Nothing left for Memphis to lose in conference realignment
They are saying nobody lost more than Memphis in this round of conference realignment, and they are right.
There is no sugarcoating what happened over the past week. Memphis got passed over again by the Big 12 and it was worse this time because UCF, Cincinnati and Houston each got the invite Memphis so coveted. Gone are the three schools most like Memphis in the American Athletic Conference.
But there is also a flip side to this, a side they aren’t talking about. A side that should guide Memphis fans moving forward, for however long they’re forced to be in conference realignment purgatory, waiting for the league it wants to rescue it from the league nobody wants to be in anymore.
In losing so much, there’s not much else for Memphis to lose. So why stop aspiring for more now?
Perhaps this isn’t the rallying cry you were hoping for on the day the Tigers officially got left behind by the Big 12, but it is a rallying cry that nonetheless can provide some hope.
Memphis believes this isn’t over yet, even if it’s over for now. Even if the next round of conference realignment could go just like this one.
“We understand the disappointment and it’s frustrating to everyone involved, but we are in the best position we have ever been in and we are very much in the center of those conversations,” Memphis athletics director Laird Veatch told The Commercial Appeal. “I don’t believe all the change is over. I believe there are other opportunities that are going to come on the horizon, and we have the opportunity to have an incred
ible year here competitively in a lot of ways.”
“Let’s enjoy it and keep our foot down on the pedal and doing everything we can to position ourselves for the future. Don’t let it get us down. Let’s keep our heads up, be proud and keep battling.”
This isn’t a merit-based fight, of course.
It isn’t about who’s most deserving, or who’s the best on the field. If it were, Memphis wouldn’t be the odd school out at the moment.
It’s about who can provide the most revenue to content providers. It’s about brand recognition and market size and enrollment and alumni bases and, above all else, how much money a conference can generate through those various factors.
That’s why BYU and its national fan base got picked. It’s why Houston, UCF and Cincinnati and their bigger markets, with enrollments that are all more than double that of Memphis, got picked.
That’s a lot more potential viewers in the minds of Big 12 decision makers, even if that line of thinking can be faulty. The percentage of people in Memphis passionate about University of Memphis is likely far greater than those in Houston, Orlando or Cincinnati.
But potential in this case seems to have trumped reality, like an NBA team drafting a 19-year-old because of what he might become instead of a college senior who’s already proven what he can do.
It’s also why Memphis could get picked, or not picked, later. As Veatch alluded, there will be a next time. The athletics directors at Iowa State and Texas Tech have already intimated as much. If it’s two years from now, once Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC, and the Big 12 expands again. Or if it’s another domino effect from the the Pac-12 or Big Ten or ACC or the SEC expanding further.
There is no fixing the size of the Memphis market or the size of the student body in the immediate future, but maybe there is more that can be done to convince the university presidents — and the viewership projections — that drive these decisions.
It’s still important to support the University of Memphis by packing Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and Fedexforum to show how devoted this city is to the Tigers. It’s important for Memphis football and men’s basketball to remain nationally relevant.
But it also might be more important now to have your own ESPN+ subscription, to not borrow the login information from a friend or family member. To give these decision makers the kind of data they’re looking for, data that will be so overwhelming it will minimize the inherent drawbacks in picking Memphis the next time Memphis gets a chance to elevate itself out of the AAC.
The university has done plenty over the past decade to help its case, to highlight its diverse student body and robust corporate support and elevate the stature of the football program. But more work will be needed.
USF, for instance, just announced its intention to build an on-campus stadium. SMU has a $2 billion endowment. Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and UNLV could give the Big 12 a western presence it needs in the next round of media rights negotiations.
None of which means Memphis will go back to being just a “basketball school” or accept that it will endure the same fate as Southern Miss or UAB or the rest of the teams left behind in Conference USA a decade ago.
Memphis is all alone right now – the face of a watered-down AAC hoping like heck someone will save it.
This can’t get much worse, but hopefully this is the worst it will be.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto