Yep, the best TV deal is the end game.

(02-02-2012 06:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis has been good in football, and not that long ago I might add. They've made some pretty sizeable upgrades to the facilities and are "retiring" the old Athletic Director who neglected football for so long.

No offense meant, but your definition of good might be different than ours. I recall a couple of 8 win regular seasons in C-USA in the early part of the last decade. Outside of that it was just a couple bad bowl games off of 6 or 7 win efforts. And that was back when you had one of the best RBs in the game in DeAngelo, right?

Good is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

(02-03-2012 05:42 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  Yep, the best TV deal is the end game.

That's a big part of it. Not sure how Memphis helps with that either.

(02-03-2012 06:44 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(02-02-2012 06:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis has been good in football, and not that long ago I might add. They've made some pretty sizeable upgrades to the facilities and are "retiring" the old Athletic Director who neglected football for so long.

No offense meant, but your definition of good might be different than ours. I recall a couple of 8 win regular seasons in C-USA in the early part of the last decade. Outside of that it was just a couple bad bowl games off of 6 or 7 win efforts. And that was back when you had one of the best RBs in the game in DeAngelo, right?

Good is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Memphis is in a similar situation to what UC was, prior to entering the Big East, good basketball and average to below average football. Minter had a losing record at UC and a losing record in CUSA.

(02-03-2012 08:37 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 06:44 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(02-02-2012 06:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis has been good in football, and not that long ago I might add. They've made some pretty sizeable upgrades to the facilities and are "retiring" the old Athletic Director who neglected football for so long.

No offense meant, but your definition of good might be different than ours. I recall a couple of 8 win regular seasons in C-USA in the early part of the last decade. Outside of that it was just a couple bad bowl games off of 6 or 7 win efforts. And that was back when you had one of the best RBs in the game in DeAngelo, right?

Good is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Memphis is in a similar situation to what UC was, prior to entering the Big East, good basketball and average to below average football. Minter had a losing record at UC and a losing record in CUSA.

Actually if you want to compare apples to apples in the 5 seasons before UC joined the BE they were 33-29, with 4 winning seasons and 4 bowl games. In the past 5 seasons Memphis is 18-42 with 2 bowl games and 1 winning season.

(02-03-2012 08:37 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 06:44 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(02-02-2012 06:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis has been good in football, and not that long ago I might add. They've made some pretty sizeable upgrades to the facilities and are "retiring" the old Athletic Director who neglected football for so long.

No offense meant, but your definition of good might be different than ours. I recall a couple of 8 win regular seasons in C-USA in the early part of the last decade. Outside of that it was just a couple bad bowl games off of 6 or 7 win efforts. And that was back when you had one of the best RBs in the game in DeAngelo, right?

Good is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

Memphis is in a similar situation to what UC was, prior to entering the Big East, good basketball and average to below average football. Minter had a losing record at UC and a losing record in CUSA.

Memphis went 17-8 combined the two years before CUSA split up.

During that same time:

Louisville went 20-5 (9-4 and 11-1)
Cincinnati went 12-12 (5-7 and 7-5)
USF went 11-11 (7-4 and 4-7)

We had a better football team at the time than two of the teams that got in.

Unsure what the issues with Memphis are. Not saying there aren't valid arguments, but just from an old rivalry/all sports standpoint, would love to have Memphis back in the fold. You never know what better conference affiliation might do to a football program, especially one with a very good fan base and a major in-state rival experiencing some down years. Plus you get back the basketball rivalry - UC/UL/UM was a great nucleus of friendly animosity and top notch hoops.

(02-03-2012 11:27 AM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  Unsure what the issues with Memphis are. Not saying there aren't valid arguments, but just from an old rivalry/all sports standpoint, would love to have Memphis back in the fold. You never know what better conference affiliation might do to a football program, especially one with a very good fan base and a major in-state rival experiencing some down years. Plus you get back the basketball rivalry - UC/UL/UM was a great nucleus of friendly animosity and top notch hoops.

