Last weekend UCF lost a heartbreaker to Penn State in the final seconds of the game. And it got me thinking about something I’ve thought about for a while. Should the Big 12 look at USF and UCF as possible additions to the Big 12?
I know a lot of you are probably thinking…UCF? USF? Seriously? But hear me out:
1. Two schools with huge student bodies.
2. Schools that are in Florida! I personally love Orlando…visit there all the time. But even if Orlando or Tampa aren’t you’re cup of tea, Miami isn’t far off. So it could make for a nice trip.
3. Both schools have actually shown that they can recruit the talent to have some success even though they’ve always been in small conferences.
4. Whatever deficiencies they have in terms of facilities would likely be bridged quickly once the major conference money starts rolling in. Additionally, the energy it would add to the alumni would probably bring in a ton of additional donations.
5. It would add a couple schools in the east to at least be on the same side of the country as WVU.
6. But the biggest reason in my estimation is to simply open up a new recruiting base for the Big 12. A lot of folks thought it was ridiculous for the Big 10 to add Rutgers and Maryland but after reading some remarks it’s clear that the Big 10 recognized that, among other things, they needed to add more fertile recruiting territory for their schools. Recruiting is the life blood of a program. A school and a conference have to win to be relevant and recruiting is the engine that makes that possible. With TAMU, Colorado and Missouri leaving, Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 lost a lot of recruiting territory. Adding some Florida schools could help bring that back. And my guess is it would only be a matter of time before UCF and USF would be able to raise their brand strength to the point that it would bring in additional money for the conference.
7. The Big 12 would have a conference championship game again.
If you think I’m crazy for suggesting that the Big 12 should add UCF and USF for long term stability and growth…I’ll leave you with something that’ll really trip you out. I think the Big 12 should also consider adding…Tulane. I’ll let y’all think on that and roast me in the comments section 🙂
62 Comments
Ray Ray is still committed to Clemson
Good lookin out Tyler! I just asked his mentor and apparently his account was hacked.
Hard for me to argue that! Better than BYU and Cincinnati…
I may be slightly biased though…I live in Savannah, GA and that would mean I’d see my Sooners every year 🙂
Savannah seems BEAUTIFUL! Watched a documentary about the restoration of the city that started with a lady back in the 50s who wanted to preserve the old architecture. Really cool story and place. Haven’t had a chance to visit myself but had family go recently and they loved it. Sorry…off topic 🙂
Dang…. where did all the GA sooner folks come from? I though I was the only one.
How about adding all 4…and getting us to the number of other major conferences. BYU would bring brand strength and finances and a new recruiting ground….Cinci also adds a close rival for WVU and their fan base is top knotch…I went to the OU/Cinci game a few years back and everyone was great! I’m also from Georgia…a little west in Claxton, and would love to see the Sooners in Florida every year but would settle for every other year with adding just UCF and then maybe taking a Tulane to open up Louisiana for recruiting too! anyway we could flip a school from another conference? maybe say an Arkansas?
I could live with that. Though I’m not sure I’d like the way the scheduling looked with a 14 team conference.
The problem with adding those 4 is that they don’t add value to the TV contracts we have. If we added FSU & Clemson when we had the chance, we could have renegotiated our contract up so the per team payouts wouldn’t have been affected. Football non-powers like Cincy, Tulane, UCF, and USF don’t bring that value. We’d lose money and we’d lose prestige, what little we have left by adding these programs.
Chances are they’d probably flounder at the bottom like TCU and WVU did when they joined. I’d love to add Arkansas, but that’s a pipe dream. They’re not leaving the SEC.
JB, short term I agree with you but let’s look at the other side of the fence. When we went to the big 12, who was OSU/Baylor/Kansas State/Mizzou/TT/ATM. None of those teams added any value. However, look at them today, they are powers and making big, big dollars. Seems like our best last year, Baylor got their clock cleaned by one of these no value schools. Build with a vision not an acquisition. Trust me, there are plenty of schools who don’t want to play these two Florida schools. Clemson & FSU were pipe dreams and they were never going to leave. Arkansas doesn’t care if they win or not, they still got Wal-Mart money. No urgency, it’s sad really. I’m really bummed we lost Mizzou & ATM. Made gor a great “regional” conference and we could travel with little problems.
