I'm starting to like the idea of Tulane as #12 for the conference

[isuno1fan]

Maybe last resort but there are better options.

Notre Dame is not likely to come. BYU ship has sailed. Rutgers wants ACC or B10. Cincy and S. Florida are not appealing overall as institutions.

Tulane makes sense. You have to open your mind a little bit.

[isuno1fan]

What happened to their old stadium?

Here is the history:

Tulane Football Stadium

[isuno1fan]

Here is the history:

Tulane Football Stadium

Link didn't go there...go to bottom of linked page and click "old tulane stadium".

In short, they demolished it in the mid 70s in favor of the Superdome.

[HFCS]

Who do you have in mind that brings a large amount to the table?

BYU is a money maker in unique ways. Every other realistic team has positives and negatives but the big positive is 12 teams and a title game when all other conferences are moving to 12, 14 or 16.

I agree with others that outside of BYU and Louisville, Tulane could bring more in some ways in terms of potential than schools like S. Florida or Cincy. BYU obviously has weirdness in some ways.

My realistic choices (read no ND or SEC/B1G/ACC defections) would be:
1. Louisville (by far)
2. tie: BYU/Tulane they're both gambles in different ways that could be big payoffs
4. South Florida
5. Cincy, we have enough winning basketball programs, their negatives may not be worth another good hoops team
6. SMU or Houston (kind of a last chance for 12)
7. Boise State, only if for some very strange reason Louisville is out and BYU is in

[isuno1fan]

BYU puts the conference into 3 time zones. That is not appealing for scheduling. Not to mention BYU comes with alot of baggage (special requests/demands) that does not allow for conference unity. I think the BYU ship has sailed.

[nickcyv]

Tulane is my choice for the 12th school as well.

[Wx4Cy]

No frickin way. They are terrible and would bring NOTHING to the table.

Wasn't long ago that folks were saying that about ISU....Just sayin'

[Sigmapolis]

Let me see about Tulane...

AAU member = good.

Other members in the Big 12 include Iowa State, Kansas, and Texas. Hence, Tulane would actually be, academically, better than most of the rest of the conference.

Association of American Universities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Total enrollment = about 12,500

That would be the smallest in the conference, as Baylor is about 15,000 or so. This includes Louisville as the eleventh member before then near 15,000 as well.

Academic endowment = $888.5 million

They have a medical school, so they're kind of cheating on that one, but Iowa State's is about $500 million, so they have us beat on that one.

Football by the Sagarin rankings:

Tulane (174, 135, 141, 148)
ISU (34, 65, 66, 114)
KU (90, 119, 62, 31)

Yeah... they're going to need some work in that department...

MBB:

According to Sagarin, Tulane was 94 in basketball last year. That was better than Texas Tech and Texas A&M in the Big 12. That was also better than TCU, though I do want to say that Louisville and West Virginia both have very strong basketball programs on the whole.

I think, actually, I'm on the side of the OP here. They look like a good addition. They also expand the footprint of the media markets. I think it would require some sort of understanding between the rest of the conference and Tulane itself on putting a much greater emphasis on athletics--particularly on football--than what they have had it in the past, but I think they seem a peer institution with a lot of potential to compete. I would certainly welcome something like...

Big 12 North
---
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Louisville
Oklahoma
West Virginia

Big 12 South
---
Baylor
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas
Texas Tech
Tulane

[HFCS]

BYU puts the conference into 3 time zones. That is not appealing for scheduling. Not to mention BYU comes with alot of baggage (special requests/demands) that does not allow for conference unity. I think the BYU ship has sailed.

BYU = highest financial positives and highest logistical negatives.

That's why Louisville is a clear #1 over them.

I agree now that we already added an Eastern Time zone team it tips the scales away from BYU and toward more outside of the box schools like Tulane. If there's a reason later on to push for 14 teams maybe then BYU/BSU make sense as an add to a west/east 7 team division makeup. The Pac 12 is clearly not interested in BYU/BSU so it's like they are there as a way down the road future option. In 5-10 years the independent thing might look great for them, but more likely they'll want in the B12 or Big East more seeing teams like Utah, TCU and BSU blowing by them as an athletic department.

Is the ACC the only BCS league that's all in one time zone? I think it is. The B12 was in one time zone...for one year :-)
B1G - 2
B12 - 2
SEC - 2
Pac 12 - 2
Big East - 4

[NWIAclone]

Tulane is my choice for the 12th school as well.

+1 Totally agree.....
We AAU "academic types" need to stick together.

[CycloneRulzzz]

When is the new stadium going to open? I know the Superdome is too big but I'd be down for making the trip if ISU even went there to play Tulane. We are sure as **** are never going to be in the Sugar Bowl.

[isuno1fan]

Let me see about Tulane...

AAU member = good.

Other members in the Big 12 include Iowa State, Kansas, and Texas. Hence, Tulane would actually be, academically, better than most of the rest of the conference.

Association of American Universities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Total enrollment = about 12,500

That would be the smallest in the conference, as Baylor is about 15,000 or so. This includes Louisville as the eleventh member before then near 15,000 as well.

Academic endowment = $888.5 million

They have a medical school, so they're kind of cheating on that one, but Iowa State's is about $500 million, so they have us beat on that one.

Football by the Sagarin rankings:

Tulane (174, 135, 141, 148)
ISU (34, 65, 66, 114)
KU (90, 119, 62, 31)

Yeah... they're going to need some work in that department...

MBB:

According to Sagarin, Tulane was 94 in basketball last year. That was better than Texas Tech and Texas A&M in the Big 12. That was also better than TCU, though I do want to say that Louisville and West Virginia both have very strong basketball programs on the whole.

I think, actually, I'm on the side of the OP here. They look like a good addition. They also expand the footprint of the media markets. I think it would require some sort of understanding between the rest of the conference and Tulane itself on putting a much greater emphasis on athletics--particularly on football--than what they have had it in the past, but I think they seem a peer institution with a lot of potential to compete. I would certainly welcome something like...

Big 12 North
---
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Louisville
Oklahoma
West Virginia

Big 12 South
---
Baylor
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas
Texas Tech
Tulane

Very good comments. This move would be a stick in the SEC eye at the same time after they have poached A&M + Mizzou. A lot of folks would mock it initially, but history shows Tulane can be a very good program with the right emphasis and resources. All indications are they are ready to refocus on athletics as well.

I think a bet on Tulane might be a bet that pays back highly in a few years.

[gwoodclone]

Small private school, zero fans, awful at both football and basketball, even the desperate Big East didn't want them...Well, I suppose we could use a new Baylor, now that Baylor has decided to start being good at sports.

[MeanDean]

Deja Vu

Didn't we already have a huge thread on this some time ago?

I vote no.

If they're not good enough for the SEC I don't think it makes the big 12 look anything but desperate to go after them. Then again, we were pretty desperate after A$M and Mizery left...

[Boomer]

Tulane biggest positive are AAU status & increased footprint. I'll welcome them in with open arms as number 12. Would become our Vandy, would take them a decade to get up to snuff in everything but baseball.

you got to look at them as how the Big12 would present them: Academic School, new commitment to athletics


PS: Need to look at what Rice is doing right now. Rice & Tulane are two AAU schools in the footprint who are taking major steps to make themselves attractive

My bottom line feeling is that the 12th school will be a AAU school. That pool is Rice,Tulane,Rutgers