One of the best breakdowns I've seen on Big 12 expansion candidate schools. This is from the Cinncinnatti newspaper.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/2016/05/31/uc-vs-big-12-candidates-who-stands-out/85193190/
UC vs. Big 12 candidates: Who stands out?
As Big 12 Conference presidents prepare to meet this week to discuss whether the league should add schools, The Enquirer takes a look at the expansion candidates.
Eight schools have widely been mentioned as possible new additions to the Big 12, which could add two schools or might not expand at all. In addition to the University of Cincinnati, Brigham Young, Houston, Connecticut, Memphis, Central Florida, Boise State and Colorado State have been raising their hands yelling "pick me!"
Here's a look at how the candidates compare to each other:
Possible attractive qualities
• BYU leads the pack in football TV ratings and football and basketball attendance. The Cougars have finished in the top 30 in major college football attendance nine of the past 10 seasons, according to an Enquirer analysis of NCAA data. In basketball, BYU has ranked in the top 20 nationally in attendance the past five seasons. (NCAA rankings are not yet available for 2015-16 season.)
• In 2015, UC completed an $86 million expansion of Nippert Stadium that added new luxury suites, club seats, a party deck and press box. Also, UC is by far the closest expansion candidate to the Big 12's geographic outlier, West Virginia. But geography may not play a factor, even though West Virginia would like to have a closer conference rival. "The TV guys loom large in deciding who conferences are bringing into their league, and I’m not sure if they care about proximity of schools at all," said Courtney Brunious, associate director of the University of Southern California's Sports Business Institute.
• Boise State and Houston could give the Big 12 two more Top 25 football programs. Boise has finished with a top-20 ranking six of the past 10 seasons. Houston is coming off a 13-1 season in which it beat Florida State in the Peach Bowl and finished No. 8 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls.
• Houston opened a new, 40,000-seat stadium two years ago. Billionaire Texans Red McCombs and Tilman Fertitta also have been publicly calling for the Big 12 to add the school.
• Colorado State is in the process of building a $238.5 million on-campus football stadium. It's scheduled to open for the 2017 season.
• FedEx has vowed to become a major Big 12 sponsor if the conference takes Memphis, according to ESPN.com. The Memphis-based shipping giant could sponsor a Big 12 football championship game.
• Although football and the TV money that comes with it has driven conference realignment, Connecticut has more NCAA men's basketball championships than any current Big 12 school or expansion candidate. The Huskies have four national titles, including in 2011 and 2014.
Possible unattractive qualities
• None of the candidates appear to have the ability to significantly increase the Big 12's television revenue, except maybe BYU. That's partly due to some of the schools being overshadowed by professional teams and other colleges in their own TV market. Big 12 officials have this concern about Houston and Cincinnati.
• BYU's affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not permit the schools' athletic teams from playing on Sunday. That's typically not a problem for football, but it could create a scheduling nightmare for basketball and other sports that play games on Sunday.
• Boise State and Central Florida are both over 1,000 miles away from the closest Big 12 school.
• Memphis plays its football and basketball games in off-campus venues.
• Except for BYU and Memphis, all the candidates' football stadiums are smaller than the Big 12's smallest venue (Texas Christian's 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium). However, UC and Houston could play some home games in their cities' NFL stadiums.
Football TV ratings
A look at the 10 most-watched regular-season games involving the candidates during each of the past two seasons, based on an Enquirer analysis of Sports Media Watch data:
2015
BYU vs. Nebraska: 3.134 million viewers, ABC
BYU vs. Michigan: 3.071M, ABC
Houston vs. Navy: 3.055M, ABC
Boise State vs. Washington: 2.058M, ESPN
Connecticut vs. Missouri: 1.903M, ESPN
Cincinnati vs. BYU: 1.468M, ESPN
Cincinnati vs. Miami (Florida): 1.348M, ESPN
Cincinnati vs. Memphis: 1.242M, ESPN
BYU vs. Connecticut: 1.240M, ESPN2
Memphis vs. Tulsa: 1.216M, ESPN
(Memphis-Ole Miss had combined viewership with Iowa-Northwestern of 3.311M on ABC.)
