It worked for SMU and the ACC

Big 12 “not interested” in adding Memphis despite school offering $250 million in sponsorship to the league, sources told @On3sports. Memphis was trying to buy way into Big 12. Yahoo 1st reported Memphis trying to get Big 12 invite

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2025

boognish_bear said:

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It worked for SMU and the ACC

Big 12 “not interested” in adding Memphis despite school offering $250 million in sponsorship to the league, sources told @On3sports. Memphis was trying to buy way into Big 12. Yahoo 1st reported Memphis trying to get Big 12 invite

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2025

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Even with the Big 12 saying no now, it's not the dumbest move to try. Yormark is very much into advertising and getting the Big 12 name out into more media.

Realignment never ceases to one-up itself in absurdity. https://t.co/TK7eQdP4n3 pic.twitter.com/NaWL3Dp1fy

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 21, 2025

Memphis is more deserving than frigging Utah… no idea why Yormack brought in Utah. They add nothing to the league. Unless whiny *****es is something Yormack desired

IowaBear said:

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Memphis is more deserving than frigging Utah… no idea why Yormack brought in Utah. They add nothing to the league. Unless whiny *****es is something Yormack desired

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Whether you like 'em or not, at the time, they brought some much needed street cred to the table, as they were arguably the top team in the Pac 12 prior to its collapse.

Plus, they were clearly going to be sought after more than a 'Group of 5' school at that point.

The question now becomes this: If the Big 12 does add a G5 school in the foreseeable future, who do they go with?

I'd argue that UNLV would be a better addition than Memphis and most other schools, given its potential.

IowaBear said:

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Memphis is more deserving than frigging Utah…

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Damn that's a dumb take

The irony of calling my take than insinuating the B12 should add UNLV over Memphis
At least back your take up with actual facts… we already have the SLC market with BYu who by the way brings way more eyeballs than Utah.
Utahs street cred is way overhyped. They've proven zilch in the B12 across any sport the first calendar year. Memphis gives the B12 a market they don't currently have.

All you need to know about how Yormark's value as commish is that the Pac-12 died and the Big-12 survived. It was a 1 on 1 death match and he won, against all odds and the assumptions of the arrogant Pac-12. It's possible we end up in a similar death match with the ACC some day, and if we do, how much is it worth be led by the guy that already killed the once mighty Pac-12?

The B10 killed the P12….

B10 gave final blow yes, but B10 was just waiting to see who would survive the death match. The death of Pac 12 was inevitable when Big 12 took the 4 schools we wanted that didn't get invited to B10.

I think the Big 12's best move at this point is just to bide it's time for the inevitable collapse/breakdown of the ACC and just see who we can scoop up from that fallout. Would much rather have some combination of VT, Louisville, Wake, UVA, NC State, NC, Duke, Miami, GT, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, etc. (assuming Clemson and FSU go SEC or B1G, but I would gladly take either of them), than jumping the gun and adding Memphis or Boise State or UConn.

We have built a position of strength relative to where we could have ended up and are in a somewhat stable position. Time to ride that out until chaos takes over once again and be poised to take advantage.

The death was inevitable when the B10 took Oregon and UCLA. That conference was a dead man walking in that moment

Memphis is home of FedEx.

Maybe they think they can be admitted quickly? Like overnight?

That's a good one .

Founder and CEO of Fed Ex died recently... father of former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith.

IowaBear said:

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The irony of calling my take than insinuating the B12 should add UNLV over Memphis
At least back your take up with actual facts… we already have the SLC market with BYu who by the way brings way more eyeballs than Utah.
Utahs street cred is way overhyped. They've proven zilch in the B12 across any sport the first calendar year. Memphis gives the B12 a market they don't currently have.

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Just so we're ALL CLEAR, that is a DIFFERENT LTBear.

I have a 19 next to my name.

Just want to be sure that everyone knows I am not out here just throwing random insults at folks on the football board - or any other board for that matter.

I'm allowed to acknowledge there is no shame in doing everything in your power to improve your athletic department's situation and also acknowledge this is an objectively hilarious tweet https://t.co/p13nrl2H8V

— David Ubben (@davidubben) July 21, 2025

Memphis isn't the worst team we could add.

It increases the basketball side of things. But doesn't bring many eyeballs for football. Although at this point no team really does unless it is a big team pulled from the ACC or other big 2 conferences. But no one is leaving those two anytime soon.

Any school that does get added would be a minor tv market, maybe a top G5 school for football but not have any real national pull. Of any potential teams I would think Boise State has the longest sustained top level success. Everyone else would be flashes of top level and then just good in their conference. But still no national eyeballs.

And this is not my recommendation or suggestion that we should target Boise. Just an observation.

Boise's blue beats Memphis' blues

There is no need whatsoever to expand right now. If the ACC falls apart then it is time to expand, it isn't clear if there are actual ACC members who are real candidates for the Big 2 at this time to trigger that. Part time member ND, is but I'm not sure that ND alone leaving for the B10 would trigger an ACC collapse.

Just the thought of Memphis in the Big XII has me roaring with laughter. They bring nothing to the conference. For all they offer academically, they may as well be UTSA, a commuter school that pretty much accepts anyone with a high school diploma.

