Tulane being considered for the Big 12?

[HoustonWave]

It matters. You're a party of one saying it doesn't. I don't know of anyone being told y'all put up a good game too bad you lost. National articles have been written about it. Everyone knows we won. It matters because it showed we belonged and weren't just forced on the bowl system. We proved ourselves worthy. As for the crowd it was nice but most know we haven't drawn flies and that most there went because it believed it was a once in a lifetime event.

Without looking it up, who won the Fiesta Bowl this year? I personally couldn't tell you who played in it.

That's my point about the Cotton Bowl. It's important to us because we're Tulane fans. 99% of sports fans outside of New Orleans cant tell you who won the game. And to those that make decisions about joining a conference that will share hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the number of fans was 1000% more important than the final score.

With all due respect, I just don't think this logic applies here. While the team doesn't hold a massive fan base like the current P5 programs, Tulane was afforded a sizable amount of interest nationally, especially in the final stretch of the season carrying into the Cotton Bowl. Yes, anecdotal evidence holds little to no weight, but almost everyone I knew (outside of New Orleans) was reaching out to me before and after the Cotton Bowl heaping praise on Tulane's season. The team was arguably the best story in college football this year. Now, the football program is at a vital point in its history (they can either ride this momentum towards sustained success or let the 22-23 season serve as a flash in the pan), so the national buzz around the team should not be denied. Why not give Tulane the benefit of the doubt and say they're capable of being a big time player for the foreseeable future?

Well stated wavymane. We are at the critical juncture as we go into the 2023 season. We have had similar critical forks-in-the-road, and have always picked the wrong path. Hopefully Fitts and Dannen will prove otherwise this time, and not bumble it as Cowen, Kelly and Rufus The Dufus did.

[HoustonWave]

Lots of talk for zero facts.

ASU - 1.95M fans
Utah -- 1.09M fans
Zona - 1.04M fans
Colo - .95M fans

UCF - 0.78M fans
Houston - 0.47M fans
Cincy - 0.39M fans

Tulane - 0.09M fans

Numbers are taken from AltimoreCollins study on fanbase sizes:


The study is quite fascinating. The Big12 has just been decimated since 2010. The concentration of fans in such few teams can be directly attributed to stupid ESPN. UCONN and Army would still be great adds to AAC.

That is a fascinating study--I printed it off and will read thoroughly. But irrespective of how they estimate each school's fan base, like enrollment or TV market, it doesn't do anything if the estimated fan base isn't watching. The 2022 average per game viewership facts are: Utah #33 with 1.16M viewers; Arizona #62 with .51M viewers; Colorado #67 with .35M viewers; Arizona State #71 with .31M viewers. Compared with BYU #38 with .98M viewers; Cincy #55 with .65M viewers; UCF #61 with .51M viewers; UH #78 with .24M viewers; and Tulane #65 with .35M viewers. And I would expect those new Big 12 schools will see significant upticks in their viewership, just as Tulane would if we get into any P5. Conversely, we'll see a big drop for Tulane if we're in the AACUSA more than 2 or 3 years. Again, enrollment and fan base doesn't necessarily equate to viewership. In many ways, UH is the epitome of this, with over 50K students and hundreds of thousands of alums, many concentrated in the Houston area, and they can't draw any proportionate attendance or viewership.

Are you basing this off this Medium article?

Consider me highly skeptical. He doesn't list where he came up with these numbers. Meanwhile go look on Youtube and search for Tulane videos compared to Colorado, Arizona, ASU, or Utah. Tulane rarely gets 10k+, meanwhile Colorado got 150k+ a few times for regular-season games. Our UCF championship game? 53k.

I love to support Tulane sports. But the reality is there are maybe a few hundred die-hards and only a few thousand who give a shit at all.

The viewership data in Zach Miller's articles comes from SportsMediaWatch.com, which in turn relies on Nielsen rating system for viewership. The viewership for CBSSN games are not included as CBSSN is not Nielsen-rated at this time, but virtually all other sports media outlets are Nielsen-rated. So again, Fitts and Dannen should be pushing this on the PAC, Big 12 and ACC like Mexican drug dealers.