I think there's a distinction needing to be made between evaluations of Memphis based on fandom vs. evaluations of Memphis based on expansion criteria.

As a fan, I'd be jumping for joy with this move. Another great hoops program. More excuses to go to the LB. A renewed rivalry. A likely win for the first few years at least. It's an easy move to like. Since I'm not a conference official and I'm just an anonymous yokel, I'm allowed to love the idea.

When you look at it through the scope of expansion principles, it's not that good of a move, and that's why you're seeing the varied arguments here and elsewhere. You just have two widely different perspectives.

(02-03-2012 11:51 AM)CD11 Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 11:27 AM)HattoriHanzo Wrote:  Unsure what the issues with Memphis are. Not saying there aren't valid arguments, but just from an old rivalry/all sports standpoint, would love to have Memphis back in the fold. You never know what better conference affiliation might do to a football program, especially one with a very good fan base and a major in-state rival experiencing some down years. Plus you get back the basketball rivalry - UC/UL/UM was a great nucleus of friendly animosity and top notch hoops.

I think there's a distinction needing to be made between evaluations of Memphis based on fandom vs. evaluations of Memphis based on expansion criteria.

As a fan, I'd be jumping for joy with this move. Another great hoops program. More excuses to go to the LB. A renewed rivalry. A likely win for the first few years at least. It's an easy move to like. Since I'm not a conference official and I'm just an anonymous yokel, I'm allowed to love the idea.

When you look at it through the scope of expansion principles, it's not that good of a move, and that's why you're seeing the varied arguments here and elsewhere. You just have two widely different perspectives.

I think the new Big East could stand to be adding some marquee rivalry match-ups. I hope the BE officials/presidents are taking that into consideration, because those will affect TV ratings I'd expect. That you'd be bringing in a team that has existing rivalry/history with at least a few existing programs should be a serious factor IMO from a fan and business perspective.

Report: Big East Pressuring Boise State To Join In 2012, Air Force Still An Expansion Possibility

Jon Wilner, a writer with the San Jose Mercury News who has been heavily engaged with conference realignment issues as they relate to western schools, reported this morning that the Big East is pressuring Boise State to join the Big East for the 2012 season. You can see the tweet of his report here. According to Wilner, the Big East wanted Boise State to go ahead and join in 2012 to offset the possible loss of West Virginia for the 2012 season.

The possibility of Boise State joining in 2012 raises a number of questions. Would the Big East be willing to pay for whatever Boise State has to pay to get out of the Mountain West Conference on such short notice. Also, would the Big East simply give Boise State the schedule that West Virginia would have played in 2012? If so, Boise State would travel to Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Connecticut while hosting Rutgers, Syracuse, South Florida, and Cinicnnati. If the Big East does not do that, would it reshuffle the entire schedule or perhaps stick it to Pittsburgh and Syracuse and make them make the road trip to Boise State next year?

Finally, Wilner also mentioned that the Big East might end up with Air Force as its 12th member after all. Brett McMurphy with CBS has previously mentioned in print and in appearances on radio that he felt the addition of Navy would likely change things for Air Force and make it reconsider its decision not to join the Big East. Adding Air Force as the 12th football member would be a nice geographical addition to the conference's new western division and reduce travel for new member Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, and SMU. Air Force's addition would likely be easier to work out than Navy because Air Force is in a conference and does not have numerous individual game contracts to work out of in order to join.
http://www.bigeastcoastbias.com/2012/2/2...2-schedule

Boise State has a $7M exit fee from the MWC. Memphis's is considerably less than that as a charter member of CUSA.

If they do end up having to pay an exit fee in order to fill WVU's void from breaking their contract I would hope the bill finds its way to WVU.

(02-03-2012 02:37 PM)franzeal Wrote:  If they do end up having to pay an exit fee in order to fill WVU's void from breaking their contract I would hope the bill finds its way to WVU.

Oh yeah and then some more $$$.

I would rather pay the $7M for BSU's exit fee than bring Memphis football into the BEast.

Memphis can better afford to pay the exit fee. BSU isn't exactly a program that's dripping with cash.

