With all of the talk of instability and involving the Big 12 and the Big East, a thought has crossed my mind that i haven't found a whole lot of talk about.
The Forlorn Five or whatever you want to call Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor have a possibility staring them in the face that needs to be examined extensively. Lets assume that the inevitable is gonna happen and the states of Texas and Oklahoma are gone, the five schools I have mentioned are zealous in throwing out the party line of staying together and getting through this together. A viable scenario for this is instead of joining the Big East, poaching its football members to create stability.
Louisville and Cincy are staring these schools in the face. See if you can pry them away from the Big East before it implodes, that gives you 6 (I have absolutely nothing against Baylor and they are in maybe a worse spot than Iowa State but I cant see them sticking with this scenario. They dont fit geographically, athletic priorities are different etc...) and an extremely solid base to then begin reaching out to some stretch schools. Memphis, Marshall, East Carolina, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and either tulsa or ball state gives you a solid 12. Now thats not a super-conference but its a solid core of schools with football, basketball and athletic departments with similar values and goals. Ames to Greenville, NC is about 1200 miles, not a day trip but separate divisions would help with this I think.
Do I think the current Big 12 leadership is capable of putting this together? No, the responsibility for this lies with the North schools left out in the cold. TV wise, the footprint is not spectacular but not laughable either and I feel both the football and basketball teams can be competitive with other conferences. I'm curious what your thoughts are concerning this scenario and whether its a viable opportunity.
The Forlorn Five or whatever you want to call Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor have a possibility staring them in the face that needs to be examined extensively. Lets assume that the inevitable is gonna happen and the states of Texas and Oklahoma are gone, the five schools I have mentioned are zealous in throwing out the party line of staying together and getting through this together. A viable scenario for this is instead of joining the Big East, poaching its football members to create stability.
Louisville and Cincy are staring these schools in the face. See if you can pry them away from the Big East before it implodes, that gives you 6 (I have absolutely nothing against Baylor and they are in maybe a worse spot than Iowa State but I cant see them sticking with this scenario. They dont fit geographically, athletic priorities are different etc...) and an extremely solid base to then begin reaching out to some stretch schools. Memphis, Marshall, East Carolina, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and either tulsa or ball state gives you a solid 12. Now thats not a super-conference but its a solid core of schools with football, basketball and athletic departments with similar values and goals. Ames to Greenville, NC is about 1200 miles, not a day trip but separate divisions would help with this I think.
Do I think the current Big 12 leadership is capable of putting this together? No, the responsibility for this lies with the North schools left out in the cold. TV wise, the footprint is not spectacular but not laughable either and I feel both the football and basketball teams can be competitive with other conferences. I'm curious what your thoughts are concerning this scenario and whether its a viable opportunity.
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