If things pan out with the ACC imploding in 2030, i can see the SEC taking North Carolina and Virginia. Both historically southern states as well as new states for the conference. And i can see them stopping there. As for the BIG, for some reason, there seems to be a decently large push for Florida state. I can also see Clemson heading to the BIG and stopping there (unless they can get Notre Dame for all sports). As for the Big 12: Louisville, Pitt, NC State, Virginia Tech would be my top choices, but if they wanted to expand past 20, add in Georgia Tech, SMU and Miami. That way, the Big 12at least has come continuity when it comes to border states

Unfortunately, i just dont see the Big 12, SEC or BIG taking: Stanford, Cal, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College. Maybe they can join the American or something, with Stanford and Cal going back to the Pac

I think I would like to get FSU for football and North Carolina for bball, then let ESPN tell them who they would want to add as the final two

Assassin said:

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I think I would like to get FSU for football and North Carolina for bball, then let ESPN tell them who they would want to add as the final two

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i wish, but those programs wont be coming to the Big 12

Bear2014 said:

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If things pan out with the ACC imploding in 2030, i can see the SEC taking North Carolina and Virginia. Both historically southern states as well as new states for the conference. And i can see them stopping there. As for the BIG, for some reason, there seems to be a decently large push for Florida state. I can also see Clemson heading to the BIG and stopping there (unless they can get Notre Dame for all sports). As for the Big 12: Louisville, Pitt, NC State, Virginia Tech would be my top choices, but if they wanted to expand past 20, add in Georgia Tech, SMU and Miami. That way, the Big 12at least has come continuity when it comes to border states

Unfortunately, i just dont see the Big 12, SEC or BIG taking: Stanford, Cal, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College. Maybe they can join the American or something, with Stanford and Cal going back to the Pac

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Not sure that the SEC wants to expand more. They appear to be very greedy when it comes to sharing.

Robert Wilson said:

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BaylorHistory said:

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I agree with UCF over Memphis for the demogrphic purposes listed but we have to compare apples to apples.

Orlando metro vs Memphis city doesn't work.

Orlando metro: 2.9M (+10% vs 2020)
Memphis metro: 1.3M (-.8% vs 2020)

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If metro size and school / alumni base were the primary considerations, Baylor would be hosed.

I think UCF, UH, Cincy, and Memphis are all roughly comparable in a variety of ways - urban "commuter" schools with occasional high level performance in the major sports. All pretty good to very good recruiting bases as far as local talent goes. All competing with SEC or B10 players geographically. Each gives us a foothold in the market of another major conference and lets us at least compete for attention and recruits. UCF has the lead on metro support and alumni base. Houston metro obviously bigger, but UH doesn't command much of the attention there. Mostly A&M and UT. Cincy is kinda in the middle, with similar issues being in B10 territory. Ditto Memphis re: its metro and SEC. I think you could formulate arguments for or against all of them pretty easily.

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Memphis gets the vast majority of their support from West Tennessee, East Arkansas, and Northern Mississippi as a community institution so their metro statistics are important when directly comparing to UCF. Baylor sends their alums/fans to DFW, Austin, and Houston moreso than relying on our fair city.

Also, using a mythical Baylor as a direct metric to being worthy of a B12 invite is probably not an apples to apples considering we're already in the conference. BU isn't a candidate to join (fortunately) and doesn't have to compare itself in that way to a Memphis or a UCF as it currently stands. Of course it would in any paradigm shift.

Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

Assassin said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

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So cold…so grey…so northern Indiana

The beautiful Gary rust belt area is just 45 mins down the road.

But as you say….does not matter in terms of making Notre Dame a big get

BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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But, on the other hand, ESPN has never done a 30 for 30 on the Baylor football or basketball programs - and don't tell me we didn't have a story.

Had it happened at Bama? It would've been done.

University of Phoenix online has over 100,000 enrolled. Bring 'em in.

