…and yet Rice found a path to go from CUSA to the P5 faster than we did.
IF Brands matter so much why are we seeing
Mid major “brands” get the P5 bump up all of a sudden?
Something is off
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They’re Cal. Except they’re in a state that actually cares about football.
Taking SMU, Rice and Tulane would only widen the culture fit problem of the AZ schools. ASU is not like Stanford, SMU, Rice and Tulane.
Actually think Rice would be a great add for the pac12. Fits their academic profile, trips to Houston, a major recruiting ground.
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Rice makes a hell of a lot more sense than SMU.
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Before we got the Big 12 invite, i was hoping Rice would get their act together because UH + Rice to the PAC would have been a perfect PAC Texas bookend pair
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If i were adding Rice, i’d add
Rice
SDSU
Tulane
Memphis
Rice and SMU are redundant
If anyone is familiar with Tony Altimore, the supposed data guru and Pac12 apologist. He’s turned anti big 12 of late.
Apparently, there’s a parody twitter account.
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Yeah I know
I don’t think UO and Washington have any leverage. In fact, if any group of the PAC come over to the B12 then what are WashOre going to do? Are they going to be in a conference with Cal, Stanford, and San Jose St? The MWC?
They are not in any position of strength. Are they going to tell the Big, “look how hot we are now!”? Stay in the denuded PAC and play against an average SOS in the 100’s? The longer they stay in this iteration of the PAC the weaker they get. Someone is going to wake up one day and say, “I gotta get out of this place before it collapses around me.”
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Lmao
Memphis in the PAC12 is the hottest take I’ve heard in a while
All of this is a hot take…
This is where the P5 is.
Memphis to the PAC is no crazier than Fresno State or Gonzaga to the Big 12
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Ya, this really is a bad look for them and the PAC. Worse yet, it grows worse by the day. Not a good look for the brand that rapidly tarnishes. Four corner schools have a ton of leverage over WashOre and the conference since it looks like BIG ain’t buying.
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What if the high academic schools have looked at NIL and unlimited transfers and decided that minor league athletics no longer serves any meaningful purpose for them. What if they decided they will offer scholarships (unlike the IVY) but only to worthy student athletes and to do that they have to create a conference if lije minded schools.
Stanford
Cal
Rice
Tulane
Service Academies
Etc.
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They haven’t found a path to the P5. And if they did, they wouldn’t be “faster” because we got a P5 invite first.
But that’s not happening.
As I said, if the PAC is truly and seriously considering Rice, one of the worst football/basketball brands in the FBS outside of the MAC……then they are REALLY in trouble.
If I were AZ, ASU, Washington, Oregon, or Utah……I would NOT be cool with that.
When a P5 conference starts considering brands like Rice, it sends ONE message to the rest of the PAC: RUN!!!
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Good point. However, autobid to the college football playoff gives Oregon and Washington leverage. They’d stay relevant with regular appearance in the finals.
Take that away, then they’d need to play in the big12 to keep up with the joneses.
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OU and Tulsa are not counter-examples of markets.
OU carries the flagship banner of a state with four million people in it.
Tulsa’s metro is comparable to that of Birmingham and not too far behind New Orleans. That’s not going to get you into a P5 but it is definitely why they got into the AAC and USM did not.
ECU is the only one that got into the AAC despite their market (lack thereof). The “lack thereof” is also a reason why they’ve largely been excluded from P5 conversations despite being near or at the top of the P5 in attendance. (Performance is another, though I don’t think winning more games would help as much as being in Charlotte would.)
No way in hell Memphis goes to the PAC.
Gonzaga to the big 12 would be just for basketball, so you can’t really compare. I don’t know where the Fresno to Big 12 rumors started.
ECU has a strong following throughout the Eastern half of the State. To say they are in a small market doesn’t accurately reflect the situation. As the third biggest in their respective states, I would say that ECU has a more visible presence in Raleigh, than Houston has in Houston.
Every student at a service academy is already on scholarship, They also get paid a monthly salary.
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