Their football stadium capacity isn't much bigger than Baylor's. There's a reason why P4 schools have all passed on them. Even the Pac-12 took Texas State over them.

PartyBear said:

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There is no need whatsoever to expand right now. If the ACC falls apart then it is time to expand, it isn't clear if there are actual ACC members who are real candidates for the Big 2 at this time, except part time member ND, that might trigger that.

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I'm tired of expanding period. This conference is already four schools too large.

Our schedule in all sports is full of teams I couldn't care less about.

Conference realignment blows. It's just yet another thing that has killed the spirit of college athletics.

CaliBear00 said:

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Just the thought of Memphis in the Big XII has me roaring with laughter. They bring nothing to the conference. For all they offer academically, they may as well be UTSA, a commuter school that pretty much accepts anyone with a high school diploma.

Their football stadium capacity isn't much bigger than Baylor's. There's a reason why P4 schools have all passed on them. Even the Pac-12 took Texas State over them.

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The PAC 12 wanted Memphis, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA. Those four schools passed on the PAC, not the other way around.

Texas State was a consolation prize after their actual targets reaffirmed their commitment to the American.

IowaBear said:

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Memphis is more deserving than frigging Utah… no idea why Yormack brought in Utah. They add nothing to the league. Unless whiny *****es is something Yormack desired

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Yeah, no. Utah is a major state university in a big city with a lot of eyeballs. Memphis is a commuter school in one of the worst small urban centers in North America. No way should we want Memphis in the Big 12.

We already have the SLC market… BYU brings in way more eyeballs than Utah. I never said I wanted Memphis. I said I'd rather have Memphis than Utah. Don't twist my words. And unless you live under a rock you'd know that Utah from the top down doesn't want to be in the B12. Adding Utah did nothing positive for the league. By far the worst add of the new members

It's good to see teams fighting for a chance to get into the B12.

I do think the ACC is next up. I don't know if they have completely pacified FSU/Clemson. If those two leave there will be teams looking for stability.

We are making a mistake not taking Memphis.

That is an incredibly talent rich area. Continuous exposure there would be great for the B12 and eat into a significant SEC recruiting territory.

Memphis has been elite at basketball and darn good at football for runs without being affiliated with a major conference.

Decent-sized metro market, and significant financial backers.

Penny wise, pound foolish snobbery on our part, IMO.

2) Why no? unfortunately the reputation of the athletic department every time they win big it is followed by an NCAA investigation not to mention ongoing NCAA investigations over past 3-4 years.

— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) July 21, 2025

4) If Memphis didn't pull their weight for next TV negotiations that was a part of their presentation, are presidents really going to kick out another institution? Process for valuation is also messy.

— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) July 21, 2025

Bear8084 said:

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2) Why no? unfortunately the reputation of the athletic department every time they win big it is followed by an NCAA investigation not to mention ongoing NCAA investigations over past 3-4 years.

— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) July 21, 2025

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That's completely stupid. First, look at the records of current and prior B12 schools in that regard. Second, most anything they did is probably legal now anyway. Third, who cares.

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-sports/article/memphis-receives-2-year-probation-fine-from-ncaa-due-to-academic-integrity-violations-164828151.html

6 days ago. But I'm not on either side and want the Big 12 to add any school that strengthens us, just the Big 12 seems to have had concerns on the NCAA side of things with Memphis.

bear2be2 said:

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PartyBear said:

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There is no need whatsoever to expand right now. If the ACC falls apart then it is time to expand, it isn't clear if there are actual ACC members who are real candidates for the Big 2 at this time, except part time member ND, that might trigger that.

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I'm tired of expanding period. This conference is already four schools too large.

Our schedule in all sports is full of teams I couldn't care less about.

Conference realignment blows. It's just yet another thing that has killed the spirit of college athletics.

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I fully agree with you that conference expansion sucks and I feel the same in that there are teams on our conference schedule that mean nothing to me and I would feel the same about ACC teams. However, the battle is for relevancy and if the downfall of the ACC comes, if we can add some of their member schools, it will help (even if only marginallY) in that battle.

Really sucks that this is the state of things, but it is what it is.

Memphis is going to pop at some point. I always liked the idea of getting them in. It is geographically a great fit, they have ample resources, I think they would be more than respectable in a few years in a P4.

There are at least a couple of current B12 programs I would have traded for Memphis.

Dia del DougO said:

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There are at least a couple of current B12 programs I would have traded for Memphis.

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Hello Coug High

boognish_bear said:

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Dia del DougO said:

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There are at least a couple of current B12 programs I would have traded for Memphis.

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Hello Coug High

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Coog Hi takes one look at Memphis and realizes the Tigers are even more ghetto than they are.

They really add nothing. They dont have good fan support and can never fill their stadium. They always seem to have NCAA allegations, their football team is average at best, men's team is filled with scandal and still average at best and their womens bball team is less than average in the american. They would water down the Big 12 and that is not the image we need. Their academics would be the bottom of the Big 12.

Sure, good on Memphis for trying, but they are just not a good fit, in my opinion. I like that Yormark is playing the long game (hopeful ACC breakup). Even if the ACC doesnt break up, i think we could be a strong 16 team league