I would love to see the Big 12 at 12 members again. How would the reduction in revenue share
affect the current members and could that be made up in the future?
I didn’t look into the numbers but my guess is contractually it would hurt in the near term but I still feel like long term it’s going to pay financial and other dividends down the road.
As for revenue sharing, I’d think that these kinds of schools would have their shares ramp up over some period, perhaps 3-5 years. I don;t recall the actual trigger requirements, but the conference should be able to immediately rebid its TV contract, and would probably have a net plus, especially in the earlier years.
From the get-go I’ve been preaching for the Big 12 to add Cincinnati & Louisville. Adds a bunch in football & even more in basketball; provides a bridge & natural rivalries to build with WVU; opens up fertile Ohio recruiting grounds. Big 12 missed the boat with Louisville all due to their short-sighted greed. They could still pick up Cincinnati & also add UCF. This would accomplish all of the above goals, with the added benefit of getting a toe-hold in Florida for recruiting. It also would add a tremendous population base (read TV sets) in Orlando/Miami.
Cincinnati would certainly fit in terms of adding that coveted Ohio recruiting area.
My exact feelings I suggested UCF and Cincy several months ago. I guess the powers to be had rather go visit Lubbock.
Baylor wants no part of UCF.
My question on UCF is, how good are they going to be when O’Leary retires? Has USF done anything since Leavitt was canned?
Agree. If I could pick two Florida schools to be in conference it would be Fla. St. and Miami, but that ship has sailed for now.
The only problem with Tulane is that almost everyone in Louisiana is an LSU fan. Even in New Orleans. They see Tulane as filled with students imported from other states. Great school, very pretty campus though.
Winning football would change that in New Orleans fairly quick
I think, if they get into a major conference, then their status and desirability goes way up. They will elevate to another level as a program to have sustained success.
The big 12 made a mistake staying with 10 teams when Louisville and Pitt would have added plenty and helped wvu out with not having to travel halfway across the country for every road game. I think adding uconn and Syracuse would have been nice also. That would have been 14 plus the acc would have been the conference on the ropes, which meant Miami and fsu could have been in the market for a new conference. But I like the idea of ucf and usf. I just don’t think it will happen.
And I think I understand why you suggest Tulane but how many TV sets would that bring? That’s the big deal for the expansion is media market size and TV sets and that’s why I’m still confused why the big 12 wasn’t thinking of trying to gain all those northeastern tv markets by adding uconn, Syracuse and Pitt. Btw Louisville isn’t a bad market at all, they had the highest rated market for watching the nba draft and no immediate nba team, and I don’t recall them having players selected in the first round.
The Big 12 wasn’t thinking of adding any additional teams/TV markets b/c the AD’s & presidents were blinded by dollar signs. They like splitting the Big 12 TV contract 10 ways & don’t like the idea of a smaller piece of that pie. Nevermind that adding additional schools (and TV markets) will make the pie bigger over time. In the long run, they were stepping over future dollars to pick up dimes now.
This is true and they didn’t capitalize on their success in the early 2000s like the sec did from 2007- now.
Interesting – (losing Louisville was a mistake)
I had the UCF discussion with my OU friends when TCU and WVU were added. I suggested it but the argument I heard in return was understandable. Student population and alumi size would be major advantages, but the endowment at UCF is something like 1.5% of the endowment of Texas and 10% of the endowment of TCU. USF is around 6% of Texas and 40% of TCU. Endowments don’t have much to do with football prowess, but it does speak to the university’s ability to properly fund the athletic program and the facilities needed to compete. The TV market is nice, but how many people tune in to see UCF and USF? Even optimistically, it would take years for the TV ratings to come around. I think the TV market, the school size, the recruiting base, and the alumni base is all in place for both of these schools to explode on the scene but it would take a leap of faith on the part of the Big XII schools and a little patience for the facility upgrades.
