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Big 12 expansion

Halldan1

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Jan 1, 2003
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League wants four teams with focus on BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, per report​

Texas and Oklahoma departing left a huge hole in the Big 12 conference​


By Barrett Sallee


It appears as though the Big 12's expansion plans are coming into focus following the sudden departures of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC this summer. The Big 12's preference is to expand by four teams with a specific focus on BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, according to The Athletic's Max Olson.

The goal of the four-team expansion would be to push the league back to its original 12-member alignment with the four aforementioned teams combining to fill a portion of the vacuum created when the league's top two programs (Texas and Oklahoma) dropped the Big 12.

The Big 12 just wrapped up two days of meetings in which conference decision-makers focused on future membership.

"Following two days of consultation with the athletics directors of the continuing members of the Big 12 conference," commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Wednesday. "The eight ADs remain committed to furthering the Big 12 as one of the nation's premier athletic conferences, and look forward to working with our presidents and chancellors to strengthen the league. Future exploration by the group will continue to center on options that best position the long-term strength of the conference."

What does it mean for the Big 12? Here are some potential upsides as it decides its future membership.

Creating presence in key TV markets​

Adding the aforementioned four teams wouldn't fill the entire void left by Texas and Oklahoma. However, adding UCF would give the Big 12 a presence in the major television market of Orlando. Cincinnati, meanwhile, would bring more of a Midwest footprint to pair with West Virginia. BYU would add in the Salt Lake City, Utah, market and an international fan base. Houston, of course, would help the Big 12 maintain a strong presence in Texas, even though the most prominent team in the Lone Star State is leaving and the second-most prominent (Texas A&M) departed in the last round of realignment.

Television markets may not be driving this round of realignment, but major cities with passionate fan bases do make a difference when it comes to deciding which teams to add. It'll give the Big 12 a nice portfolio to sell to potential distributors -- both traditional and over-the-top streaming.

Maintaining high levels of competition​

The four programs being eyed by the Big 12 have achieved significant success as Group of Five members over the last decade. None of them have reached Oklahoma's level in terms of College Football Playoff appearances, but they have been every bit as competitive as the Longhorns, if not more so.

BYU and Cincinnati are coming off of all-time great seasons. The Cougars finished 11-1 with a No. 11 final ranking in 2020 and produced the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft, quarterback Zach Wilson. The Bearcats enjoyed an undefeated AAC championship run and fell just short against Georgia in the Peach Bowl. Coach Luke Fickell is considered one of the top coaches in the country and will almost certainly be a top target by Power Five schools once the coaching silly season starts.

UCF has also enjoyed success as a college football juggernaut. The Knights had three straight seasons of double-digit wins from 2017-19, going undefeated in 2017 and winning 12 straight games as a follow-up in 2018. Before that, Houston was the class of the AAC, going 13-1 and beating Florida State in the Peach Bowl during the 2015-16 season.

That high level of play is important if and when the 12-team playoff comes into existence. The current agreement, after all, is for the top six conference champions to receive an auto bid.

Building in recruiting advantages​

If the Big 12 is going to expand, it might as well help the conference as a whole when it comes to recruiting. Moving into cities like Houston, Orlando, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati would give each team in the conference a chance to play in front of a ton of high school players in talent-rich areas.

For example: Florida currently has 16 of the top 100 prospects in the Class of 2022, per the 247Sports Composite, while the state of Ohio boasts four and Utah has one. That's 20 of the top 100 prospects in the new states that they are reportedly targeting in addition to the 15 that are already in the state of Texas.
 
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Uconn punching air right now
 
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Gotta feel for the Big 12. They can only pick from what’s available but these schools aren’t even near the same level of Oklahoma and Texas and what they bring to the table.
 
No, they need to be in Florida.
Sure, what Midwest conference doesn’t need a southeast team? Same thing with the stupidity of a southern conference adding schools from the northeast and a Midwest conference adding East coast schools or an East coast conference adding Midwest schools.

