ESPN Reporting Memphis to Big East

[GreenN'walinsVet]

nfm

[PlummMeanGreen]

Not that surprised with this but moreso the timing of just how long it took the Big East to add Louisville's biggest rivalry albeit now appears as if the UL Cardinals may soon enough go to the Big 12.

Folks, if this doesn't knock the doors wide open for UNT to get a CUSA invite, then I have no hint of an idea as to what it will take; maybe some major changes from within at UNT in some personnel and a major philosophy, scheduling and marketing 180 degree turns, too?

GMG!

Edited February 8, 2012 by PlummMeanGreen

[All About UNT]

again...at what point does the CUSA get bled out to the point of not being very interesting? One of the things I liked about Memphis still being in the CUSA was an obvious huge attendance spike for having them in the Pit plus their football sucks so bad right now that Devry's B Team could beat them.

[shaft]

This is bad new for UNT's shot at the MWC/CUSA merger.

It's not that CUSA is "bled out". It's that the alliance is now at 16 and doesn't need another team.

Time for the SBC to go after LA Tech and UTSA and get to 12.

[NT03]

This is bad new for UNT's shot at the MWC/CUSA merger.

It's not that CUSA is "bled out". It's that the alliance is now at 16 and doesn't need another team.

Time for the SBC to go after LA Tech and UTSA and get to 12.

Agree, but I don't think we land Tech unless we drop Monroe.

[Harry]

Here's where we stand....

Mountain West (8)

Air Force

Hawaii (FB Only)

Nevada

UNLV

Wyoming

CSU

New Mexico

Fresno State

CUSA (8)

Southern Miss

ECU

Tulane

UAB

Tulsa

Rice

Marshall

UTEP

My best guess "for now" is that you would move UTEP over to the west; there is no reason to have ECU/USM and the eastern teams having to fly into El Paso anymore and UTEP has some rivalries they can renew there. That puts the Mountain side at 9 and CUSA needing to add two to get to 18. That gives you 8 conference games and 4 non-conference (you could mix in some crossover as well).

Another option might be to add more teams and get it to 20, 22 or 24...that would further insulate the conference from future poaching and would allow for better geographical matching.

[wardly]

i have spent way too much time googleing "Big East Expansion" thinking they wanted another "football only" school only to be blindsided by Memphis as an "all sports"addition to believe anything speculation i read. having said that, UTEP's AD said they were moving to MWC since SMU and Houston were leaving CUSA. this may change things. hope Harry is right. UNT and FIU would be good fits for CUSA.

[MeanGreenTeeth]

The C-USA/Mountain West is starting to look really really weak from a media market perspective. There is just not much population in most of these areas. I think they're going to have to risk adding some large market teams even if those teams haven't drawn well historically.

I think the following teams would be the only ones considered

UNT (5th largest market)

San Jose State (6th largest market. Does Fresno help cover this market already?)

FAU or FIU (16th largest market. No need for both)

Middle Tennessee (26th largest market)

Utah State (36th largest market)

San Antonio (37th largest market.

Hmmm....my take would be to take UNT and one of the FU's to get to 18 (move UTEP West). If 20 is possible, then I'd also add MTSU and Utah State.

Edited February 8, 2012 by MeanGreenTeeth

[Green Otaku]

The C-USA/Mountain West is starting to look really really weak from a media market perspective. There is just not much population in most of these areas. I think they're going to have to risk adding some large market teams even if those teams haven't drawn well historically.

I think the following teams would be the only ones considered

UNT (5th largest market)

San Jose State (6th largest market. Does Fresno help cover this market already?)

FAU or FIU (16th largest market. No need for both)

Middle Tennessee (26th largest market)

Utah State (36th largest market)

San Antonio (37th largest market.

Hmmm....my take would be to take UNT and one of the FU's to get to 18 (move UTEP West). If 20 is possible, then I'd also add MTSU and Utah State.

The problem is there is no rush to add us. Where else are we going to go?? If the merger goes through they could have a few years to work it out and see if they need the extra teams. There is no rush.

Now I'm sure they are running the numbers and seeing what all the options are but if we don't bring enough/the TV partners aren't pushing for it. we aren't going anywhere. That's just the truth.

If the Merger does happen the SBC needs to kill off the WAC. FBS going from 11 to 9 leagues is a huge boost for us and suddenly our conference gets more name recognition. The SBC could come out very well in the end if we can hold and add some teams.

Imagine

NMSU

UNT

ULL

ULM

LA Tech

stAte

WKU

MTSU

South Alabama

Troy

FAU

FIU

If NMSU is too far out west and I'm not even sure I would want LA Tech replace them with UTSA and TXSTSM, or mix and match any of those programs.

If I had my way I would want to push for something big and also get

Appalachian State

Old Dominion

not to mention it would and to accommodate our brothers in the west.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

See there. Attendance, long term football success, and helmet stickers are overrated. We're a shoe-in for the 12th Big 12 school next year.

[GreenN'walinsVet]

With all the CUSA defections and if they don't merge with the Mountain West is this still a better conference then the Belt? While there might be some name recognition with these schools is the conference long term viability better then where we are?

[SHOSS]

With all the CUSA defections and if they don't merge with the Mountain West is this still a better conference then the Belt? While there might be some name recognition with these schools is the conference long term viability better then where we are?

I was going to post the same thing...

The biggest attractions to cUSA were being on TV and SMU, Houston, and Tulsa... SMU and Houston are gone. Now Memphis is gone too, a former rival and the best basketball program.