I personally would like the Big XII to add SOMEBODY and the UCF/USF combo may be the best option available in the near future. They really messed up passing on Louisville.
I don’t like the addition of Tulane. New Orleans is a nice fan destination and it gives OU a foot in Louisiana, but it would almost be like adding Memphis or UAB. Nothing there but the location.
K, it makes the most sense. I thought we would get Cincy & Louie but some of the lesser schools in Big 12 would lose major dollars adding more schools. Since they are lost, I love the idea of the Florida schools. Since TCU & WV joined, look around, OSU, UT, Baylor and now OU are adding major upgrades. TT added an indoor facility so I would think if the Florida schools join, it would be a matter of time before they saw improvements. If that was announced, the Florida schools would be selling a lot more season tickets at a higher rate.
Recruiting – We all know the studs that are in Florida and it would be huge. it would help us with more kids in the SE and would help upgrade ALL BIG 12 schools with that talent.
Big 12 network – I realize we have tier 3 rights but it’s BS. Only UT & OU have spent the money to have this access and it doesn’t help us that much. Since we have an agreement with the SEC to play some bowl games and now basketball, would it make sense to pitch the Big 12 network to ESPN so we can play on their field. They could enhance the drama between ACC/SEC/Big 12. ESPN wins all the way to the bank and Natty’s.
Championship game – I didn’t like these before but we “have” to play on an even field since everyone else is doing the same. Add these two teams and we have a East/West division. We would be a major player again.
The spoiler, University Presidents who say these schools aren’t up to the acedemic standards of the BIG 12. That is the Acedemia talking whereas they all know it would be a cash cow. Thanks K.
I think not adding Louisville and Cincy was the 1st mistake. Not sure I’d want two Florida schools, but I could probably be talked into it. And honestly, it’s probably better for the success of one Florida school in the Big 12 if we did add another.
I’ve always found it funny that the same OU fans that used to rip other conferences for not having Conference Championship football games (PAC-10, Big 10, etc), are now the ones saying the Big 12 doesn’t need it. I disagree. The first time the Big 12 has a one loss team going up against a one loss team from the PAC-10 or the Big 10, or any other conference with a Championship game, and that team just won their conference tourney, the Big 12 is likely to lose out to that team in regards to making the Playoffs, UNLESS the Big 12 team just happened to play a tougher OOC schedule/team.
Add two more teams. Commit to keeping the league around. Even the playing field. And I really don’t think the cut going to each team would decrease much, given what the Florida market would bring in, as well as the conference championship game.
Super K…I won’t roast you on UCF or USF. I don’t think either is Big 12 worthy, but to open up recruiting in Florida and expanding TV market share makes more sense. It sure made a lot more sense than some of the schools that were bandied about during the realignment craze, like Louisville and Cincy and, yes, Tulane. None of those 3 makes much sense and waters down the conference. Right now, the Big 12 has the 2nd highest payout per school behind the Big 10 for the TV contracts. There just aren’t any teams left that can add enough value to increase the TV payout. Those two Florida schools probably give the best chance, but I still don’t see it. The Big 12 blew it when they had a chance to get FSU, Clemson and Miami…but Dodds screwed that up trying to court Notre Dame.
The only programs left that can add value in my estimation are the 2 independents…BYU and–if anyone could ever convince them to join a conference–Notre Dame. I don’t see that happening either. So, in 2025 when the TV contracts are up, maybe the ACC, SEC and Big 10 will realize that they have too many members and need to cut back. THEN, we might be able to grab a couple of teams.
Where OU really screwed up was tying itself into a knot with Oklahoma State. We should have shed that albatross long ago and gone to the PAC-12 when we had the chance, whether Texas came along or not.
