I wasn't sure where to put this, so I guess this will do.
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ws-list-expansion-candidates-least-12-schools
They do not comment on Memphis, but here are the teams that are still in the running for sure.
Air Force,
BYU,
UCF,
Cincinnati,
Colorado State,
UConn,
Houston,
Rice,
South Florida,
SMU,
Temple and
Tulane.
Here are the teams out of the running:
Arkansas State,
Boise State,
East Carolina,
New Mexico,
Northern Illinois,
San Diego State and
UNLV
While I can generally see the logic to some of those teams that didn't make the cut (Arkansas State, New Mexico, Northern Illinois and UNLV are not very attractive additions), I'm not sure Boise State, East Carolina or San Diego State are worse than some of the programs remaining on their list. If they were focusing on a network Easter Carolina or invading California via San Diego State could make some sense. Boise State is also one of the bigger brands on the list, even if their days as an almost football power might be done.
The list of teams that did make the cut is obviously better, but with a couple odd teams left in there. Why is SMU and Rice on the list? Furthermore, who really thinks Temple and Uconn are good fits?
I just can't figure out what direction they are going with this. Perhaps they are going to go for basketball powers, by adding Uconn and Cincinnati. They might be trying to rebuild the Southwest Conference, since that worked so well the first time (Houston, Rice, and SMU). You could have even have the religious expansion with SMU, BYU, and Temple (leaving a spot for Notre Dame to join in a couple decades). Of course more rationally they might just be trying to add solid, known brands like Air Force and BYU. Who knows if they are even worrying about the network aspect which would make UCF and South Florida particularly attractive? Of course that still leaves Colorado St. and Tulane. I can't figure out why the heck they're still on the list...