(02-06-2012 10:32 PM)Bearcat 1984 Wrote:  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.

Still paying off Cal's debts I imagine.

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

Memphis went to five bowls in the last decade. SMU and SDSU went to five bowls combined in the last decade. We did more in football than two teams that did get in.

(02-06-2012 10:32 PM)Bearcat 1984 Wrote:  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.

That $41M goes to pay for 18 varsity sports (nine men's & nine women's). The breakdown for what Memphis spends (and what the other CUSA and Big East teams spend) is listed in the link below.

Crunching those comparative numbers

Some of the $8.6M Memphis spends on football is going to pay for the buyouts of the two previous coaches we fired in the last three years.

By comparision, Cincinnati spends $11.1M on football. We just outspend you on other things, like basketball ($6.7M to $4.9M).

The problem isn't what we spend on football. Memphis has been to five bowls in the last decade while SMU and SDSU have been to five bowls combined in the same time.

The problem isn't facilities. Memphis has made the following upgrades:

• new weight room
• new locker rooms
• new coaches offices
• new surfacing and improved drainage on four outdoor practice fields
• new tailgating and landscaping improvements around the stadium
  

We're not done with our upgrades either. We're halfway through a fundraising campaign to build a brand new indoor practice facility. After that, we have plans for upgrades to stadium luxury boxes, the press boxes, and the scoreboard/jumbotron.

The problem was bad recruiting and bad hiring decisions. Former coach Tommy West lost his fire and turned in three bad recruiting classes in a row from 2005-2007. As the talent level dropped, so did the number of wins. The last three years, we're feeling the effects of it. West was fired three years ago when he turned in a 2-10 season. Former coach Larry Porter came in and ran off several of West's players, and was forced to play with only 65 scholarship players last season. We blew three late fourth quarter leads last season because of a lack of depth. As bad as we were, we were only three defensive plays away from being 5-7 last year. It didn't matter though, because coach Porter was fired too.

Recruiting has been much better the last three years, but depth is still a problem. The last two years we were forced to start a lot of true freshmen and sophomores, so we do return a lot of guys who had significant playing time. We have 49 scholarship players returning, and a class of 25 players coming in to help.

New coach Justin Fuente (co-OC of TCU and primary offensive play-caller) put together a much better football staff than the previous one, and they pulled in one of the better recruiting classes that we've had in the last decade. He plans on opening up the offense quite a bit.

I guess nothing really happening on the Memphis boards to keep their people from believing we want them on ours.

I wasn't the one that started the thread about Memphis on this board.

Hey, this guy is right. Changed my mind. Memphis is a great football program!

(02-06-2012 11:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  

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

Memphis went to five bowls in the last decade. SMU and SDSU went to five bowls combined in the last decade. We did more in football than two teams that did get in.

(02-06-2012 10:32 PM)Bearcat 1984 Wrote:  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.

That $41M goes to pay for 18 varsity sports (nine men's & nine women's). The breakdown for what Memphis spends (and what the other CUSA and Big East teams spend) is listed in the link below.

Crunching those comparative numbers

Some of the $8.6M Memphis spends on football is going to pay for the buyouts of the two previous coaches we fired in the last three years.

By comparision, Cincinnati spends $11.1M on football. We just outspend you on other things, like basketball ($6.7M to $4.9M).

The problem isn't what we spend on football. Memphis has been to five bowls in the last decade while SMU and SDSU have been to five bowls combined in the same time.

The problem isn't facilities. Memphis has made the following upgrades:

• new weight room
• new locker rooms
• new coaches offices
• new surfacing and improved drainage on four outdoor practice fields
• new tailgating and landscaping improvements around the stadium
  

We're not done with our upgrades either. We're halfway through a fundraising campaign to build a brand new indoor practice facility. After that, we have plans for upgrades to stadium luxury boxes, the press boxes, and the scoreboard/jumbotron.

The problem was bad recruiting and bad hiring decisions. Former coach Tommy West lost his fire and turned in three bad recruiting classes in a row from 2005-2007. As the talent level dropped, so did the number of wins. The last three years, we're feeling the effects of it. West was fired three years ago when he turned in a 2-10 season. Former coach Larry Porter came in and ran off several of West's players, and was forced to play with only 65 scholarship players last season. We blew three late fourth quarter leads last season because of a lack of depth. As bad as we were, we were only three defensive plays away from being 5-7 last year. It didn't matter though, because coach Porter was fired too.

Recruiting has been much better the last three years, but depth is still a problem. The last two years we were forced to start a lot of true freshmen and sophomores, so we do return a lot of guys who had significant playing time. We have 49 scholarship players returning, and a class of 25 players coming in to help.

New coach Justin Fuente (co-OC of TCU and primary offensive play-caller) put together a much better football staff than the previous one, and they pulled in one of the better recruiting classes that we've had in the last decade. He plans on opening up the offense quite a bit.

Look at the money these other programs are investing in football...SMU:On campus Stadium, UH:On Campus Stadium, etc etc etc.