While the PAC12 has some allure for traveling fans, great destinations, etc, it also has some serious negatives, from a TV eyeball perspective. Too many evening games that are simply too late for east coast viewers. Like it or not, that is where the money is coming from. Texas wanted badly to make the B1G and wants OU to go with it–for very selfish reasons. If they went to the B1G and we went to the SEC, they would loose too many recruits that won’t want to play in cold weather, much less snow. They’d most likely end up being the 3rd top choice for recruits. Boren also wanted the B1G as his first choice, otherwise the PAC12. Until the current playoff system is expanded, having 5 conferences competing for 4 slots is just a bad fit. Yes the B12 has made not one, but four or five strategy blunders.
Pac never wanted us unless UT came along. Pac was using us to get UT, didn’t happen. I don’t think it’s such a bad deal to stay with OSU. Look at what happened to UT & ATM – that’s not good for anyone. .
Big 12 lost due to the dominance of Deloss Dodds and the weak spine of Beebe. In addition, Doods illusion of luring in ND & FSU. Also, the tier III broadcasting rights was a cluster. OU was a part of that mess too.
I hate to say this but the SEC, PAC, & Big 10 all played as a team. Big 12 was a me first conf which was it’s downfall. Now that the dust has settled and the Big 12 schools are more aligned, we need to add the Florida schools and then go to ESPN and try to get a fat contract for THE BIG 12 NETWORK. We could’ve been 1st to do this but again, we effed that up too. ESPN may want some of this due to the Florida schools. Waiting around gets you run over in this day and age, change with the times and you will stay with the times. It’s a business and if you are stagnet, your done.
Chasing ND is & was a mistake. That caused the B12 to miss out earlier on FSU and Clemson when we had the chance. Adding these two schools would be them the 2nd an 3rd largest in the B12 in terms of students. USF plays their games in an NFL stadium, and USF just completed their stadium a 45K venue that would most likely be expanded if they came into the B12. We never should have added TCU, it was too small and added nothing other than convenient travel to the conference. This conference has lost CO/TAM/MO and NE while the PAC12, B1G and SEC plotted expansion, preying on the weak (BE + ACC + B12). We play terrific fb, but in all we have the smallest foot print, the smallest # of TV eyeballs and will have w/i 3yrs the smallest payout of any Power 5. Our mistake was by design–a weak commissioner and strong presidents that piddled while other ate our lunch. Being married at the hip to TX and OSU is not good for us. Baylor only recently is B12 worthy, but is ISU or KS? The FB money is too big now and there are schools already in the Power 5 that I predict will not be in this or other P5 conference in 6-8 years. In fact, at this rate I’m not so sure that more schools might not become members of multiple conferences, sport depending.
Big 12 worthy. Hmm, do you think we are viewed as an elite conference? Louisville, water it down? The year they would’ve come into the conference they won a BCS bowl over Florida, both basketball teams played in the finals, boys winning. Baseball team went to the finals in CWS. If that is watering down the conference than I hate to see where OU come in.
The payout was only for a little while. The big 10 and now the SEC blow it away. We are the lowest of the 5 majors.
BYU – You want them to dictate how the conference is run? They have their rules and the Big 12 would have to work around them. We don’t play on Sundays, etc. It would be scheduling nightmare for an AD.
You actually think FSU, Clemson, & Miami would come to the big 12 with UT bossing everybody around? No way, those AD’s talk and no one wants to be associated with UT.
Money, there are three tiers to make money for a conf. ESPN Tier 1 TV rights, Tier 2, Fox TV right, Tier 3 Individual rights. Tier 3 is where the conf screwed up. If we would have done the Big 12 network in 2010, we would’ve been the first and all teams make a ton. Now we don’t have a conf channel, think that helps in recruiting and money? If we got together and went to ESPN, maybe they would take us in since they would be making money off of us.
So many mistakes but the big 12 can make up ground if they get the Florida schools. We are not an elite so we can’t pull in elite teams. The big 12 will have to build up their brand and have exciting football. When we go to bowl games, we would show our strength.
