East Carolina: Potential Big 12 Target?
The East Carolina Pirates are known for being a good football school with a passionate fan base. They were a staple of Conference USA football during its heyday and are now a member of the American Athletic Conference.
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Yet the promised land of big conference football has never delivered. ECU fans have been knocking on the door of the ACC for years, only to be ignored. There have been wistful glances at the SEC, but nothing more than that.
Conference expansion allowed East Carolina to improve its position, but only into one of the five conferences that does not get automatic consideration into the Alliance Bowls. Before Sunday, it seemed that was best the Pirates could do. There were no open seats to the Power Five table.
The first College Football Playoff Announcement changed that. The committee took Ohio State, a conference champion, over Baylor and TCU of the Big 12. The Big 12 almost immediately began discussing how to improve their situation. The first thing they pointed at was the lack of a Big 12 Championship Game. The League that promised ‘One True Champion’ could deliver none.
The Big 12 is considering several options to get a Championship game. They have considered getting a waiver of the twelve team requirement. They also have to have considered further expansion. Current Big 12 media deals are based on the ten team league and would have to be adjusted so there is a fair amount of work that would have to be done.
So where do you find those two teams? Let’s look at the options…
Nov 28, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Cougars offensive lineman Ben Dew (63) carries the team flag onto the field before the game against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
The Texas Two Step:
Fans of the old SWC conference and fans of regional conference identities would notably probably point to Houston and SMU as the likely slam dunk expansion candidates. Both have histories with the southern schools of conference. Both also have sports success outside of football, which would be particularly important for SMU. SMU went 1-11 this year and recently hired Clemson coordinator Chad Morris to be its
next coach.
The reason that the Big 12 would not do this is simple, Texas saturation. With Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, and TCU, the state is pretty well covered. There would be no new markets opened up for the conference to make new money in.
Cincy:
Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News reports that the Big 12 Conference had discussions with officials at the University of Cincinnati before the playoff announcement went south on them. Cincinnati is one of the Big East schools that did not improve its position when the conference blew up. The question would be who else? Or do you now try for the waiver as a 11 team league?
Cincinnati would expand the conference footprint into the Midwest and serve as a bridge of sorts to West Virginia, which currently is all alone east of the Mississippi.
BYU:
The Wildcats have been begging for consideration by the Big 12 ever since the Pac 12 took Utah and BYU turned independent. BYU is a national brand, with Mormon support all over the country. The school’s athletic credentials are good in multiple sports. The Big 12 does not currently serve the Great Basin since Colorado and Nebraska left the conference.
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Cincy on the Prowl
Further afield: East Carolina?
The addition of West Virginia showed that the Big 12 was willing to spread out of its geographic hotbed for a team with tradition and support. There are not a lot of other schools to target if they were to do that again. Memphis, ECU, USF, or UCF would make some sense though the geographical foot print would mean nothing.
UCF would bring the Big 12 into Florida, and they are currently better than USF right now. Neither Florida school has a great basketball tradition to otherwise be attractive. How valuable are Florida recruits and tvs to the Big 12? Since the conference has always mined Texas for guys, I don’t know if either UCF or USF are worth it.
Memphis has a basketball tradition that could be useful to the Big 12. The team won the American Athletic in football this year. It does not provide any new recruiting grounds, but is outside the current Big 12 foot print without being really outside of it.
East Carolina has good football tradition, but that is where the ball stops. The Big 12 does not need a finger in the already over divided pie that is North Carolina recruiting. They might gain some exposure in the Tidewater Virginia area, but that would be it. Basketball is not going to be an ECU calling card in trying to sell the school. I don’t the Big 12 would find a good fit here.
What will the Big 12 do? We will have to watch and wait.