Yeah, more conference expansion blather …

And wouldn’t it be fun lining up across from a Bobby Petrino team?

Guess which school the largest newspaper in the Oklahoma believes would be the best candidate for Big Twelve Conference expansion if that league were successful in getting Arkansas to return.

Barry Tramel,  writing for The Oklahoman, says it would be the University of Louisville, keeping in mind that conference commissioner Dan Beebe has said the conference will not expand beyond its current five-state configuration:

  • “Comes from a decent-sized television market, No. 49 in the U.S., which is bigger than Memphis, New Orleans and Buffalo.
  • “Has a solid athletic program; in the 2000s, Louisville has won the Orange Bowl in football and reached the men’s Final Four, the women’s basketball NCAA championship game and the College World Series.
  • “Is an adequate geographic fit. Louisville is 508 miles from Kansas City, Mo. Boulder, Color is 622 miles from KC. Kentucky borders Missouri.
  • “Might be interested. The Big East is more vulnerable than the Big 12. The Big East reportedly is contemplating Central Florida and Memphis, which is not the kind of football move that will ensure long-term viability.”

His other candidates, in order, were Brigham Young, New Mexico, Air Force, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

4 thoughts on “Oklahoma Scribe Likes Louisville For Big Twelve”
  1. I’m assuming we’re definng non-football schools as those who don’t play Big East football. Only DePaul, Marquette, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence actually have no football program. Villanova and Georgetown play Division I-AA (FCS) ball.

  2. Works for me. The BE scares me because of the mix of 8 football/basketball teams and 8 basketball only teams.

    8 football teams is a dangerous number today. If the BE loses one or two it’s toast. But how can you add additional football schools when you have 16 basketball teams. You could end up with an 18 team league where each team plays the other 17 one time a year and then flip flops the home and away for the next year. Or try a division with 9 teams so you play 16 games in your division and either no one in the other or just a couple a year. That is a disaster for equitable strength of scheduling.

    Eventually the BE will split. The B-ball only teams will be one league and the B-ball, football schools will be constitute another. Football is the driving dollar and the BE as presently constitued won’t make it.

  3. Now, wouldn’t that be an interesting twist on things.

    If I were the Big 12 commish, my choices, in order would be:

    1a. Notre Dame (not going to happen)
    1b. Arkansas
    2. Louisville
    3. BYU

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