[golfnut69]

Tulane, no mention of Tulane, goin' anywhere but the Cowen division of Uptown 1 conference
https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... e-football

[anEngineer]

Tulane, no mention of Tulane, goin' anywhere but the Cowen division of Uptown 1 conference
https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... e-football

This looks like when the teacher tells students to write a 300 word essay but gives nothing to write about. Most of them say essentially nothing. The first essay mentions UNLV and Boise to PAC, which multiple sources have already said is OUT because of academics. They all had nothing to say, because they actually know nothing, but they had to fill up the space.

[golfnut69]

If the 4 corner schools leave for the Big 12, the PAC needs SDSU, SMU, Colorado State, Tulane, Memphis and UTSA.....The "academic snobs" of the PAC need to shut up and bring in schools that have a presence in big media markets.......I do not think Zona, Zona State and Colorado could have beaten, SMU, Tulane, Memphis or UTSA last season

[HoustonWave]

If the 4 corner schools leave for the Big 12, the PAC needs SDSU, SMU, Colorado State, Tulane, Memphis and UTSA.....The "academic snobs" of the PAC need to shut up and bring in schools that have a presence in big media markets.......I do not think Zona, Zona State and Colorado could have beaten, SMU, Tulane, Memphis or UTSA last season

They absolutely couldn't have beaten any of those AACUSA schools. In fact, Colorado couldn't have beaten some really good high school teams this year--they hit rock ass bottom--hence CU's prostrating to get Neon Deion. And don't forget the UH and Cincy massacres over Arizona and UCLA in recent years.

[golfnut69]

Utah on a Mission, to save the PAC12
https://www.outkick.com/utah-utes-pac-1 ... ng-charge/

[anEngineer]

If the Big12 doesn't get the PAC schools, they really have no options for other P5s. They apparently claim they only want existing P5s for expansion, but there will be none left. It also essentially shuts down their ability to move west. Hopefully, they look to solidify their footprint in the central time zone and we'll see what happens with SMU.

[golfnut69]

If the Big12 doesn't get the PAC schools, they really have no options for other P5s. They apparently claim they only want existing P5s for expansion, but there will be none left. It also essentially shuts down their ability to move west. Hopefully, they look to solidify their footprint in the central time zone and we'll see what happens with SMU.

Big12 needs to concentrate on the Eastern and Central Time zones..and 7pm kick on the west coast is 9pm central and 10pm eastern..games ending at the earliest 1am and midnite.....it ain't gonna work, but then again, these peeple have college daygrees

[golfnut69]

PAC12 media negotiations & Big12 expansion
https://kslsports.com/499619/asu-presid ... ia-rights/

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... n-ongoing/

https://awfulannouncing.com/college-foo ... ac-12.html

https://www.statepress.com/article/2023 ... s-response

[TURVS71]

I would expect that Dannen and Fitts are/should be working the phones and emails to get the SERIOUS attention of the Big 12........If they are not, after this past year and bright future then NEITHER is doing their job!

[Aberzombie1892]

The Big 12 is 100% not adding Tulane in this round of realignment due to the Big 12’s contract.

[Greeniegb]

The Big 12 is 100% not adding Tulane in this round of realignment due to the Big 12’s contract.

You have no idea the pull the university has with big corporate interests that can help out, also the three schools that left the AAC will have a voice. Yahoo, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Saint connections can all help not all schools have big sports and corporate connections.

[DfromCT]

The Big 12 is 100% not adding Tulane in this round of realignment due to the Big 12’s contract.

You have no idea the pull the university has with big corporate interests that can help out, also the three schools that left the AAC will have a voice. Yahoo, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Saint connections can all help not all schools have big sports and corporate connections.

And the three schools that left the AAC and the other 9 schools are going to want to split their pie into smaller slices because Tulane is in New Orleans? Or because we're an AAU University? Or to prevent some other conference from getting us?

I never saw any love from Houston, Cinci or UCF for Tulane.

[Ruski]

The Big 12 is 100% not adding Tulane in this round of realignment due to the Big 12’s contract.

