Invite two more teams now so that we just play 8 conference games next year then go to a twelve team schedule the next. I could live with that.
Wish the big 12 were as tough on schools leaving as the big east. Why negotiate down an exit fee? Threat it up!
I think a cheap easy alternative may be something around the lines of inviting a cheap FCS school to be in the conference for 1 year to meet all requirement, maybe UNI? give them a couple million payout. Play 1 year in the XII then WVU will take their spot in 2013.
Sounds bad, and hard to do. But what else would we be left to do if its drug out to June, and ends up ruling in the Big Easts favor where we will have nearly 0 time to pick up a 4th non- conference opponent for all schools.
The Big 12 has a backup plan, you can count on that. Tulane, BYU, South Florida etc.
I really don't understand why the big East thinks it's o.k. for them to take teams from other conferances but when someone takes one of their teams they freak out. Just charge them a 5 million dollar exit fee and be on with your lives.
Oh and Tulane will never be in the big 12. They are like 15th down the list. No idea why you keep trying to tell us about Tulane. They are the Northern Iowa of Louisiana. They are 3rd fiddle
They would get in before Cincy or S Florida.
They should not and would not.
The big 12 would be better with either of those. Hell, itd be better off stealing Houston from the big east (and much like TCU, since they havent officially started there, they could leave instantly) and hoping they could build a larger fanbase in the Houston area once they're elevated to a premier league.
UCF would also be a solid option.
They should not and would not.
The big 12 would be better with either of those. Hell, itd be better off stealing Houston from the big east (and much like TCU, since they havent officially started there, they could leave instantly) and hoping they could build a larger fanbase in the Houston area once they're elevated to a premier league.
UCF would also be a solid option.
Why are you so obsessed with adding a Florida school? It would be just as stupid as the Big East's coast-to-coast expansion, imo. Maybe even more so, because the Big 12 is actually in a position to take on a project school with potential to be a much better conference fit. The Big East had to take the best available football schools, regardless of geography, culture, academics, etc.. We do not.
I'm not 'obsessed with adding a florida school'. (really those proposing Tulane appear to be the more 'obsessed' ones here) Theyre just not bad options, especially compared to the crappy option that is Tulane. Tulane has academics, and that is it. Academics are a nice bonus when adding a school, but academics alone dont cut it. Might as well add rice too while we're at it. (theyre ranked much higher than Tulane in the latest USNews ranking)
The two florida schools offer the chance to bring top 10 size schools to the big 12. Those will help bring ratings long-term. (they already, without being in nationally relevant conferences, have fanbases 5x the size of Tulane's). And as far as their distance goes, we were apparently willing to talk to BYU at one point (and they had a lot of support here). Does everyone realize how far away they were?
Louisville and cincinatti make geographic sense and have played in a BCS conference (and have fanbases 3x the size of tulane)
Houston would offer a tier 1 academic school and some recent football success. If we're going to invest in a 'project' school, why not do so in a much larger market with more potential viewers to gain?
All of these are better than Tulane, a school that's 6th in fanbase in a fairly small state (behind the Saints, LSU, La Tech, La monroe, and La Lafayette), that's a small school (so its not going to be building a large fanbase anytime soon). Sure, nobody argues its academics, but you can't add a school with nothing else besides that to offer.
Tulane is the only logical choice there. S Florida would put the BE in the same predicament and BYU is a non starter for reasons already discussed.
Tulane will never be in the Big12. Surely you can see that.