As far as teams, I've always liked Memphis. They have the financial backing and are geographically the right fit
I'd take Uconn and cincy. Uconn is garbage at football that'll be an easy W
If there is a market there to actually support five conference members, then perhaps four isn't enough.
Regardless of whether or not this specific speculation is true, I imagine it's only a matter of time before the conference expands (which, in a way, is unfortunate because I like the round-robin schedule, no matter how much it puts Iowa State at a competitive disadvantage). When it does, I think Cincinnati is a slam dunk for one of the spots. Size, geography, endowment, and facilities are all working in their favor. Fan support is a bit tepid, but not terrible, and you'd figure it may increase playing in the Big 12.
Who gets the other spot (assuming we stop at 12) is going to be very interesting. BYU and UConn would add the most money and have the best fan support, but are pretty far flung geographically, and there are cultural "fit" issues to consider with BYU, as well.
Memphis or USF/UCF would be the long-term investment options for the conference. Memphis would fit nicely within the geographic footprint and has a ton of potential room to grow (especially with FedEx in the area providing possible funding). Gameday facilities aren't a concern, playing in the Liberty Bowl and the FedExForum. Both USF and UCF's enrollments have skyrocketed, and if their growing alumni base gets more emotionally/financially invested in their sports teams, they could be very nice additions, but again, a bit outside our existing geographic footprint.
I don't see Colorado State or Boise State happening - both have pretty significant negatives to overcome (geography for both, facilities and fan support for Colorado State, academics/size/money for Boise State). Northern Illinois, while a nice location for the conference to expand, simply has too much work to do facilities/fan support-wise to merit a place in a major conference right now.
Houston would also fit in well from a location aspect and definitely has a lot of growth opportunity, but I don't see the conference adding another mid-tier Texas school. That also crosses SMU off the list, who would definitely be behind Houston in the pecking order. Tulane, while great academically, is not a realistic candidate athletics-wise.
Other people in other threads have said this but no way those in the other half would allow the 'south' to be so stacked. More likely would be ISU or KU opposite Conn to even out the mediocre football.
As I've said repeatedly: BYU as football only solves a lot of problems. No Sunday scheduling headaches plus we could keep round robin basketball with eleven teams. East-West divisions in football could be arranged so that BYU & WVU don't have to worry about crossing two time zones very often.
But by all means, carry on with the UCONN basketball wet dream. Because that's what's driving realignment: basketball.
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It wouldn't be about evening out the divisions it would be making Texas & OU happy. Both of which want to play the Texas/Oklahoma schools every year. Some would call that the Texahoma Division.
The league also probably figures it leaves little chance for the Texahoma champ to be beaten in the CCG giving it an easier path to the playoffs.
As I've said repeatedly: BYU as football only solves a lot of problems. No Sunday scheduling headaches plus we could keep round robin basketball with eleven teams. East-West divisions in football could be arranged so that BYU & WVU don't have to worry about crossing two time zones very often.
But by all means, carry on with the UCONN basketball wet dream. Because that's what's driving realignment: basketball.
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Don't you think you should call Bob instead? I'm sure once he hears your case, he'll fast track it.
Got him on the phone right now as a matter of fact- I'll let him know Ribs says hi. :wink:
My only fear is that Hawkeye games are hidden in the big 10 network. Cyclones are on espn. I dont want to be hidden away on a specific network in the 600s.
What about just reorganizing the divisions every two or four years to keep balance. Odd ranked go to one division, even to the other. Setup rivals on an as needed basis
North/South has 0% chance of happening. And OU/Texas have to be put into opposite divisions no matter what they say. More money in a rematch.
If they keep winning they'll stay on ESPN. This would replace the early games on Mediacom and cyclones.TV.