will start with “In addition to the $250,000,000, what else are you offering?”

I want to start a business that sells something to the University of Memphis so I can fleece them.

if i understand correctly, the 200M/250M isnt a "gift" to the conference; it's an advertisement package. right?
If i got that right, then, who KNOWS what the terms of that money were....

"the Big 12 Conference brought to you by FedEx"
"FedEx Big 12 Championship Game"
"Fedex Field at Univ of Memphis, a Big 12 Institution"
"FedEx" logos plastered all over the place at all B12 FB/BB games and in the bball tournament

not seeing people talk about that aspect, which makes the money way less attractive...
I'm assuming that the Big 12 has no interest in tying its pockets and contractual obligations that hard to a city like Memphis, which beside some near-term cash, does nothing to elevate the profiles of its current member schools.

I think that aspect makes the rejection way less embarassing to the univ of Memphis. or maybe it's even more embarassing. idk.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Their money is fugazi.

And there is no way they get into a conference without paying their way in now.

Their leadership is totally to blame for them now looking in the eyes of the whole country as a turned down prostitute.

 

[Vowelguy]

Meanwhile on the west coast,

PAC to Memphis:

 

[uconndogs]

It’s not Memphis’s money. They are broke. They only have a $340M endowment. You think they have $250M in cash?

What they had was some big corporations willing to spend money on advertising that they may have spent anyways-maybe.

It works out to being $3M a school a year if they actually were doling out cash. Which they aren’t.

My point being, how do you justify spending that money (the University's or donors) to enter a conference where you have no idea what you will need to spend to be competitive? It's absolutely crazy to me to see where this has gone.

 

[bendm]

If the ACC loses FSU/Clemson, it’s likely going to lose a lot more to the B12 and B10. We’ll be running with Wake, Cuse, BC and Pitt. It’s going to look like the AAC 2.0, only benefit being we get some local rivalries in a dumpster fire aftermath. Would really have to hope that Duke somehow gets left behind, otherwise I really don't know what the overall upside is over being in the BE for hoops.

I’d sign up for the ACC minus the 6 biggest brands (ND, Clemson, FSU, Miami, UNC, Duke) right now. Would still be worth more than the $5mill/year we’re getting from the BE and we’d rekindle the old rivalries with Cuse, Pitt, Lville, VT. Absolutely Nothing wrong with UVA, GT, NC St, SMU etc. UConn football fans have a certifiably insane superiority complex if they think we’re better than all of them.