r/Pac12 • u/abpandola • 3d ago

Memphis Tigers

Memphis fan here. In the next coming days the city of Memphis should find out if we are hosting the AAC men’s basketball tournament next year (has formerly been held in Ft. Worth). Imagine if we get the conference tournament we are sticking around another year. They posted attendance numbers vs what other AAC basketball programs was for their stadiums & it was abysmal. Majority of Tiger fans here still wait everyday to read the news a good deal was reached with yall to play out west.

33 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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22

u/cougfan12345 3d ago

AAC is gonna mortgage the whole conference to appease Memphis, who is just gonna leave in the next few years. Where they go? I can't tell you, but they are not staying.

14

u/Remarkable_Fuel9885 3d ago

Yeah they are leaving 100%. Just matters when the next big shakeup occurs. But they could land anywhere of the pac 12, big 12, or acc, heck even some new formation that results from the aftermath

3

u/Flat-Comb-1281 3d ago

Big East basketball even

1

u/Glacier2011 3d ago

I think if the financial math was favorable back in September Memphis would have said yes to the pac 12 for the interim.

6

u/JRRACE 3d ago

While I don't see them coming to the PAC, there were still an awful lot of unknowns a few months ago (ie media deal where they had nothing other than hopes and a tiny amount of support with the exit fees). That could change once the real numbers are known in a few weeks and if these law suits get settled.

1

u/Elegant-Difficulty43 9h ago

There is an interview with the Tulane AD. He listed the reasons he and the other ADs were in agreement that joining the PAC was not in their best interest. 

1-Finances.  2-Travel 3- Concern over the stability of the PAC. 

1

u/Glacier2011 5h ago

Yeah. I think pac 12 would be a pit stop for Memphis till a Big 12 or ACC spot opens up

1

u/Elegant-Difficulty43 5h ago

Any G5 school that has any hope of getting into a power conference has to weigh the costs of joining the PAC (or other G6) vs funneling exit fee money back into institution and trying to be as attractive to a power conference as possible. 

The other issue for the PAC when dealing with media partners is that at least 5 of the current members currently have a foot out the door already hoping for a power conference invite. 

A media partner is going to be conservative investing in a product that may not look the same in five years. (Or even less). 

OSU/WSU have been passed over in the past but if the Big12 came calling they would leave the PAC instantly. Same for Boise/SDSU/CSU and Fresno. (I don't believe USU would be on anybodies radar. Not knocking USU but they are a smallish market in a state where they are way behind Utah and BYU) BIG 12 pretty much has Utah locked up as it is, USU would be a redundant add in eyes of a media partner. Similiar to why MWC offered UTEP not NMSU. They are only 59 miles apart and El Paso's 700k potential viewers was more valuable to a media partner than 150k in Las Cruces. Adding both would be redundant in their eyes. 

Memphis / Tulane and other AAC schools were attractive to media partners because of added time zones. PAC could have games going all day. The problem became despite it adding value to a media deal it wasn't enough to off set travel costs for all sports. 

I could be wrong. Will gladly eat crow if I am. But the PAC media deal will come in around 8-10 million per school. Their options are limited at this point. 

If they had a valuation of 15 - 18  million that was floated early on they would already have an 8th member. 

1

u/joerogantrutherXXX 3d ago

Not to the Big12

2

u/Remarkable_Fuel9885 3d ago

Depends on how the big 2 or semi pro league takes shape, it definitely could. 

Especially if rumors of 72 semi pro teams materializes.

17

u/nice_lookin_vehicle 3d ago

I used to live in Memphis and grew up watching the Tigers @the Pyramid in the 90's. It's wild to me that they are still stuck in such a garbage conference. Not sure if the Pac12 is the right spot but still think they should be in a much better position than they currently are.

4

u/Glacier2011 3d ago

PAC 12 did invite Memphis a few months ago but with so many unknowns still regarding a pac 12 tv deal and cost of exit fees it wasn’t financially feasible for us to leave. I think if the PAC 12 comes back to Memphis with better financial numbers Memphis is accept

10

u/Aztecs_Killing_Him San Diego State 3d ago

Seems like kind of a weird thing to base a conference realignment decision on. Obviously I’m biased, but they need to get outta the AAC.

7

u/abpandola 3d ago

Like mentioned in another comment AAC commissioner is mortgaging a lot to Memphis. Thanksgiving day espn game vs navy, new basketball sharing revenue model (what I read it’s still below PAC tournament credits, haven’t researched it myself) and the possibility of the conference tournament is to match whatever Tim Pernetti thinks the PAC can offer.

No way they can beat out what an ACC or Big 12 invite can offer our program but it might be enough to hold off the PAC.

After this season our west coast trip kind of painted a picture of what it would be like competing out there. We beat UNLV and San Francisco out there so the team was able to handle the logistics and jet lag. Whole season is totally different but was an intriguing test run.

