Thread: FedEx To Back Memphis Pitch To Big XII

Most people expected Cincinnati to be the leader in the clubhouse if/when the Big XII expands to um, (ahem) 12. But not os fast. The University of Memphis is getting a big boost from local business FedEx who implies they will get heavily involved financially with the Big XII if they'll let Memphis join the conference.

FedEx used to sponsor the Orange Bowl and could underwrite several things to help out conference coffers such as the conference championship game, the Big XII basketball tournament, maybe provide discounts to conference schools for FedEx services. Kinda sweetens the pot, doesn't it?

According to CBS Sports, the other schools who have made pitches to the Big XII are Central Florida, Houston and Colorado State. Often-discussed schools like Cincinnati and BYU have yet to do so.

Houston, despite it's on-field success, really has no chance since other Big XII schools already have a big presence in that TV market. CSU would bring the Denver market back to the conference. BYU brings the numbers of LDS fans as well as a presence in the Rocky Mountains.

Cincinnati puts a second school near West Virginia which puts two schools in the fertile PenWeVO recruiting fields (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio). Central Florida, likewise, gives the conference a showcase in the state of Florida and has ties to Disney which owns ESPN which owns the Longhorn Network.

But none has stepped up with corporate partnerships the way Memphis has. Geographically, they are in a good location. The community is solid enough to support NBA basketball and the Liberty Bowl, although old and dingy, can host over 60,000 for football.

Other than BYU and CSU, these are all presently in the AAC for football.

I saw somewhere, maybe it was a tweet that Memphis and Houston should be considered leaders in the clubhouse.

I'd like Colorado State to go Pac-16 if they ever move again.

What happens is, unless they join together, the first school in a state will try to block any other school in their state. IOW, Colorado would be the first people to object to CSU in their conference just as Utah would object to adding BYU. You never want to boost your in-state rival to your level. That's among the reasons why Houston probably doesn't get into the Big XII. It's all about tv markets and additional revenue.

I don't know why, but it irks me when conferences aren't set up well geographically. I hate WV in the Big 12.

All of the conference realignment is one of the main reasons I don't watch college football much anymore. The ever-changing rules, the watered down bowl system, the rivalries that have been broken up with realignment, the top-heavy favoritism that goes toward the SEC and traditional powerhouses. It's pretty much jumped the shark entirely for me.

I don't know why, but it irks me when conferences aren't set up well geographically. I hate WV in the Big 12.

I don't hate it as much as I find it odd, like "how do you build rivalries with schools you can't see without a plane ticket?"

If they add Memphis and Cincinnati, the conference map will look sort of like the Big Dipper (other than Iowa St.) and it will be a very competitive basketball conference. They no doubt would break up into two divisions again and it would almost surely look like this:

North Division:
Cincinnati
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas St.
Memphis
West Virginia

South Division:
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma St.
Texas
Texas Christian
Texas Tech

The South Division would dominate in football. I don't know how else you divide it up.

Originally Posted by OrangeHoof

I don't hate it as much as I find it odd, like "how do you build rivalries with schools you can't see without a plane ticket?"

If they add Memphis and Cincinnati, the conference map will look sort of like the Big Dipper (other than Iowa St.) and it will be a very competitive basketball conference. They no doubt would break up into two divisions again and it would almost surely look like this:

North Division:
Cincinnati
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas St.
Memphis
West Virginia

South Division:
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma St.
Texas
Texas Christian
Texas Tech

The South Division would dominate in football. I don't know how else you divide it up.

Invite Boise to the north....

Originally Posted by OrangeHoof

I don't hate it as much as I find it odd, like "how do you build rivalries with schools you can't see without a plane ticket?"

If they add Memphis and Cincinnati, the conference map will look sort of like the Big Dipper (other than Iowa St.) and it will be a very competitive basketball conference. They no doubt would break up into two divisions again and it would almost surely look like this:

North Division:
Cincinnati
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas St.
Memphis
West Virginia

South Division:
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma St.
Texas
Texas Christian
Texas Tech

The South Division would dominate in football. I don't know how else you divide it up.

Damn. No wonder Cincy hasn't requested.

The problem with Boise is that their other sports besides football are extremely weak and travel to/from there is not swift or simple.

I thought that said Bitch at first.

Would have been a better story.

Originally Posted by OrangeHoof

The problem with Boise is that their other sports besides football are extremely weak and travel to/from there is not swift or simple.

The other sports argument is false, with the exception of baseball. Boise consistently hovers around top 20 nationally in wrestling and gymnastics and competes in the PAC 12 in both sports.
Boise is also consistently one of the best teams in basketball in the Mountain West.

But let's be honest. None of this has anything to do with athletic competition. It has everything to do with television markets. Colorado is a giant dumpster fire and they got into the PAC 12 solely on the merits of the Denver tv market.
Boise would immediately be the football standard of the north division of the Big12 and would be highly competitive in other sports, but the Big 12 isn't intersted in that.

Originally Posted by Al Wilson 4 Mayor

The other sports argument is false, with the exception of baseball. Boise consistently hovers around top 20 nationally in wrestling and gymnastics and competes in the PAC 12 in both sports.
Boise is also consistently one of the best teams in basketball in the Mountain West.

But let's be honest. None of this has anything to do with athletic competition. It has everything to do with television markets. Colorado is a giant dumpster fire and they got into the PAC 12 solely on the merits of the Denver tv market.
Boise would immediately be the football standard of the north division of the Big12 and would be highly competitive in other sports, but the Big 12 isn't intersted in that.

Insert "Texas" for "Big 12" and this becomes more accurate. Texas is the reason, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M, all top athletic schools, all with decent to great television markets and all top academic schools, aren't in the conference and why West Virginia is.

Mo <3 the Longhorns

Originally Posted by Dapper Dan

Mo <3 the Longhorns

I'm speaking truths...

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

Insert "Texas" for "Big 12" and this becomes more accurate. Texas is the reason, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M, all top athletic schools, all with decent to great television markets and all top academic schools, aren't in the conference and why West Virginia is.

Which explains why the "Fleeing Four" have been so dominant in their new conferences. They're also-rans in their new conferences, just as they were much of the time in the Big XII.

Colorado (Denver) and Missouri (St. Louis and Kansas City) do offer tv markets. A&M added nothing to the Big XII's tv footprint but helps the SEC get into Texas. Nebraska was all about the former prestige of their football program which couldn't compete without partial qualifiers coming from California.