Memphis athletic budget - $41,724,026

Boise State athletic budget - $25,379,019




FYI, Cincinnati athletic budget - $37,367,392. I thought you guys were getting a BCS check. I thought the Big East paid better than that.

(02-03-2012 05:47 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis can better afford to pay the exit fee. BSU isn't exactly a program that's dripping with cash.

Memphis athletic budget - $41,724,026

Boise State athletic budget - $25,379,019




FYI, Cincinnati athletic budget - $37,367,392. I thought you guys were getting a BCS check. I thought the Big East paid better than that.

Nope! Guess you guys better stay in CUSA after all. Where its dripping with cash.

(02-03-2012 07:03 PM)WarningSigns Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 05:47 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis can better afford to pay the exit fee. BSU isn't exactly a program that's dripping with cash.

Memphis athletic budget - $41,724,026

Boise State athletic budget - $25,379,019




FYI, Cincinnati athletic budget - $37,367,392. I thought you guys were getting a BCS check. I thought the Big East paid better than that.

Nope! Guess you guys better stay in CUSA after all. Where its dripping with cash.

It's worked out for Memphis. The others, not so much.

We have a larger athletic budget than the six teams currently invited to the Big East. But they have bigger markets, so they got the first call.

(02-03-2012 05:27 PM)ctipton Wrote:  I would rather pay the $7M for BSU's exit fee than bring Memphis football into the BEast.

x2

(02-03-2012 07:31 PM)PATiger Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 07:03 PM)WarningSigns Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 05:47 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis can better afford to pay the exit fee. BSU isn't exactly a program that's dripping with cash.

Memphis athletic budget - $41,724,026

Boise State athletic budget - $25,379,019




FYI, Cincinnati athletic budget - $37,367,392. I thought you guys were getting a BCS check. I thought the Big East paid better than that.

Nope! Guess you guys better stay in CUSA after all. Where its dripping with cash.

It's worked out for Memphis. The others, not so much.

We have a larger athletic budget than the six teams currently invited to the Big East. But they have bigger markets, so they got the first call.

why don't you guys use some of that money you have and invest in your football program....for once. You may have a larger athletic budget than Cincy but as far as on field results, we have moved into the national stage since joining the Big East...you guys have done nothing but regress. Football drives the bus....Memphis needs to get a clue.

It's not personal....it's just that, the only thing you bring to the table is hoops and really, we don't need that in the Big East, we are fine without memphis bball so don't be offended if most BE fans aren't too excited about your addition. We need football...something your athletic dept doesn't give two S*# about.....hope this changes and fast.

(02-04-2012 08:25 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 07:31 PM)PATiger Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 07:03 PM)WarningSigns Wrote:  

(02-03-2012 05:47 PM)PATiger Wrote:  Memphis can better afford to pay the exit fee. BSU isn't exactly a program that's dripping with cash.

Memphis athletic budget - $41,724,026

Boise State athletic budget - $25,379,019




FYI, Cincinnati athletic budget - $37,367,392. I thought you guys were getting a BCS check. I thought the Big East paid better than that.

Nope! Guess you guys better stay in CUSA after all. Where its dripping with cash.

It's worked out for Memphis. The others, not so much.

We have a larger athletic budget than the six teams currently invited to the Big East. But they have bigger markets, so they got the first call.

why don't you guys use some of that money you have and invest in your football program....for once. You may have a larger athletic budget than Cincy but as far as on field results, we have moved into the national stage since joining the Big East...you guys have done nothing but regress. Football drives the bus....Memphis needs to get a clue.

It's not personal....it's just that, the only thing you bring to the table is hoops and really, we don't need that in the Big East, we are fine without memphis bball so don't be offended if most BE fans aren't too excited about your addition. We need football...something your athletic dept doesn't give two S*# about.....hope this changes and fast.

I think it's a legitimate question to ask: What the heck is Memphis getting for that $41 million? The Tigers won 2 games this year, 1 game last year, and 2 games the year before that.

It's not just how much you spend, but what you spend it on. My guess is most of that goes to the basketball team.