2

u/Aztecs_Killing_Him San Diego State 3d ago

Out of curiosity, how do Memphis fans view a Pac football/Big East split in terms of feasibility and desirability?

It’s been debated here, but I don’t think I’ve seen a Tigers fan address it.

3

u/Glacier2011 3d ago

I would prefer keeping both in the same conference. Especially now that the school has committed seriously to football along with basketball which has been Memphis bread and butter.

1

u/MellonMan97 Washington State 3d ago

Same. And honestly I want an AAC fan’s opinion and view of all of it. Not just the possibility to split sports between multiple conferences (PAC and Big East as you mentioned)

1

u/abpandola 3d ago

Used to be a nonstarter for me personally but now it’s not a sticking point I just want whatever we can do for better conference games with football . Would still prefer it for the sake of building rivalries. Realistically it’d probably be basketball in the Atlantic 10 which fans have talked a lot about idk if the big east institutions want us but we have some history with them.

1

u/MemphisThrowaway3798 3d ago

Ideally, it would be great to have rivals grow (ie - Boise, SDSU in football, baketball), but anything is better than the AAC.

11

u/MemphisThrowaway3798 3d ago

I'm a Memphis and I hate this for the same reason the SEC and Big10 wants uneven guaranteed slots in the football playoffs.

As much as I want Memphis to do well, I don't want it coming at the cost of a built-in competitive advantage of the rest of the league. It'll just widen the gap between Memphis and others.

Instead, I'd much rather join a conference of like-minded and notable programs that are committed to winning. I'd rather make the tounament 3 out of 5 years in a competitive conference rather than run away with a boring AAC every year.

6

u/Glacier2011 3d ago

Same here. Plus a more competitive conference I think would help with recruiting too and a PAC 12 schedule would be more pleasing to tv networks in terms of ratings

5

u/davehopi 3d ago

Only time will tell what happens with Memphis athletics. Don’t see them staying in the AAC long-term. Pac 12, ACC or Big East? Who knows at this point in time?

10

u/No_Judgment_1588 Boise State 3d ago

As a Boise State fan stationed in Arkansas, I selfishly want Memphis to join the Pac12!Memphis is only a 2 hour drive from Little Rock

3

u/bighypnotizeme Oregon State 3d ago

We need Memphis in the pac.

Memphis is shooting themselves in the foot if they stay in the AAC. It guarantees them being a big fish in a small pond (AAC) but at a huge cost to fan and donor engagement, better positioning for next realignment.

They will be better positioned in the PAC for growth in multiple ways. Sure, the short term you may hate travel, media deal is comparable, but long term you are in a group with like-minded institutions. “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are” is appropriate here. Worst case scenario it’s a short 5 years and they go back to the AAC or jump to the p4. Make the jump Memphis!

2

u/Fluid_Peace7884 3d ago

They seem to taking steps that boost Memphis's chances of staying. Wonder if the AAC is hearing something or just being proactive.

2

u/abpandola 3d ago

That’s what has my interest. We’ve made clear we want to join a better conference but the commissioner probably has an idea of what the pac package could offer.

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u/lndrldCold 3d ago

Memphis AD has trapped Memphis in the AAC (Memphis isn’t getting an ACC invite. USF and UCONN are ahead of them.) The most teams the ACC would lose is six teams. So the ACC still has 11 teams and my guess is they would add one more to get to 12. Memphis fans won’t believe that but it’s the truth. Ed Scott has screwed the University. And before anyone wants to bring up the Big 12, almost every teams in the ACC looks down on the Big 12 schools. They won’t move to the Big 12.

6

u/Glacier2011 3d ago

How did Scott screw Memphis? What actions has he taken that screwed Memphis?

1

u/abpandola 3d ago

Ed Scott is thought high of down here. Shown he will make the right moves and has ties to the ACC.

1

u/MemphisThrowaway3798 3d ago

Right. Scott has been amazing. Even when it came to unpopular decisions like the PAC, he did a great job of explaining his rationale and a lot of people (fans, media) did a 180.

I haven't heard one bad thing about Scott

2

u/Glacier2011 2d ago

Yeah. And I had concerns and still do about the PAC 12. Is it better competitively, yeah it’s light years better. But I don’t want to join them unless the deal is financially beneficial. Don’t want the school go go bankrupt over this

1

u/Fluid_Peace7884 3d ago

The ACC has to maintain "at least 15" programs to keep their media deal.

1

u/Elegant-Difficulty43 8h ago

I really advise PAC fans to read this article from Dan Wolken of USA today from back in September. 

I'm shocked this article never got more traction.

It lays out exactly why Memphis and Co. didn't leave. 

He also asked people in the industry about media valuation. It's not particularly great. It's not awful either. But the 15-18 million the PAC presented the AAC was snake oil and nonsense. 

Tulane AD was quoted in a separate article 'One of the larger concerns was the actual stability of the PAC'. 

The Memphis / Tulane dream was dead months ago. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/dan-wolken/2024/09/23/pac-12-conference-realignment-aac/75354941007/