2014
Boise State vs. Ole Miss: 2.42M, ESPN
BYU vs. Virginia: 1.64M, ESPN
Boise State vs. Fresno State: 1.62M, ESPN
Connecticut vs. South Florida: 1.36M, ESPN
BYU vs. Central Florida: 1.34M, ESPN
Cincinnati vs. Houston: 1.31M, ESPN
Central Florida vs. Penn State: 1.29M, ESPN2
BYU vs. Utah State: 1.17M, ESPN
BYU vs. Connecticut: 1.08M, ESPN
BYU vs. Houston: 1.05M, ESPN
(Data not available for CBS Sports Network, which has a deal with the American Athletic Conference – UC, Memphis, Houston, Central Florida, Connecticut – and the Mountain West Conference – Boise State and Colorado State.)
http://e.infogr.am/a4e3c2df-dae2-4fef-a31a-1c4706b870d6?src=embed
TV market size
Nielsen's national ranking of the markets where each candidate is located:
10. Houston
17. Colorado State (Denver)
19. Central Florida (Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne)
30. Connecticut (Hartford/New Haven)
34. BYU (Salt Lake City)
36. Cincinnati
50. Memphis
107. Boise State (Boise)
• Big 12 rankings: Texas Christian is located in conference's largest market (No. 5 Dallas/Fort Worth); Texas Tech is in the smallest (No. 144 Lubbock).
Athletic revenue
How candidates fared in USA Today's latest college athletics financial rankings:
48. Connecticut $72.2 million (university subsidy: $28.1M)
54. Cincinnati $52.5M (subsidy: $23.2M)
55. Central Florida $51.5M (subsidy: $24.8M)
62. Houston $44.8M (subsidy: $12.4M)
64. Boise State $43.9M (subsidy: $12.4M)
65. Memphis $43.4M (subsidy: $12.8M)
70. Colorado State $38.5M (subsidy: $20.4M)
• Big 12 rankings: Texas has the highest national ranking at No. 2 with $183.5M; Iowa State has the lowest at No. 47 with $75.3M. The athletic departments at Texas and Oklahoma do not receive a university subsidy; Oklahoma State receives the biggest subsidy of $7.8M.)
(BYU is a private school and not subject to publicly disclose financial records. The school reportedly signed an eight-year deal with ESPN in 2010 paying BYU between $800,000 and $1.2 million per home game.)
Academic ranking
U.S. News & World Report’s national rankings:
57. Connecticut
66. BYU
127. Colorado State
140. Cincinnati
168. Central Florida
187. Houston
NR. Memphis
NR. Boise State
• Big 12 rankings: Texas had the highest at No. 42; West Virginia had the lowest at No. 175.
http://e.infogr.am/ec4497e8-ff53-49e7-9068-19ce660c2d67?src=embed
Football fan index rankings
How candidates fared in USA Today's 2015 College Football Fan Index, which ranks each major college team's fans by social media data and online polling:
47. Boise State
50. BYU
54. Memphis
59. Houston
92. Colorado State
93. Central Florida
94. Cincinnati
106. Connecticut
• Big 12 rankings: Oklahoma had the highest ranking at No. 10; Kansas had the lowest at 69th.
Proximity
A look at each candidates' closest Big 12 school:
• Houston 166 miles to University of Texas​
• Cincinnati 305 miles to West Virginia
• Memphis 472 miles to Oklahoma State
• Connecticut 522 miles to West Virginia
• Colorado State 547 miles to Kansas State
• BYU 872 miles to Texas Tech
• Central Florida 1,046 miles to Texas Christian
• Boise State 1,253 miles to Texas Tech
http://e.infogr.am/388162dd-d644-40ae-b65a-ca0f85bd84fc?src=embed