If you’re good, people will follow you and watch you. It’s just a big money grab and conferences will get bloated with mouths to feed that contribute little to nothing.
 
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No, they need to be in Florida.

They sure dont. I don't watch Big 10 because Rutgers is in the league. I watch it because I love college football/basketball and tune in when they have games that interest me, like Minnesota Ohio State last night. No league should have teams a thousand miles from the main group.
 
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Sure, what Midwest conference doesn’t need a southeast team? Same thing with the stupidity of a southern conference adding schools from the northeast and a Midwest conference adding East coast schools or an East coast conference adding Midwest schools.

If you’re good, people will follow you and watch you. It’s just a big money grab and conferences will get bloated with mouths to feed that contribute little to nothing.
I don’t follow college football much but I do know that a conference on the brink needs to be in big media markets (Orlando, central Florida), fertile recruiting territory in addition to being competitive. UCF is one of the few they have to chose from that meet those criteria. Frankly I could care less but having lived in Big 12 country for quite a few years, nothing they bring in is going to remotely replace TU and OU, and for that matter Texas A&M from a few years ago. No matter what they do, the Big 12 will be below the current P5 level and above the AAC. And its next TV/media deal will reflect that reality.
 
. No matter what they do, the Big 12 will be below the current P5 level and above the AAC. And its next TV/media deal will reflect that reality.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

In terms of football, Big12 is now P5 in name only. They are cooked. Still a great bball conference though.
 
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punch-air-ashtray.gif


Uconn punching air right now

They wouldn't have gotten an invite over any of those four schools.

Plus, moving to the Big 12 in its current state doesn't solve any the main issue UConn faced in the American -- long and expensive road trips for non-revenue sports. They're still going to Kansas and Texas for road games and then you would add Oklahoma and Utah. You'd sub out all the southeast trips if UCF weren't included but there's still only one school, WVU, anywhere close to Storrs.
 
They wouldn't have gotten an invite over any of those four schools.

Plus, moving to the Big 12 in its current state doesn't solve any the main issue UConn faced in the American -- long and expensive road trips for non-revenue sports. They're still going to Kansas and Texas for road games and then you would add Oklahoma and Utah. You'd sub out all the southeast trips if UCF weren't included but there's still only one school, WVU, anywhere close to Storrs.
True but tv deal would be better. UConn due to its location, facilities and tradition is not a major football program. No doubt a great hoops program. It tacitly acknowledged this fact by joining the BE.
 
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Can we finally stop with having any concern whatsoever that UCONN is going to bolt the BE. It’s football program has been a joke for at least 3 years and barely competitive for the past decade. They are 0-2, lost to Holy Cross from the Patriot League and their coach just resigned. They make Rutgers look like a well oiled machine. When UCONN got passed over eight years ago it was fairly obvious that no one wanted them for football. It’s only gotten worse since then.
 
Much, much worse.

No one is seriously thinking they are going anywhere. Just football fans/bloggers who don’t have any sort of clue.

There is amazingly nothing favoring them - from geography to talent to support. They bring nothing.

As Phil Leotardo said, “There are no scraps in my scrapbook” …. That’s the only way to look at UConn football right now and going forward, at least as an FBS program.
 
True but tv deal would be better. UConn due to its location, facilities and tradition is not a major football program. No doubt a great hoops program. It tacitly acknowledged this fact by joining the BE.

I think the next Big 12 TV rights deal will be marginally better than what the American currently has but not enough to help offset the travel costs of being 1,000-plus miles away than all but two of your league opponents.

It's a moot point anyway. As you and others have noted coming back to the BE was UConn's concession speech on football glory.
 
I think the next Big 12 TV rights deal will be marginally better than what the American currently has but not enough to help offset the travel costs of being 1,000-plus miles away than all but two of your league opponents.

It's a moot point anyway. As you and others have noted coming back to the BE was UConn's concession speech on football glory.
Basketball is our religion - the Georgetown student who hoisted that sign after our Big East realignment got that right. Know your brand and build in it.
 
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