Our ongoing discussion of college football continues today with our second roundtable of the week. This spring and summer, the cast of writers here at the Student Section will discuss what’s going to happen on the gridiron this fall.
Yesterday, we asked if the Big 12 should expand. Today, we expand that subject to discuss who the Big 12 should invite if they choose to add more members.
Question: If the Big 12 does expand, who should it add?
Kevin Causey: On Twitter @CFBZ
Yesterday we discussed whether or not the Big 12 should expand. I didn’t take part in the roundtable because my answer is simply “yes”. The bigger question in my estimation is who the Big 12 should invite.
Right now the Big 12 sits at 10 members. The first step should be to get back up to 12. The first team that should be added in my estimation is UCF.
UCF is very attractive because it would bring the Big 12 into the Southeast and specifically the Florida market. UCF is very much a growing school and has a very large enrollment. With UCF you get a big TV market and a lot of upside.
In addition to UCF, let’s go outside of the box. Houston, Memphis and Cincinnati are all schools that could be a good fit but who do you really want to see in the Big 12?
When I ask myself who I want to see in the Big 12, it’s Nebraska. Yes, I know they are in the Big Ten and the move has worked out well for them in several ways but they still feel like a fish out of water to me. Bring Nebraska back to the Big 12 where they belong. I don’t know how it would work out in the real world but if I was doing my fantasy re-alignment, the Huskers would be my number one draft pick for the Big 12.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
As noted in yesterday’s roundtable, I am against the idea of the Big 12 expansion. I believe that the current 10-team, round-robin format is the best way to crown a conference champion, and wish that other leagues would trim down and follow suit.
However, even though I’m against expansion, I do have a list of two teams that the Big 12 should consider. The addition of these programs will make the conference better from top to bottom, and does not include many of the schools that are openly lobbying to join the league.
The first program that I’d add to the conference is Houston. Under the leadership of current head coach Tom Herrman, the Cougars are ready to become a mainstay in the Top 15, much like TCU did during its final few seasons in the Mountain West. Given that UH defeated two teams from the ACC (Florida State, Louisville) and one from the SEC (handed Vandy its most lopsided loss of the year), there’s no doubt that they can compete (and win) in a Power 5 conference right now. Bringing them in would be no-brainer, as it gives the league yet another solid team in the talent-rich state of Texas.
The next team I’d look at is Boise State. Sure, they’re not a perfect geographical fit, but the end goal of expansion should be making the conference better regardless of location. The addition of the Broncos – who are 176-32 since 2000 – would certainly do that. While some people will dismiss BSU’s lofty record because of its relatively weak strength of schedule, it’s worth noting that the Broncos are 9-7 against the Pac-12, 2-1 against the ACC, and 2-0 against the Big 12 in that span. That type of consistent success against top competition makes it a more viable option than one-year wonders like UCF, UConn, Colorado State, and Memphis.
Simply put: Houston and Boise State are the only two viable options that the Big 12 has right now. The only other option would be to add a team from another Power 5 conference. I’ll be absolutely shocked if that happens!
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
The University of Houston might not have the historic backing to jump into a power five conference, but you could make the argument that none of the teams that the Big 12 are targeting actually do.
Unlike those other schools though, Houston is doing everything possible to improve itself as an athletic institution — while the others are not.
Sure, TDECU Stadium only seats 40,000 fans. The media market in Houston has already been saturated by the conference. There is nothing that proves there will be long-term stability in the football program. For years, the school and high-level coaches like Art Briles and Kevin Sumlin have battled with the fanbase to put fans in the seats.
Tom Herman himself called out Cougar Nation midway through the season for not selling out the newly-built home of his football program.
Yet, it was Houston that finished the year with three straight games on either ABC or ESPN. FromOctober 8th on, every single game was picked up by one of the major ESPN stations.
The anger, sales pitch, and H-Town Takeover moniker saw a 20% in attendance — despite the rough showing to start the season. The Cougars averaged 33,980 fans per game in the second season of football at TDECU. Including a record-setting 42,159 in attendance for Houston’s win over Memphis.
According to ESPN, only the Cougar program has been able to secure a visit from a member of the conference composition committee. West Virginia president Gordon Gee visited the campuses in November of 2015.
The power chip that matters most though is that Herman as a head coach alone is great enough to convince the conference that the university is worthy of expansion. As an advocate and politician representing the athletic program, he can be very convincing.
While Houston might be the biggest gamble in the long run, they are also provide the most potential in hitting a home run down the road.
And their on-the-field product adds something to the table right away, unlike most of the current options for the conference.
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
Well, poaching a Power 5 school is probably not feasible, so you go out west and grab Boise State and you go back east and snag Cincinnati. Cincinnati is almost a no-brainer. Ideally, you grab someone that doesn’t leave West Virginia on an island out there accruing frequent flyer miles and give them a natural rival in the conference. Nothing says, “manufactured rivalry” like WVU-Iowa State in rivalry week commercials. Cincy and WVU could at least become something.
As for Boise, we keep hearing the tired comments about stadium size, but Baylor’s stadium only houses only around 5,000 more seats. Surely, that’s an issue masking something else. It can’t be wins, because BSU does plenty of that too, plus they’ve built a national brand with their blue turf and willingness to play on television at times other schools originally would not.
Plus, appearing in multiple BCS bowl games helps, too, during that era. The 10s at the bar are already married and the divorce isn’t worth the legal wrangling. Ask BSU and Cincy out and be done with it.