Assassin said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

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Athens, GA, metro area: 215,479

Assassin said:

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Bear2014 said:

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If things pan out with the ACC imploding in 2030, i can see the SEC taking North Carolina and Virginia. Both historically southern states as well as new states for the conference. And i can see them stopping there. As for the BIG, for some reason, there seems to be a decently large push for Florida state. I can also see Clemson heading to the BIG and stopping there (unless they can get Notre Dame for all sports). As for the Big 12: Louisville, Pitt, NC State, Virginia Tech would be my top choices, but if they wanted to expand past 20, add in Georgia Tech, SMU and Miami. That way, the Big 12at least has come continuity when it comes to border states

Unfortunately, i just dont see the Big 12, SEC or BIG taking: Stanford, Cal, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College. Maybe they can join the American or something, with Stanford and Cal going back to the Pac

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Not sure that the SEC wants to expand more. They appear to be very greedy when it comes to sharing.

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They are very greedy when it comes to everything!

Assassin said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

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Which demonstrates that there are other, more important considerations. Bama is a larger state school, has lots more money, and has a history of football championships. Baylor does not. ND has some of that.

More important with such comparisons, I think, is that legacy schools are situated differently than newer programs trying to get their foot in the door of a P4 conference. At least Baylor is already in. Memphis is on the outside looking in and dreaming.

Redbrickbear said:

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Assassin said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

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So cold…so grey…so northern Indiana

The beautiful Gary rust belt area is just 45 mins down the road.

But as you say….does not matter in terms of making Notre Dame a big get

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It's about eyeballs on TV screens. Everything else is secondary.

Yogi said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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But, on the other hand, ESPN has never done a 30 for 30 on the Baylor football or basketball programs - and don't tell me we didn't have a story.

Had it happened at Bama? It would've been done.

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They did do another series on Baylor MBB & WBB. It was pretty good.

We don't want a 30 for 30 on the MBB scandal at the beginning of century or even the Art Briles fake scandal.

historian said:

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Redbrickbear said:

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Assassin said:

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BearlyBeloved said:

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Hmmm. Shall we equate conference-worthiness with population? Here are some numbers I found:

Waco metro area (2020): 295,782
Tuscaloosa, AL, metro area (2020): 268,674

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And South Bend absolutely blows chunks 103,395

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So cold…so grey…so northern Indiana

The beautiful Gary rust belt area is just 45 mins down the road.

But as you say….does not matter in terms of making Notre Dame a big get

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It's about eyeballs on TV screens. Everything else is secondary.

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Yep...Its all about the advertising dollars.

We should hold out for bringing back UT and OU.

saabing bear said:

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We should hold out for bringing back UT and OU.

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Careful. You might tempt someone to invite back the Aggies.

Unverified account....so probably rubbish

The Big 12 is targeting Louisville & Miami using the same playbook it used poaching Colorado. The Cards & Canes can expect help from the Big 12 paying the exit fee. Big 12 needs both to announce before 29-30 to bolster the B12’s contract negotiations.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 7, 2025

boognish_bear said:

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Unverified account....so probably rubbish

The Big 12 is targeting Louisville & Miami using the same playbook it used poaching Colorado. The Cards & Canes can expect help from the Big 12 paying the exit fee. Big 12 needs both to announce before 29-30 to bolster the B12’s contract negotiations.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 7, 2025

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Same guy

No matter what they say in public… ACC members are planning for an exit. None of them see the conf existing beyond 2030 in its current form.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 7, 2025

Big 12 "poached" Colorado?

OK...

Dia del DougO said:

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Big 12 "poached" Colorado?

OK...

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He's a little out there

15 years later and Lambert is still trying to con people into thinking he actually knows something. He was the "Dude From West Virginia" on social media for a long time and he missed on so many things and alienated the WVU fanbase so badly that he ran away and hid for a year or two, then returned as InsideTheBig12. He and the Swaim guy who passed away late last year always tried to one up each other in making outlandish realignment claims allegedly based on their inside sources. Neither of them ever got anything correct. He loves to feel relevant so he posts things like you copied. His projections will always contain some kind of out clause so that when it never happens and someone calls him on it, he'll use that as his excuse and try to cover for the fact he didn't know anything to begin with.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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15 years later and Lambert is still trying to con people into thinking he actually knows something. He was the "Dude From West Virginia" on social media for a long time and he missed on so many things and alienated the WVU fanbase so badly that he ran away and hid for a year or two, then returned as InsideTheBig12. He and the Swaim guy who passed away late last year always tried to one up each other in making outlandish realignment claims allegedly based on their inside sources. Neither of them ever got anything correct. He loves to feel relevant so he posts things like you copied. His projections will always contain some kind of out clause so that when it never happens and someone calls him on it, he'll use that as his excuse and try to cover for the fact he didn't know anything to begin with.

