Big 12 realignment is back...looks like real changes coming soon.

[State43]

While I agree we shouldnt go too far west like BYU. CSU isn't that far away. CSU is closer to big 12 schools than UConn is to WVU. Plus Cincy can be solve WVU problem of having no schools by them. UConn would be another island.

Looking that over, wonder if Houston and Cinci might be better options

 

[CyFy]

If UCONN and cincy are added it will be hard to not have ISU Kansas UCONN Cincy and WVU in the same just because you start to add a lot longer trips for everyone which costs more.

 

[BigJ4CY]

Other than BYU, UConn has the biggest fanbase of any option we could get. It has lots of basketball success. It is in a new market region. It will likely increase the Big 12's exposure on ESPN just by virtue of its proximity to their HQ. All UConn needs is a little bit of football success and they are solidly at a Power 5 level. So I think they would be a good addition.

If we are going 12, UConn makes a lot of sense given what the other options are

The only problem is their proximity to the rest of the conference. They are out there even farther than West Virginia.

 

[jbhtexas]

Green is reserved for North Dakota St.

Yup, and since they've already joined the Big 12 for wrestling, it seems a foregone conclusion that they will be joining for everything else in June...

(do I need Jimlad???)

 

[NetflixAndClone]

Looking that over, wonder if Houston and Cinci might be better options

Someone stated earlier that the ADs said no to Texas schools. You don't want the SWC 2.0, if we add Houston it would be the swan song of the big12.

 

[NATEizKING]

Texas -------- Baylor
TTU ---------- TCU
OU ----------- OSU
Kansas ------ ISU
KSU --------- WVU
CSU --------- Cincy

Texas -------- Baylor
TTU ---------- TCU
OU ----------- OSU
Kansas ------ UConn
KSU --------- Cincy
ISU ---------- WVU

 

[Jiub]

I am more concerned about the Big 12 Network. Need quality content on their. I can see it being used for every sport there is, but needs to be in a high quality format, live streaming online on apps for most media devices. And it needs to be top notch production value to put the SEC and Big 10 networks to shame.

 

[ribsnwhiskey]

Man, some of you guys sure have strong opinions about something you have absolutely no say or control over.

 

[CYCLNST8]

Man, some of you guys sure have strong opinions about something you have absolutely no say or control over.

Yeah, good thing expansion isn't in the hands of CyFan.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Yeah, good thing expansion isn't in the hands of CyFan.

We'd have Tulane, Colorado State, South Florida, and Central Florida if it was up to CF

 

[spk123]

Regardless of whether or not this specific speculation is true, I imagine it's only a matter of time before the conference expands (which, in a way, is unfortunate because I like the round-robin schedule, no matter how much it puts Iowa State at a competitive disadvantage). When it does, I think Cincinnati is a slam dunk for one of the spots. Size, geography, endowment, and facilities are all working in their favor. Fan support is a bit tepid, but not terrible, and you'd figure it may increase playing in the Big 12.

Who gets the other spot (assuming we stop at 12) is going to be very interesting. BYU and UConn would add the most money and have the best fan support, but are pretty far flung geographically, and there are cultural "fit" issues to consider with BYU, as well.

Memphis or USF/UCF would be the long-term investment options for the conference. Memphis would fit nicely within the geographic footprint and has a ton of potential room to grow (especially with FedEx in the area providing possible funding). Gameday facilities aren't a concern, playing in the Liberty Bowl and the FedExForum. Both USF and UCF's enrollments have skyrocketed, and if their growing alumni base gets more emotionally/financially invested in their sports teams, they could be very nice additions, but again, a bit outside our existing geographic footprint.

I don't see Colorado State or Boise State happening - both have pretty significant negatives to overcome (geography for both, facilities and fan support for Colorado State, academics/size/money for Boise State). Northern Illinois, while a nice location for the conference to expand, simply has too much work to do facilities/fan support-wise to merit a place in a major conference right now.

Houston would also fit in well from a location aspect and definitely has a lot of growth opportunity, but I don't see the conference adding another mid-tier Texas school. That also crosses SMU off the list, who would definitely be behind Houston in the pecking order. Tulane, while great academically, is not a realistic candidate athletics-wise.

 

[BCClone]

So we add 2 teams, do this stuff and then 2 teams from the ACC would want to join? Why not do this with adding 2/ACC teams to start with?

 

[mustangcy]

Cincy and UConn would be game changers for ISU. Make the best basketball conference in America even better and totally weaken it in football. Exactly what ISU needs...exactly. I shake my head at these post's with people thinking those teams wouldn't be complete wins for ISU.

 

[2forISU]

BOOOO to UCONN!Travel would be a nightmare for UCONN. Cincy, BYU or Louisville would be awesome.

 

[Cydkar]

I don't think so. It won't be round robin anymore

So, we play the "crappy" teams 2 times guaranteed now. They may get replaced by one of these 2 new schools, which definitely do not suck. The only benefit would be missing a 2nd KU game for playing one of these teams. Benefit only in difficulty. I don't want to lose KU twice even though one is a guaranteed loss.

 

[ISU42]

We'd have Tulane, Colorado State, South Florida, and Central Florida if it was up to CF

No, we'd have Florida St, Clemson, LSU, and Arkansas if it was up to CF.

 

[Mesaclone1]

So we add 2 teams, do this stuff and then 2 teams from the ACC would want to join? Why not do this with adding 2/ACC teams to start with?

If that were an option...sure. The ACC teams in question want to see a network in place and working before they make a major move from once conference to another. Adding stability by extending our GOR with new teams and a new network contract...would also move those teams towards the Big 12.

 

[HandSanitizer]

Texas -------- Baylor
TTU ---------- TCU
OU ----------- OSU
Kansas ------ ISU
KSU --------- WVU
CSU --------- Cincy

Texas -------- Baylor
TTU ---------- TCU
OU ----------- OSU
Kansas ------ UConn
KSU --------- Cincy
ISU ---------- WVU

Get rid of the names like East/West - North /South
Get 2 companies to put down $$ on the naming rights for each division? does it really matter if the division is called "East and West" or "Exxon Mobil" and "AT&T" divisions? One of these ways gets like a ton of money and the other doesn't. Plus if you make it generic we can move teams around easier.


CSU versus UCONN? really? think about exposure. Nobody even knows who CSU is. Everyone knows UCONN.

adding ACC teams? really? that is not going to happen

I like your 2nd option.
Balanced and everyone gets to play their rival each year. ISU just doesn't have one.
name the division generically. Championship game.
Leverage the already in place LHN JUST as long as we don't get most of our games on that network. I love our basketball setup right now. everyone plays on ESPN.

ISU football schedule is: Texas, TT, OU, KU, KSU and rotate 4 from the other side.


Exxon AT&T

Texas -------- Baylor
TTU ---------- TCU
OU ----------- OSU
Kansas ------ UConn
KSU --------- Cincy
ISU ---------- WVU[/QUOTE]

Book it.

 

[Gunnerclone]

No, we'd have Florida St, Clemson, LSU, and Arkansas if it was up to CF.

I'd like to just go back to the way it was except keep A&M gone and add Cincy.

 

[Clonehomer]

What about just reorganizing the divisions every two or four years to keep balance. Odd ranked go to one division, even to the other. Setup rivals on an as needed basis