Big Ten Expansion

[Faceman]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

[redbirdjazzz]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

++ That seems really excessive. Also, the $10M was from a private donor, not the amount the school would pay for the privilege.

[Faceman]

Have you seen Memphis' recruiting class? I don't think Memphis is worried.

Oh and there is the ticking time bomb that is Cal / NCAA / Sanctions.

Most Memphis fans are ecstatic with the team is headed now, considering Cal pretty much tore the team up on his way out of town.

They've had a great recruiting class in 2010 (2nd to UK), that doesn't equate to them being where they were under Calipari unless it is C-USA aided at this point.

Anytime you had someone like Calipari into the same region as Memphis, UL, & UT it is a serious recruiting blow to those other schools.

Were they not CUSA aided when Calipari was at Memphis?

You are comparing Memphis with Pastner to Kentucky with Cal, which isn't the proper comparison. You said Cal leaving was a serious blow to Memphis. They didn't get the '09 class (wall, cousins) but that was to be expected. They did get the number 2 class in '10, which is a better ranking then anything Cal did in Memphis.

If landing the number 2 class is "a serious blow", there are a number of teams that would take that blow, in a heartbeat. And a good kid (vs. the eventual vacating of wins that Kentucky is looking at) at coach is just icing on the top.

[Faceman]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

++ That seems really excessive. Also, the $10M was from a private donor, not the amount the school would pay for the privilege.

The talk is that it would be from FedEx or their management. Basically a repurposing of their Orange Bowl sponsorship.

[redbirdjazzz]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

++ That seems really excessive. Also, the $10M was from a private donor, not the amount the school would pay for the privilege.

The talk is that it would be from FedEx or their management. Basically a repurposing of their Orange Bowl sponsorship.

I stand corrected. Thanks Faceman.

[UK]

Were they not CUSA aided when Calipari was at Memphis?

You are comparing Memphis with Pastner to Kentucky with Cal, which isn't the proper comparison. You said Cal leaving was a serious blow to Memphis. They didn't get the '09 class (wall, cousins) but that was to be expected. They did get the number 2 class in '10, which is a better ranking then anything Cal did in Memphis.

If landing the number 2 class is "a serious blow", there are a number of teams that would take that blow, in a heartbeat. And a good kid (vs. the eventual vacating of wins that Kentucky is looking at) at coach is just icing on the top.

Sure, they and it helped Calipari and Memphis pad win totals being in a weaker conference. With that said, the SEC isn't great either by any stretch.

Memphis would've had the best recruiting class in almost 20 years had Calipari stayed. Memphis would've had the best recruiting in '10 had Calipari been there and had the best class in '11 had Calipari been there.

There's no doubt Memphis isn't as strong as they were under Calipari. Ask Calipari how it is easier to recruit when the cabinets are bare, he was able to stockpile last year b/c the roster was basically gone minus Patterson and Memphis capitalized on the same thing this year as did UK again.

[Faceman]

Were they not CUSA aided when Calipari was at Memphis?

You are comparing Memphis with Pastner to Kentucky with Cal, which isn't the proper comparison. You said Cal leaving was a serious blow to Memphis. They didn't get the '09 class (wall, cousins) but that was to be expected. They did get the number 2 class in '10, which is a better ranking then anything Cal did in Memphis.

If landing the number 2 class is "a serious blow", there are a number of teams that would take that blow, in a heartbeat. And a good kid (vs. the eventual vacating of wins that Kentucky is looking at) at coach is just icing on the top.

Sure, they and it helped Calipari and Memphis pad win totals being in a weaker conference. With that said, the SEC isn't great either by any stretch.

Memphis would've had the best recruiting class in almost 20 years had Calipari stayed. Memphis would've had the best recruiting in '10 had Calipari been there and had the best class in '11 had Calipari been there.

There's no doubt Memphis isn't as strong as they were under Calipari. Ask Calipari how it is easier to recruit when the cabinets are bare, he was able to stockpile last year b/c the roster was basically gone minus Patterson and Memphis capitalized on the same thing this year as did UK again.

I can't speak to '11 - those classes aren't nearly full. Won't be for another year.

As for Memphis not being as strong - Calipari stripped the bone clean. Pastner is rebuilding almost from scratch. If you are saying that Memphis two years ago was better than today, that's a no brainer. It's also a completely unfair comparison, apples to oranges. We should probably wait and let Pastner get his team running before you bury the program.

You are comparing a program in it's run to a program having to restart. Why? And what does Kentucky have to do with conference realignment / expansion anyway?

[StL Dan]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

++ That seems really excessive. Also, the $10M was from a private donor, not the amount the school would pay for the privilege.

Divide 10M by 10 teams....pocket change for letting a school that has ZERO football (aside from D'Angelo Williams) contributions to the college world. Remember, this thing is all about football. And, the conference already has two teams that blow - ISU and KU. Why add another for a measely 10M?

100M...10M per... might be worth it to Texas and the member schools. 1M per? No friggin way.

[redbirdjazzz]

I heard that there was a private individual who has offered $10M to any BCS conference that will take Memphis. If the Big 12 could snag Memphis and maybe Louisville, they'd be a basketball powerhouse on par with anybody, and grab some new TV markets.

Memphis would have to offer the B12 100M before Texas would even consider inviting them to be a member institution.

Uh. . what? $100M? On what basis?

++ That seems really excessive. Also, the $10M was from a private donor, not the amount the school would pay for the privilege.

Divide 10M by 10 teams....pocket change for letting a school that has ZERO football (aside from D'Angelo Williams) contributions to the college world. Remember, this thing is all about football. And, the conference already has two teams that blow - ISU and KU. Why add another for a measely 10M?

100M...10M per... might be worth it to Texas and the member schools. 1M per? No friggin way.

Even if it's only $1M/school for Memphis, they'd probably add another school in order to retain a football championship game, so they'd get money from the other school and from the game. What schools do you think they should add? I was looking at student populations (both Memphis and Louisville are over 20000), and geography mostly. What non-BCS schools with good football programs are there in the midwest?

[Leroy]

South Dakota State University.