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Here’s about the scientist in me predicts for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are either gonna win a national championship or they are going to flame out because all those kids they played those big dollars to no longer have the internal drive to compete as hard as they did before.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 8, 2025

Or this

WVU has developed a way to extract rare earth minerals from mine runoff. Earth minerals are mostly imported from China and are more valuable than gold.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 8, 2025

Assassin said:

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Big12Fan2024 said:

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15 years later and Lambert is still trying to con people into thinking he actually knows something. He was the "Dude From West Virginia" on social media for a long time and he missed on so many things and alienated the WVU fanbase so badly that he ran away and hid for a year or two, then returned as InsideTheBig12. He and the Swaim guy who passed away late last year always tried to one up each other in making outlandish realignment claims allegedly based on their inside sources. Neither of them ever got anything correct. He loves to feel relevant so he posts things like you copied. His projections will always contain some kind of out clause so that when it never happens and someone calls him on it, he'll use that as his excuse and try to cover for the fact he didn't know anything to begin with.

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Here’s about the scientist in me predicts for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are either gonna win a national championship or they are going to flame out because all those kids they played those big dollars to no longer have the internal drive to compete as hard as they did before.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 8, 2025

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This prediction is like saying the sky is blue except when it is not.

Miami and Louisville may be top targets if the ACC collapses. Meaning the often mentioned potential Big 2 candidates do in fact finally get their invites and bolt. I don't see anyone just leaving a stable ACC for the lateral move to the XII.

PartyBear said:

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mMiami and Louisville may be top targets if the ACC collapses. Meaning the often mentioned potential Big 2 candidates do in fact finally get their invites and bolt. I don't see anyone just leaving a stable ACC for the lateral move to the XII.

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It seems like his ramblings involve after the ACC folds, probably in 2030 when thier TV deal is done. If the SEC doesnt do something with the teams, I could see several coming into the Big 12. I would probably shoot for the basketball schools, Miami, G Tech, Clemson and Flo State, who appear to have the highest TV eyeballs.

For the 2024 season, the most-watched teams in the ACC were Miami, Georgia Tech, and Florida State, with Miami and Georgia Tech being the highest. Other highly-viewed teams included Clemson

Most-Watched Teams in the ACC (2024 Season)

• Miami:
  Emerged as the most watched team in the ACC, with the team's games driving significant viewership numbers.
  
• Georgia Tech:
  Also a top performer in viewership, with games like the Birmingham Bowl helping to boost its average.
  
• Florida State:
  Consistently a strong draw, Florida State's brand strength and television ratings proved formidable, contributing to high viewership.
  
• Clemson:
  A consistently watched program, particularly notable for appearing in the ACC Championship game with SMU.
  

Factors in Viewership

• National Network Exposure:
  Games appearing on networks like ABC and FOX, which have larger audiences, tend to get higher ratings compared to games on the ACC Network, which has a lower Nielsen rating.
  
• Key Matchups:
  Major non-conference games or historic rivalries often drive large viewership numbers for ACC teams, such as Florida State's game against LSU or the Clemson vs. Georgia Aflac Kickoff game

Really probably depends mostly on if and how many teams the SEC and Big 10 decide to gobble up first.

Dia del DougO said:

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Really probably depends mostly on if and how many teams the SEC and Big 10 decide to gobble up first.

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Hoping that their current huge paydays make them only want a couple. In SEC, UT will probably never vote for expansion. Way too greedy.

Memphis is 36-131-3 all-time versus the SEC,
and 5-7 versus Vanderbilt.

Memphis International Airport is the world's second largest after Hong Kong, for cargo tonnage.

The Tigers have lived in the shadow of all these football powerhouses, like Alabama.

Memphis is 36-131-3 all-time versus the SEC,
and 5-7 versus Vanderbilt.

Memphis International Airport is the world's second largest after Hong Kong, for cargo tonnage.

The Tigers have lived in the shadow of all these football powerhouses, like Alabama.

Assassin said:

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Or this

WVU has developed a way to extract rare earth minerals from mine runoff. Earth minerals are mostly imported from China and are more valuable than gold.

— C.W. Lambert (@InsideTheBig12) August 8, 2025

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God loves America and constantly sends us blatant proof of that…