UC got the nod over you guys in 2005, not b/c we had done more in football on the field, but b/c of Varsity Village and our investment in football (and overall athletics). One of the few things our admin did right back then was come to the conclusion that football drives the bus and we can no longer afford to be a "basketball school" to the detriment and neglect of football. This has paid off big time for UC....

Memphis still appears to have a "bball is king and football sucks hind tit" mentality. This is not what the BE is looking for.


again, it's nothing personal....I root for Memphis unless you are playing a fellow conference mate

(02-07-2012 08:26 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(02-06-2012 11:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  

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

Memphis went to five bowls in the last decade. SMU and SDSU went to five bowls combined in the last decade. We did more in football than two teams that did get in.

(02-06-2012 10:32 PM)Bearcat 1984 Wrote:  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.

That $41M goes to pay for 18 varsity sports (nine men's & nine women's). The breakdown for what Memphis spends (and what the other CUSA and Big East teams spend) is listed in the link below.

Crunching those comparative numbers

Some of the $8.6M Memphis spends on football is going to pay for the buyouts of the two previous coaches we fired in the last three years.

By comparision, Cincinnati spends $11.1M on football. We just outspend you on other things, like basketball ($6.7M to $4.9M).

The problem isn't what we spend on football. Memphis has been to five bowls in the last decade while SMU and SDSU have been to five bowls combined in the same time.

The problem isn't facilities. Memphis has made the following upgrades:

• new weight room
• new locker rooms
• new coaches offices
• new surfacing and improved drainage on four outdoor practice fields
• new tailgating and landscaping improvements around the stadium
  

We're not done with our upgrades either. We're halfway through a fundraising campaign to build a brand new indoor practice facility. After that, we have plans for upgrades to stadium luxury boxes, the press boxes, and the scoreboard/jumbotron.

The problem was bad recruiting and bad hiring decisions. Former coach Tommy West lost his fire and turned in three bad recruiting classes in a row from 2005-2007. As the talent level dropped, so did the number of wins. The last three years, we're feeling the effects of it. West was fired three years ago when he turned in a 2-10 season. Former coach Larry Porter came in and ran off several of West's players, and was forced to play with only 65 scholarship players last season. We blew three late fourth quarter leads last season because of a lack of depth. As bad as we were, we were only three defensive plays away from being 5-7 last year. It didn't matter though, because coach Porter was fired too.

Recruiting has been much better the last three years, but depth is still a problem. The last two years we were forced to start a lot of true freshmen and sophomores, so we do return a lot of guys who had significant playing time. We have 49 scholarship players returning, and a class of 25 players coming in to help.

New coach Justin Fuente (co-OC of TCU and primary offensive play-caller) put together a much better football staff than the previous one, and they pulled in one of the better recruiting classes that we've had in the last decade. He plans on opening up the offense quite a bit.

Look at the money these other programs are investing in football...SMU:On campus Stadium, UH:On Campus Stadium, etc etc etc.

UC got the nod over you guys in 2005, not b/c we had done more in football on the field, but b/c of Varsity Village and our investment in football (and overall athletics). One of the few things our admin did right back then was come to the conclusion that football drives the bus and we can no longer afford to be a "basketball school" to the detriment and neglect of football. This has paid off big time for UC....

Memphis still appears to have a "bball is king and football sucks hind tit" mentality. This is not what the BE is looking for.


again, it's nothing personal....I root for Memphis unless you are playing a fellow conference mate

I really think that what the Big East is looking for is the best TV $$$ deal possible. The success of Memphis football over the past few years isn't the issue, and if the AQ goes away then the AQ isn't the issue either.
The Memphis TV market is about the same as Louisville.

Now Subflea has posted info related the importance of getting games broadcast (non ESPN games) in a market area and that is key as opposed to the exact number of eyeballs that watch the game. I am not an expert on this topic but moving forward it is about the new TV contract.

Now Philly - Temple is a bigger market than Memphis so maybe the Big East is trying to protect Villanova still? ECU and S. Miss are in small markets and Big East basketball teams don't want to fly in there anyway.

If you look at the pattern, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Boise (you need to get a real football power in there somehow) is even up to 600,000 in population now, you get the picture.

Quote:AdamZagoria

Hearing there may be legs to the latest round of Memphis-to-the-Big East reports

If this were just the Memphis camp starting rumors, that would be one thing. But Kevin McNamara and Adam Zngoria both cover the Big East and both have tweeted that something is going on.

Too much smoke to ignore.

(02-07-2012 08:26 AM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  

(02-06-2012 11:14 PM)PATiger Wrote:  

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

Memphis went to five bowls in the last decade. SMU and SDSU went to five bowls combined in the last decade. We did more in football than two teams that did get in.

(02-06-2012 10:32 PM)Bearcat 1984 Wrote:  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.

That $41M goes to pay for 18 varsity sports (nine men's & nine women's). The breakdown for what Memphis spends (and what the other CUSA and Big East teams spend) is listed in the link below.

Crunching those comparative numbers

Some of the $8.6M Memphis spends on football is going to pay for the buyouts of the two previous coaches we fired in the last three years.

By comparision, Cincinnati spends $11.1M on football. We just outspend you on other things, like basketball ($6.7M to $4.9M).

