Big Ten Expansion

[UK]

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?

Barring something bad, UK will have the '11 #1 recruiting class.

I know Memphis is starting from scratch and Pastner has done a great job in a limited amount of time & with that said, any realignment that occurs will be at some point soon, too soon to where one can say Memphis will be considered a basketball powerhouse even with the great recruiting class and the amount of one and dones allowing young teams like Memphis and UK to do well despite the inexperience.

I mentioned Calipari coming to UK and changing the face of recruiting in the SE b/c obviously Memphis was setback by his sudden departure of him and his staff and Pitino faces another recruiting foe in either Calipari (who out-recruited him at Memphis) and now Pastner. Once Memphis rebounds as they will next year, the amount of one and dones it's a double-edged sword and one every program faces. UK and Memphis wouldn't have the top classes had they not been rebuilding given the avail. schollies but at the same time if they keep having this, while getting top classes, it turns over too much.

[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.

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?

Cincinnati and Louisville seem to be good options.

[StL Dan]

I have to tip my hat to Mike Alden for admitting as much:

By Vahe Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/16/2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. — If he had it to do again, University of Missouri athletics director Mike Alden probably would have refuted speculation over the prospect of Mizzou's willingness to join the Big Ten Conference rather than allowing the perception that something may be in the works. That's part of the dynamic that contributed to destabilizing the Big 12 and left MU coaches and fans squirming as the conference stared at oblivion.

"By us not coming out and reinforcing the message that we have not received an offer from the Big Ten or that we needed to focus only on what we're doing in the Big 12, certainly I can understand how that would fuel the desires and the angst of our fans," Alden said after a news conference Tuesday.

Not to mention Big 12 brethren, which MU could have soothed as recently as the Big 12 meetings two weeks ago in Kansas City.

"I think by not coming out firmly at that time, as other schools didn't as well, I think that just continued to fuel the speculation," said Alden, who went as far as to acknowledge the posture was a mistake before adding a caveat. "Yeah, I do. I think that's part of the thing. ... I don't know if it's necessarily a mistake. Maybe it is. But it's just the unfortunate thing that happens in these type deals."

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[Socnorb11]

I have to tip my hat to Mike Alden for admitting as much:

By Vahe Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/16/2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. — If he had it to do again, University of Missouri athletics director Mike Alden probably would have refuted speculation over the prospect of Mizzou's willingness to join the Big Ten Conference rather than allowing the perception that something may be in the works. That's part of the dynamic that contributed to destabilizing the Big 12 and left MU coaches and fans squirming as the conference stared at oblivion.

"By us not coming out and reinforcing the message that we have not received an offer from the Big Ten or that we needed to focus only on what we're doing in the Big 12, certainly I can understand how that would fuel the desires and the angst of our fans," Alden said after a news conference Tuesday.

Not to mention Big 12 brethren, which MU could have soothed as recently as the Big 12 meetings two weeks ago in Kansas City.

"I think by not coming out firmly at that time, as other schools didn't as well, I think that just continued to fuel the speculation," said Alden, who went as far as to acknowledge the posture was a mistake before adding a caveat. "Yeah, I do. I think that's part of the thing. ... I don't know if it's necessarily a mistake. Maybe it is. But it's just the unfortunate thing that happens in these type deals."

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In the grand scheme of things, I doubt if it would have changed the outcome.

[StL Dan]

I have to tip my hat to Mike Alden for admitting as much:

By Vahe Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/16/2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. — If he had it to do again, University of Missouri athletics director Mike Alden probably would have refuted speculation over the prospect of Mizzou's willingness to join the Big Ten Conference rather than allowing the perception that something may be in the works. That's part of the dynamic that contributed to destabilizing the Big 12 and left MU coaches and fans squirming as the conference stared at oblivion.

"By us not coming out and reinforcing the message that we have not received an offer from the Big Ten or that we needed to focus only on what we're doing in the Big 12, certainly I can understand how that would fuel the desires and the angst of our fans," Alden said after a news conference Tuesday.

Not to mention Big 12 brethren, which MU could have soothed as recently as the Big 12 meetings two weeks ago in Kansas City.

"I think by not coming out firmly at that time, as other schools didn't as well, I think that just continued to fuel the speculation," said Alden, who went as far as to acknowledge the posture was a mistake before adding a caveat. "Yeah, I do. I think that's part of the thing. ... I don't know if it's necessarily a mistake. Maybe it is. But it's just the unfortunate thing that happens in these type deals."

MORE

In the grand scheme of things, I doubt if it would have changed the outcome.

Maybe not, but, best practices are best practices. Loose lips can and do sink ships.

[JL21]

In the grand scheme of things, I doubt if it would have changed the outcome.

As far as where they ended up, I agree. But now you've got a disgruntled fan base who had an expectation of getting out from under Texas' thumb, and instead they're back under Texas' thumb for ten more years.

[Socnorb11]

In the grand scheme of things, I doubt if it would have changed the outcome.

As far as where they ended up, I agree. But now you've got a disgruntled fan base who had an expectation of getting out from under Texas' thumb, and instead they're back under Texas' thumb for ten more years.

OK. I wasn't aware that that was the perception.

Couldn't Missouri still look for other options, or are there just none available?

[JL21]

Couldn't Missouri still look for other options, or are there just none available?

Theoretically, there are a lot of options that could come up later, including the Big Ten. But the Big XII has built in a huge fee for departure such that it makes it very prohibitive to leave for another conference.

[cardsfansince82]

What do you mean by under Texas' thumb?

[JL21]

What do you mean by under Texas' thumb?

Texas gets the big dollars in the conference- they're the prime source of the financial inequality in the conference. They're also the reason the Big XII championship has moved to the JerryDome. Basically, Texas dictates Big XII policy.

And there's a huge double standard when it comes to Texas. The same rumors about Texas to the Big Ten were floating around as there were about Mizzou. But nobody made any deadline demands that Texas re-affirm their commitment to the conference the way Mizzou (and Nebraska) had to.

Frankly, the way UT bullies the Big XII was a pretty big factor in Nebraska running off to the Big Ten. Or in the very least, it created enough animosity that Nebraska was willing to listen when the Big Ten dumped all that money on Nebraska.