Memphis would be an even lesser priority to a region it has little ties to. It’s tempting to imagine Memphis basketball facing Duke, North Carolina or Louisville but is that enough to draw interest since football drives realignment? The ACC could add members, but how does Memphis fit besides an old rivalry with Louisville? The Tigers have only faced two ACC teams in football since 2012, so there’s no built-in relationships. What about Memphis to the ACC? The ACC schools are locked into a grant of rights agreement until 2036 through their television deal with ESPN, but it might not stop some of their elite brands – Clemson, Florida State, Duke, North Carolina – from seeking better deals sooner. The Big 12 appears more unlikely than ever at this point. That proposal would make the Big 12 a 16- or 18-team league. It could still expand but would Memphis feel good about being a 19th or 20th team priority? Maybe, but those plans show who the Big 12 is eyeing at the moment and it's not the Tigers. WOLKEN: With USC, UCLA bound for Big Ten, college sports becomes another corporate proxy war More: What we know: College football expansion evolving as Big Ten, Pac-12 face more decisions
GIANNOTTO: Memphis is reimagining Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium the right way. Per CBS Sports and The Athletic, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado are the main Big 12 targets with Oregon and Washington also in the mix. The first four make sense with Arizona’s market size and proximity to Texas, Colorado being a former Big 12 member and Utah as the defending Pac-12 champion. So where does that leave Memphis? Stuck in limbo and way down the Big 12’s priority list, if on there at all. View Gallery: Memphis Tigers host Friday Night Stripes That comes after the conference adds Central Florida, Houston, Cincinnati and Brigham Young on July 1, 2023. The Big 12 – which Memphis tried to join last decade – is having discussions to add four to six Pac-12 teams, according to CBS Sports. Southern Cal and UCLA announcing they’ll join the Big Ten in 2024 means Memphis could be left out once again as conferences scramble around the Tigers. “We’ve all had the opportunity to see, really, all the Big 12 stadiums and other stadiums across the country,” Veatch said then. “We need to look like we belong and this is the kind of stadium that looks like it belongs in that club.”
#LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT UPGRADE#
Athletics director Laird Veatch said the upgrade was partially done to appeal to schools for conference realignment. It was just two months ago when Memphis, along with city officials, unveiled a plan of up to $200 million to renovate Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
Watch Video: Watch a tour of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium's new turf field
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