Both of these schools would be a net plus to the B12, but neither would be a natural rival for WVA as they’d be each other’s rival. They are both in recruiting hotbeds, and some of the FL and SEC schools will no longer schedule them because they are TOO GOOD. Take these two, and there is still room for Cincinnati. It’d be good to get into the Ohio recruiting hotbed.
I wish had added Louisville to get to 11 a few years ago, then we could add UCF now and be done.
I agree. Very good sports school in a lot of different sports.
Recruiting. Recruiting. Recruiting. Anytime you can add another fertile recruiting ground to your conference, you do it. Good post, K.
As a football fan I agree with you 100% but how much stock do the controlling heads of a University put into recruiting ground? I think the priority for them is revenue dollars and educational reputation. Of course the best of both worlds is adding teams that are in a big TV market and also bring something to the table in academics as well as respect from the major sports networks who ultimately determine the value of a team (sadly).
UCF states they are the 2nd largest in student population plus Florida has some of the best high school athletes in the country. Nothing against Iowa State but Orlando in November would be nice.
My second choice would be Cincinnati. Nice town to visit and they are a sports town
Both metropolitan areas boast a million or more people.
Orlando and Cincinnati would certainly help W. Virginia.
Not sure-but could have an East/West division and deep down I still feel this ad-hoc committee for 4-team playoff will penalize the Big 12.
Also Ohio has some of the best high school athletes in the country.
I’m sure our coaches would love to sell recruits in Florida and Ohio about coming to OU.
Just got in from granson’s out of town football game. It seems everybody agrees the Big 12 needs to add a couple more teams.
Isn’t there an old saying like: “while Nero fiddled-Rome burned”. The Big 12 seems to be doing the same thing.
Even though it would open up florida recruiting, its still going to be hard to get the top flight guys out of there with florida, miami, FSU and the rest of the SEC hitting it. Not sure its worth it if they are costing each current big 12 team a couple million a year, if they cant bring in enough revenue to keep everyone at ~20 mil.
Big 12 title game im not too worried about. In the history of college football, the team who wins game 1 of a same season rematch, only wins game 2 50% of the time. So you have a 50% chance of guaranteeing you dont get into the playoff with a loss. I dont think OU would add an additional 50% chance to make the playoff with a win, because in seasons we are good enough to make the big 12 title game, we are good enough to make the playoff without the extra win. Risk dosent match the reward.
Tulane = NOLA and anything thing that opens that recruiting door should get more than a passing glance, BUT while were at it lets go crazy and add not only UCF, USF, Tulane but also Houston, Memphis, Conneticut, and Cincinnati and drop Iowa State! A SIXTEEN TEAM DIVISION! One division woulld be all the new teams added, except Houston, plus Kansas and West Virginia. The remaining teams of OU, OSU, Kansas St, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU and Houston. We would call the first division the “Basketball Division” and the Second Division the “Football Division” (with some pretty good basketball teams as well) We then have a recruiting base that covers all of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Lousiana, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Conneticut, and Ohio and criss crosses almost all of SEC country and Pennsilvania which has pretty solid high school football. Not to mention as I kind of elluded to already this is hands down the best Basketball Conference in the Nation Bar None!!! Crazy but Fun!
Since we are tossing out some crazy ideas, how about Nebraska? Seems like their B1G experiment hasn’t gone well. Nebraska and USF? Call me crazy, but Tom should maybe get a phone call when we are ready to expand.
I agree with UCF or USF but I would like to attempt to pick into the ACC as well. Say a Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech, all it does is add to the recruiting grounds as well. And why stop there? Lets get to 14 teams all in the east to relieve travel for wvu. UCF, Miami, Louisville, Virginia Tech? Who knows, it’s a pipe dream anyways. Good article in the Oklahoman about what we should have done 7-8 years ago. http://newsok.com/the-big-12-conference-should-have-listened-to-kevin-weiberg/article/5338213
If we’re going to go after ACC, then go after FSU. But I think that ship sailed a couple of years ago.
What do you see as the major barriers to this actually happening? Have you heard of any real desire to seek additions for UCF and USF? I agree that it’s not only good, but essential to preserve the Big 12 as a conference.
K, while I don’t think your crazy I don’t think this is the right move. A few of reasons why I don’t think this works.
1. The move of mid major type conference teams moving into power conferences has not worked. AKA TCU,WVU, and UTAH. Though WVU had one good season they have not sense then.
2. The reality is that conference alignment is about 1 thing…..$$$$$$$$. UCF and USF do not bring in money, and they don’t make a TV channel want to purchase air time.
3. One thing that I hate and think is brilliant about the SEC is that they brought in teams with some type of tradition. This mainly applies to A&M but Mizzou has had some recent history to run with. Then the SEC uses all those (BIG 12) traditions as their own and as a part of the SEC hype. Like playing the Mizzou vs. Kansas game from a few years back as a SEC historical game on the SEC network. Also lets be real, they didn’t add Mizzou for recruiting ground, but because it was a decent power conference team and name.
4. If the Big 12 is going to go after teams, then go after Nebraska, for after FSU and Clemson where the ACC is not strong and get them in a conference that when they win it will be locked in to make the playoff. Heck lets talk to Michigan State, Oregon State, or Washington. Those teams aren’t great but they at least have more name recognition than UCF or USF. I think we need to go after 2 teams in seperate regions to add more TV area, and that again have a good name and decent tradition to bring with them.
Just my thoughts.
Nebraska will never again play in the same conference with Texas, as much as most fans want it to be, Nebraska got pissed and I don’t think they’re over it yet.
I don’t disagree with you at all but just throwing ideas of teams with a little more substance than UCF and USF
But lots of things have changed at Texas, Ray, and Nebraska NEEDS to be in a better conference. Sooner or later I think they move somewhere.
What makes you think this? I think they are a better fit in the Big 10, personally. And I don’t see any way they ever come back to the Big 12. The Big 12 isn’t going to be able to lure any team out of a major conference, except maybe the ACC. But nobody is going to leave the SEC, the Big 10, or the PAC 12 for the Big 12. Just not going to happen.
I live in Orlando. Thus, I’ll stick to discussing UCF. UCF is the second largest school in terms of student body population. They have something close to 48,000 students, just at the Orlando campus. The total enrollment is closer to 60,000 if you count the satellite campuses. UCF is largely a commuter school, there isn’t that much on-campus housing. Most of it is student apartment complexes just outside the campus. Thus, there are a lot of people in and around the area who would go to football games.
Also, the campus is beautiful. A lot of the buildings are new. The stadium is new, but small and not exactly what most people might associate with a college football stadium. It’s a really large high school stadium, built almost entirely out of aluminum. It’s not bad, just not a stadium commensurate with the big boys.
The reasons for bringing UCF into the Big 12, for me, are as follows:
They are playing some of the big boys and currently doing well.
They have talented players and, on average, are probably better than Iowa State and Kansas.
They would probably respond well to more of the big boys coming to their house.
They have a lot of potential fans to be made and could grown, if they showed up well and consistently.
There is a big UCF enrollment that could support the team.
The reasons for not bringing UCF into the Big 12, for me, are as follows:
UCF is in Orlando and few people are actually from Orlando, even Central Florida.
Most of the people who live in Orlando are fans of other teams than UCF. Lots of people from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Puerto Rico, and so on.
Most people in Central Florida are fans of Florida or Florida State, not UCF (or only passingly a fan of UCF). Case in point, I went to the UCF vs. Rutgers game last year. It was on ESPN and the stadium wasn’t even full. Yes, it was Rutgers, but it was at night, on ESPN, and the student section wasn’t even full. See the picture of kickoff below.
While there is a big TV audience in Central Florida, I don’t think they are watching UCF games.
It might be difficult for UCF to generate a lot of money for the conference. They may generate more than Iowa State and Kansas, however, because they’d actually win game and go to bowls more often than not.
