Insider Claims Memphis, Maybe ucif, To Be Announced As Big East Members Soon

[TailGateBull08]

I'm sure it's just talk.  Though I do now believe with the hiring of Tranghese as a consultant, Memphis is all but a lock to join within the next few years.  For those of you who think it's a bad idea, just look at Cinncinnati.  Memphis had a far greater basketball team (we'll see if it holds strong), and has slightly better facilities than Cinncinnati had before joining the Big East.  I think they're easily the best fit, outside of Navy.  Large media market, fans will come (as they did at Cinn) in a southern state that loves football.  They have to compete with Tennessee just as Cinncinnati has to compete with Ohio State.  Give them 5 years in the league and they could easily become one of the top programs.

The thought of ucif joining just shakes me to the core though.  God awful idea.  I'd rather have ECU, if they updated their logo to something a little more modern and marketable.

Here's the article:

Alleged Memphis insider says on MS radio today that Memphis is a lock to Big East Post #1An Ole Miss fan posted on MT.org earlier today that he heard a rumor that Memphis was going into the Big East within 6 months, on Mississippi radio out of Amory (close to Tupelo?).

Someone else posted the link to the streaming radio archive of a show called the Sports Drive, so I suffered through almost two hours of it to hear what they had to say.

Early in the program, the two hosts brought up the fact that Memphis had hired ex-Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, and discussed the possibility of Memphis getting into any BCS conference. In their opinion, there was no way in hell Memphis would ever get into the SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12 or the Pac 10, leaving a remote possibility of the Big Esat or the ACC, They then proceeded to expound on all the reasons why it wouldn't happen, the typical reasons listed by uninformed outsiders to the process, such as Memphis football is not good enough, they're too far away from the other schools, the Big East has no real reason to include them, it would be too many teams, etc.

At the end of their discussion, they asked for a friend of theirs, whom they called "Sammy," and described as a Memphis insider, to please call them if he was listening, to enlighten them on what he might know. They said that Sammy was usually accurate about happenings at Memphis.

About 90 minutes later, Sammy did call in, and told them he had made a number of calls today to uncover the truth. I listened carefully, and took notes, so here is a transcription, as accurate as possible, of what "Sammy" had to say today on air:

I made a number of calls, so let's discuss the facts only. Everything I am about to say is an absolute fact.

Tranghese was hired August 1. That's a fact, but actually, Fred Smith is paying him, and Tranghese has been on his payroll for quite a while (didn't say how long).

The Big East has been working behind the scenes to get Memphis into the conference for quite a while now. (At this point the two hosts asked him to clarify if he meant the Big East was after Memphis, or vice versa). Sammy replied that the Big East was after Memphis.

Sammy said that the Big East took a private vote several months ago to admit Memphis, but put their plans on hold when Calipari left for Kentucky, to "step back and re-evaluate the situation."

Sammy then said that Memphis "will become a part of the Big East within six months," and that it will be announced soon. The hosts started talking over him, and it was never made clear whether Memphis would be admitted within 6 months, or whether the announcement would come within 6 months.

Sammy said that UCF and ECU will also be admitted to the Big East.

He then quickly added that it is still possible that ECU won't make it, but that Memphis and UCF are locks.

He said the reason has everything to do with football, that the Big East has had huge complaints from its football members about scheduling, and this is the solution to providing 4 to 6 home games per team, every other year now.

He said he was absolutely positive about his information, and that anything else that was said publicly is just "window dressing." He said this is going to happen "no matter what anyone says."

The radio hosts then asked Sammy about Southern Mississippi, and he replied that they were considered, but "the dollars are just not there."

Sammy said, "I was told it's all about the dollars, and that's it." It's about what each school can bring to the table, nothing else.

The hosts thanked him, told him he was the star of the show today, and then abruptly changed their tune about what they said earlier, in essence buying into everything Sammy said.

Andy's observations:

I have no idea who "Sammy" is, and I have no idea if what he is saying is true.

Sammy sounded completely believable, and certainly spoke with an air of authority.

The hosts acknowledged that Sammy had been right about events at Memphis many times before.

Sammy said a few things I had not heard before.

Nothing Sammy said conflicted with anything I have been told by others over the past few months.

If they are truly going to 12 football teams, then I'm guessing it is to create a conference championship game, and/or to hedge against a possible raid by other conferences (much more likely to be the first reason, in addition to just solving scheduling problems).

Seeing is believing. I remain skeptical until it happens

That is all I have. Let the speculation commence.

http://truebluetigers.com/forum/tiger-gridiron/alleged-memphis-insider-says-ms-radio-today-memphis-lock-big-east

[redfisher78]

Memphis just hired ex-big east commish, so I am sure that was a huge part of that decision. This will be like a hybrid conf-usa. Crappy.

[DELdaBull]

Those three don't give 12. ND better be part of the package then. I take it Memphis would bring te BEast the Liberty Bowl. What is ECU and UCF bringing?

[Held_AccountaBull]

sorry but don't believe this.

[The_Reaper]

I hope they get rid of the St. Johns, DePauls, Marquettes, etc that does not have the football package. This is why I do not like the Big East! It is a basketball conference

[DELdaBull]

At least they are looking out for Cuse so that they are not the bottom feeder any more (if this happens).

[Matt]

i agree that they need to take the 8 basketball schools and force them to make their own conference.

[smazza]

what a bad move to bring in c america teams

big east is better standing pat

sometimes best moves are no moves

[MikeG]

well something happening might be a bonus considering our scheduling issues

It may seem crazy but a split conference in hoops with 9/10 teams each might work-- especially if they can find a way to break it up right.

add three more teams and you can split into two divisions in football ala SEC and have a championship game (probably at whoever has best record instead of a "site" like the ACC and SEC does-- that can be a real problem filling up.

we'll see - the thing I doubt most about this is the timing they are pronouncing. 6 months is very fast, unless it is simply an announcement of expansion plans that start in 2011 or 2012. We'll no doubt have to play some CUSA home and home games throughout the league (each team playing some, mostly the new members though) if we take 3 off of them. adding two might make more sense. Not sure I am thrilled about the teams under consideration but the logic is there.

[2000bull]

"Sammy sounded completely believable, and certainly spoke with an air of authority."

I have a feeling O'liar sounded completely believable when he was interviewing for ND as well. Just because you sound like you know what you're talking about doesn't mean you do.