The problem isn't what we spend on football. Memphis has been to five bowls in the last decade while SMU and SDSU have been to five bowls combined in the same time.

The problem isn't facilities. Memphis has made the following upgrades:

• new weight room
• new locker rooms
• new coaches offices
• new surfacing and improved drainage on four outdoor practice fields
• new tailgating and landscaping improvements around the stadium
  

We're not done with our upgrades either. We're halfway through a fundraising campaign to build a brand new indoor practice facility. After that, we have plans for upgrades to stadium luxury boxes, the press boxes, and the scoreboard/jumbotron.

The problem was bad recruiting and bad hiring decisions. Former coach Tommy West lost his fire and turned in three bad recruiting classes in a row from 2005-2007. As the talent level dropped, so did the number of wins. The last three years, we're feeling the effects of it. West was fired three years ago when he turned in a 2-10 season. Former coach Larry Porter came in and ran off several of West's players, and was forced to play with only 65 scholarship players last season. We blew three late fourth quarter leads last season because of a lack of depth. As bad as we were, we were only three defensive plays away from being 5-7 last year. It didn't matter though, because coach Porter was fired too.

Recruiting has been much better the last three years, but depth is still a problem. The last two years we were forced to start a lot of true freshmen and sophomores, so we do return a lot of guys who had significant playing time. We have 49 scholarship players returning, and a class of 25 players coming in to help.

New coach Justin Fuente (co-OC of TCU and primary offensive play-caller) put together a much better football staff than the previous one, and they pulled in one of the better recruiting classes that we've had in the last decade. He plans on opening up the offense quite a bit.

Look at the money these other programs are investing in football...SMU:On campus Stadium, UH:On Campus Stadium, etc etc etc.

UC got the nod over you guys in 2005, not b/c we had done more in football on the field, but b/c of Varsity Village and our investment in football (and overall athletics). One of the few things our admin did right back then was come to the conclusion that football drives the bus and we can no longer afford to be a "basketball school" to the detriment and neglect of football. This has paid off big time for UC....

Memphis still appears to have a "bball is king and football sucks hind tit" mentality. This is not what the BE is looking for.


again, it's nothing personal....I root for Memphis unless you are playing a fellow conference mate

You appear to have ignored everything I wrote. Memphis is not ignoring football any more.

I appreciate the info PATiger....the investments you are describing are probably not well known. Quite honestly, I hate when "we" act like some of the programs I've grown to hate.....O$U, etc. in terms of arrogance about our program vs. the potential of others. We're merely six years removed from having only 7000 butts in the seats for a game against USF on Sunday night, not selling out a 35,000 seat stadium, etc.

Memphis has a lot of pluses in my mind: Historic rivalry with us/UofL, proximity, stadium (Liberty Bowl > Nippert), and lack of pro competition....and of course the basketball tradition. The SEC 'overhang' is big.....but if FedEx, or others, invest for the long run and they make the right hire.....anyone who says they couldn't rise to the level of success UofL or us has had is kidding themselves.

The Big East has virtually zero options outside of long shot BYU to grab a "relevant program". Air Force, Temple, ECU? If UofL bolts to the Big 12......I'd say Memphis is better than most other options.

I have no problem with Memphis getting an invite, its not like the other options are no brainers.

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyCBS

Sources tell @CBSSports Memphis & Big East in final negotiations to make Tigers Big East all-sports members in 2013

I'm admittedly still more a basketball man than football...just finished watching UC's Elite Eight game vs. Memphis in '92 a few hours ago. Memphis, to me, has all the potential of Cincy or UL in football with $ and fan base (although they are primarily basketball focused as well). Not against this move in the slightest.

I've been one of the few on here in Memphis's court for a while. I think they have potential as a football program. The numbers PATiger shared are impressive and something that has clearly been looked at by the Big East. I'm personally going to be excited for UC and Memphis to start playing basketball again.

In UC's first Big East season the Bearcats were in complete rebuild mode and got absolutely destroyed by nearly everyone. The very next year a young Bearcat team played 5 top 10 teams during the season (beating Rutgers to end their unbeaten season) on their way to an 8-5 season (capped with the International Bowl win). In their 4th and 5th season in the Big East the Bearcats won outright Big East Championships. The Memphis program that enters the Big East in the near future is going to struggle, but things can turn around very quickly if the right coach is there and they build a good foundation.

I hope it falls apart before anything is signed.

(02-07-2012 01:49 PM)subflea Wrote:  I hope it falls apart before anything is signed.

x2

11 teams now for 2013 (assuming Pitt and Syracuse gone). Pick up Air Force to get a championship game in 2013 . Assures UC in the east then.

Like the move for a purely selfish standpoint . Like old rivalries. Plus its a drive-able road trip .

Yea, I want Memphis.

(02-07-2012 01:52 PM)ctipton Wrote:  

(02-07-2012 01:49 PM)subflea Wrote:  I hope it falls apart before anything is signed.

x2

According to CBSSports, it's a done deal.

I look foward to playing each of you in the Big East.

Until there is a press release from the conference I will hold out hope it falls apart.