Then what's left? Football you have Tulsa and Southern Miss. Both are extremely solid programs. But after that, what is there?

Do these 2 programs outweigh Arky State, the Cajuns, FIU, and Western KY? These 4 programs have built up to be pretty solid.

I guess we'll see what happens with the TV contracts. I suppose this is by far the most important factor yet to be decided with the merger and all.

Go Mean Green!

[forevereagle]

The problem is there is no rush to add us. Where else are we going to go?? If the merger goes through they could have a few years to work it out and see if they need the extra teams. There is no rush.

The rush is how they plan to make this work. They want to form a completely new conference and get a new TV deal. We are in one of the largest markets and would give them a significant boost in negotiations.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

--I am not sure what to think anymore.... I expected the Big East to fall apart somewhat but not to add SMU and Houston. That league is scattered all over American now. Very expensive travel for some and lots of times out of class for student/athletes. Considering this a a college league not pro... this is crazy. Is that league now stable???

---The Sunbelt is now overlapping with two conferences that have had real problems lately hanging on members.... CUSA and WAC. Again there are travel problems for some. It would not surprise me to see a lot of changes in these three...and maybe only two conferences survive and maybe not with the current names... CUSA now has teams with more recognized names than the Belt but not all that large and not unusually successful now. It does have members that are more regional with us...but not a lot else to offer.. not big crowds, not large alum bases. At this point I am predicting nothing other than things will change. Long term I am no longer convinced tht CUSA is any better other than getting more regional rivals.... too many teams have left it. It is a shell of its former self.

---SMU could not fill the stands with respectable crowds with opponents that were rather regional and contributing to the crowd.... The Big East teams will contribute almost none. This could get interesting.... they may have shot themselves in the foot with increased travel expenses as well... They will be begging regional teams to play them as non-conf foes to fill stands and increase their gate receipts..

..

Edited February 8, 2012 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[TIgreen01]

What a mess. What must Tulsa/Rice/Tulane be thinking? Tulane and Rice both recently (within the last 5-7 years) reviewed even keeping their athletic teams at the D1-FBS level. When you look at what is left of CUSA, what is in it for those guys anymore?? When Sun Belt teams can no longer look at that league and say, without pause, that it's definitely a better conference home, what about those schools that already struggled within it?

What if Rice, relegated to a conference with no more old SWC teams left in it, finally decides to end it's run in FBS football?

I agree with SE-66...I will predict nothing, other than more changes than what are currently on the radar.

Edited February 8, 2012 by TIgreen01

[greenminer]

ESPN confirms: Memphis has accepted.

[greenminer]

ESPN confirms: Memphis has accepted.

After all the hard work we do to get even a look, Memphis gets to the Big East on the heels of firing Tommy West (stupid!), living through the worst football program in the country, and a bball squad that shows nowhere near the life it had under Calipari.

UGH.

Edited February 8, 2012 by greenminer

[SMU2006]

Memphis has some mega-huge boosters that are highly influential (CEO of FedEx) and the basketball program is nationally relevant. The word on most of the Big East message boards is that adding Memphis was done in attempt to quell the fire about Cincinnati and Louisville leaving the conference. Pitino openly promoted adding Memphis long before there was talk of adding Houston, SMU, Navy, San Diego State, and Boise State. Memphis can turn their football program around if Fuentes (former TCU offensive coordinator) can recruit some local talent. Basketball-wise, while not what they were under Calipari, are still a solid addition to the conference.

I'm not thrilled about adding Memphis but if it helps in any way to keep Cincy and UL in line I'm all for it.

[Green Otaku]

The rush is how they plan to make this work. They want to form a completely new conference and get a new TV deal. We are in one of the largest markets and would give them a significant boost in negotiations.

Yes, and I am sure they are looking over it now. If we get chosen to move up we will, if we don't it proves that we aren't a big enough draw to justify splitting the pie up more. That unfortunately is the hard truth.

The way I see it its win win for us if we play our cards right.

1. The merger fails and CUSA/MWC want to get to 12 teams and we have a good chance with 8 spots available.

2. The merger goes through only if they need more members, we are selected.

3. The merger goes through with current members, or they add other teams that aren't us. The SBC expands to 12 or 14 and comes out strong. Now only 9 FBS conferences remain.

[Green Otaku]

With all the CUSA defections and if they don't merge with the Mountain West is this still a better conference then the Belt? While there might be some name recognition with these schools is the conference long term viability better then where we are?

The only value CUSA now has is Tulsa, ECU, and USM. To a lesser extent for us UTEP. I still think that those teams hold more name recognition than most SBC schools.

CUSA has truly been gutted.

Memphis has some mega-huge boosters that are highly influential (CEO of FedEx) and the basketball program is nationally relevant. The word on most of the Big East message boards is that adding Memphis was done in attempt to quell the fire about Cincinnati and Louisville leaving the conference. Pitino openly promoted adding Memphis long before there was talk of adding Houston, SMU, Navy, San Diego State, and Boise State. Memphis can turn their football program around if Fuentes (former TCU offensive coordinator) can recruit some local talent. Basketball-wise, while not what they were under Calipari, are still a solid addition to the conference.

I'm not thrilled about adding Memphis but if it helps in any way to keep Cincy and UL in line I'm all for it.

I hear from Memphis fans that their local radio reported that it was Notre Dame and Louisville that lobbied for Memphis to get in. I can almost bet that those schools both threatened to leave the BE if they weren't added.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Green Otaku