You have no idea the pull the university has with big corporate interests that can help out, also the three schools that left the AAC will have a voice. Yahoo, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Saint connections can all help not all schools have big sports and corporate connections.

And the three schools that left the AAC and the other 9 schools are going to want to split their pie into smaller slices because Tulane is in New Orleans? Or because we're an AAU University? Or to prevent some other conference from getting us?

I never saw any love from Houston, Cinci or UCF for Tulane.

John Hitt stepped down from UCF president in 2018, sadly. Apparently, he was the reason we got in the AAC.

[greenie78]

You have no idea the pull the university has with big corporate interests that can help out, also the three schools that left the AAC will have a voice. Yahoo, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Saint connections can all help not all schools have big sports and corporate connections.

And the three schools that left the AAC and the other 9 schools are going to want to split their pie into smaller slices because Tulane is in New Orleans? Or because we're an AAU University? Or to prevent some other conference from getting us?

I never saw any love from Houston, Cinci or UCF for Tulane.

John Hitt stepped down from UCF president in 2018, sadly. Apparently, he was the reason we got in the AAC.

Also sadly he passed away last month.

[Aberzombie1892]

The Big 12 is 100% not adding Tulane in this round of realignment due to the Big 12’s contract.

You have no idea the pull the university has with big corporate interests that can help out, also the three schools that left the AAC will have a voice. Yahoo, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Saint connections can all help not all schools have big sports and corporate connections.

The Big 12 isn’t giving up tons of revenue on a per team basis and the media partners aren’t paying more just for Tulane.

[DfromCT]

John Hitt stepped down from UCF president in 2018, sadly. Apparently, he was the reason we got in the AAC.

That's the first I heard that UCF got us in and I think it's over-stating any role UCF had. I heard UCF supported our entry to the Big East, as did UConn, where Cowen had connections. I was told that Cowen had contacts as a result of being a UConn alum (UConn was a founding member of the Big East) and Dickson had a long relationship with Aresco. UCF was a newcomer to D1 and the Big East at the time, and the Big East had just been shunned by BYU and Air Force. It was still a power conference and had Notre Dame in sports other than football. UCF didn't have the power to get Tulane in, it hadn't even gone through its remarkable football run at that time.

What was remarkable, and unforgivable in my mind, was Marquette's reaction to Tulane getting invited. Their AD at the time, Larry Williams, was outspoken about adding Tulane to the conference. He thought it would have negative affects on Marquette's basketball power rankings. He was very vocal, despite the fact that HIS DAUGHTER worked in the athletic department at Tulane. F him.

[greenie78]

John Hitt stepped down from UCF president in 2018, sadly. Apparently, he was the reason we got in the AAC.

That's the first I heard that UCF got us in and I think it's over-stating any role UCF had. I heard UCF supported our entry to the Big East, as did UConn, where Cowen had connections. I was told that Cowen had contacts as a result of being a UConn alum (UConn was a founding member of the Big East) and Dickson had a long relationship with Aresco. UCF was a newcomer to D1 and the Big East at the time, and the Big East had just been shunned by BYU and Air Force. It was still a power conference and had Notre Dame in sports other than football. UCF didn't have the power to get Tulane in, it hadn't even gone through its remarkable football run at that time.

What was remarkable, and unforgivable in my mind, was Marquette's reaction to Tulane getting invited. Their AD at the time, Larry Williams, was outspoken about adding Tulane to the conference. He thought it would have negative affects on Marquette's basketball power rankings. He was very vocal, despite the fact that HIS DAUGHTER worked in the athletic department at Tulane. F him.

Here's the article explaining UCF's role

https://www.baltimoresun.com/hc-xpm-201 ... story.html

[DfromCT]

Here's the article explaining UCF's role

https://www.baltimoresun.com/hc-xpm-201 ... story.html

Hardly "responsible for Tulane getting into the AAC". He helped by sending a text to Aresco. Cowen had also been in contact with UConn as he was friends UConn's then President, Susan Herbst. UConn wielded a whole lot more power in the conference at that time than UCF. And even though he misspelled "Dickson", Aresco points out in that article that Tricky Rick had already contacted him.