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by T-Dog » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:25 pm
No former Big XII school is going back. Nebraska makes to much money in the Big Ten not only through the Big Ten Network but the academic research alliance. Mizzou and Texas A&M are about to hit more paydirt with the SEC Network and getting full conference shares. Colorado is too much of an academic fit in the Pac-12 to go back.
BYU is likely to be one of the two and certainly believes it. They have logistical issues such as their own TV network and rescheduling a score of football games if they're to go in starting 2017.
Writers believe Cincy is the other team based on logistics, giving West Virginia a local rival and being the best of a bunch of mediocre candidates.
The Big 12 said "2 or 4" because, IMO, they know who the top 2 are, but there are 2 more who they are interested in. Wouldn't be surprised if UConn is one of them. Geography in the major negative, but that wasn't listed one of the factors by the Big XII. Academically, they're the best candidate. Football might be a negative, but basketball isn't.
After that, you have a number of candidates (Memphis, Houston, UCF, USF, etc) who are at best second or third in their own media market, are not the best academically and just aren't to that standard.