Today’s roundup has the Big 12 choosing expansion/teams before the season starts, an article from Pete Thamel trying to guess why the Big 12 is doing what it’s doing, a homerific Memphis article when it comes to ranking expansion candidate athletic programs, and the question of “Why not Navy?”
Big 12 prefers to decide on expansion teams before start of 2016 season
From being undecided on expansion to most expecting them to hold tight at 10 to suddenly considering four teams, the Big 12 is now moving forward with gusto
Dennis Dodd
Seeking clarity: The key questions in the Big 12 expansion movement
Pete Thamel
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/07/28/big-12-expansion-questions-revenue-television-markets-media-rights?xid=si_social
The motivator of this round of Big 12 expansion is just like every other round of expansion. Money. It’s a straight financial play. One wise veteran of realignment said that making an average of about $100 million extra per year, as the Big 12 is slated to do, is like getting TV network money without adding a TV network. The Big 12 would get that money, essentially, if it added four intramural programs.
Big 12 expansion, examined: Focus on athletic programs
For Memphis, it’s not a strength, but signs point to it becoming one. Hiring Justin Fuente was a turning point for the football program and the university’s lobbying efforts to find a Power Five conference home. Fuente, who had Memphis in the New Year’s Day bowl discussion last season, became the first Memphis coach to leave the program for a better job since the mid-1970s. The recent hiring of men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith, who won a national title at Kentucky in 1998, is a plus, too. In this category, BYU and Cincinnati have the edge, but Memphis, UConn and Houston aren’t far behind.
Note: I guess the author is just going to forget that Memphis’s final run under Calipari in 2008 was vacated due to issues with Derrick Rose’s SAT scores or that their previous Final Four run in 1985 was also vacated due to criminal violations. Big 12 may take notice of that.
Sports Comment: Big 12 would be wise to consider Navy football as an expansion candidate
Immediately, speculation began as to which schools the Big 12 Conference would be interested in acquiring. Several American Athletic Conference members have been mentioned prominently with Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut at the top of the list.
Which begs the question: Why not Navy?
If the Big 12 is willing to accept a football-only member, it would certainly make sense to consider the Midshipmen.