I live in Orlando. Thus, I’ll stick to discussing UCF. UCF is the second largest school in terms of student body population. They have something close to 48,000 students, just at the Orlando campus. The total enrollment is closer to 60,000 if you count the satellite campuses. UCF is largely a commuter school, there isn’t that much on-campus housing. Most of it is student apartment complexes just outside the campus. Thus, there are a lot of people in and around the area who would go to football games.
Also, the campus is beautiful. A lot of the buildings are new. The stadium is new, but small and not exactly what most people might associate with a college football stadium. It’s a really large high school stadium, built almost entirely out of aluminum. It’s not bad, just not a stadium commensurate with the big boys.
The reasons for bringing UCF into the Big 12, for me, are as follows:
They are playing some of the big boys and currently doing well.
They have talented players and, on average, are probably better than Iowa State and Kansas.
They would probably respond well to more of the big boys coming to their house.
They have a lot of potential fans to be made and could grown, if they showed up well and consistently.
There is a big UCF enrollment that could support the team.
The reasons for not bringing UCF into the Big 12, for me, are as follows:
UCF is in Orlando and few people are actually from Orlando, even Central Florida.
Most of the people who live in Orlando are fans of other teams than UCF. Lots of people from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Puerto Rico, and so on.
Most people in Central Florida are fans of Florida or Florida State, not UCF (or only passingly a fan of UCF). Case in point, I went to the UCF vs. Rutgers game last year. It was on ESPN and the stadium wasn’t even full. Yes, it was Rutgers, but it was at night, on ESPN, and the student section wasn’t even full. See the picture of kickoff below. That’s a 45,000 person stadium and there was about 30,000 people there.
While there is a big TV audience in Central Florida, I don’t think they are watching UCF games.
It might be difficult for UCF to generate a lot of money for the conference. They may generate more than Iowa State and Kansas, however, because they’d actually win game and go to bowls more often than not.
First let me say that I am all about getting back to 12 teams because I think somewhere down the line not having a conference championship game is going to come back to haunt us. I would have to go with UCF and Cincinnati for stability reasons and yes for Florida recruits but we have a stronger fan base in Ohio than most might think and it could allow us to draw a few more players away from the buckeyes.
I think it would be sweet. Road trip to FL for football…. BOOMER!
May be just me, but I think we should seriously (try to) show some clout and go for adding Arkansas; hoggies shoud have always been a part of Big 12. If you could convince Nebraska to come back too, wow! Nebraska and Arkansas would fit in perfectly, and add great rivalries. If Nebraska said no, or in lieu of them completely (since they already screwed us once anyway) go after Kentucky! Arkansas and Kentucky would bring great fan bases, money, and television sets, and stretch towards West Virginny…
*would absolutely LOVE to shock the country and see the Big 12 poach from the SEC (I know right?). Those guys can’t ALL be happy over there!
My wish list:
1. Arkansas
2. Kentucky/Nebraska
3. Virginia/Virginia Tech
4. Cincinnati
5. BYU
6. USF/UCF
7. UNLV
8. San Diego St.
And thanks K, I dig conference expansion talk! lol
Seems like Nebraska would be an option sooner or later, but being in the SEC is about all Arky fans have going for them these days.
After seeing this, I would say the Big 12 should add 3 teams: Fresno State, Cincinnati, and UCF. This would give us pipeline into the largest talent pools in the nation.
I understand Tulane because of the recruiting ground but imo that might turn us more into a mid major conference (we’re getting there now anyways though). I love the UCF/USF deal, I’ve argued it since realignment started. I also would mind Cincy because of the Ohio grounds. If you do BYU and Cincy, then make WVU play BYU every year at jerryworld or KC then you’d have something. BYU just brings a ton of money, so that might alleviate the loss with the 12 school split instead of 10. The neutral site obviously helps with travel for the WVU and BYU. But I’d equally be happy with the Florida teams. Can’t get on board with Tulane though since it’s mostly for recruiting grounds.
the big 12 should dissolve in to to the sec, p12,b?0 and whatever the other conference will be. no big 12 team in the playoff spells doom for the conference