With Big-12 expansion being the topic of discussion around the nation right now, fans of the green and gold salivate with every thought of their Rams making a leap from the Mountain West into the big leagues. The Colorado State faithful has had their eye on the Big-12 for a few years now, but according to most reports, the Rams are one of the schools on the outside looking in, as far as expansion talks go.
Expansion talks first really heated up when the Big-12 was left out of the first college football playoff in 2014-15, but after Oklahoma made the playoff the following season, expansion talks cooled. Most recently, Big-12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby claimed that the conference reviewed data, affirming that a 12-team conference with a Championship game gives schools the highest odds of making the College Football Playoff.
If the Big-12 were to expand to 12 or even 14 teams from its current 10-team format, there are a lot of rumored scenarios the future of the Big-12. After adding West Virginia a few years back, the conference could look to the east coast and target schools like Connecticut, Cincinnati or Central Florida. Although all those programs make sense from a competitive standpoint, adding these schools does little to nothing for improving the Big-12’s viewership on a national scale. Even though these schools would give the Big-12 members in both Big-10 and SEC territory, none of these schools dominate their regional markets, nor are they the homerun hit the Big-12 got in TCU.
Memphis could be on the Big-12’s radar, and as far as the eastern candidates go, they make the most sense. Obviously, Memphis is considerably smaller than the University of Tennessee, but with a growing program, and the added bonus of planting a flag in SEC territory, Memphis makes the most sense geographically.
If the conference decides to go west, schools like Brigham Young, Boise State, San Diego State and of course Colorado State University would all be in the mix for the Big-12. Boise State has generally been the staple of “non-power five” schools over the last decade, but the size of the school and lowly academics could keep the Broncos out when it is all said and done.
BYU has the largest national following of all the possible candidates and consistent athletic success across the board makes BYU a logical choice for expansion. But, BYU brings scheduling conflicts and their personal television network makes them not ideal for a conference that already has to deal with the University of Texas and their own TV network. Another factor to consider is that BYU has historically had scheduling issues with larger universities because schools do not like playing older athletes. Ultimately, these are minor flaws and BYU has a strong case for the Big-12.
SDSU would give the Big-12 a school in California, which would definitely be desirable for recruiting purposes, but beyond that the Aztecs do not make a lot of sense for expansion. SDSU would put the Big-12 in a third time-zone, as would CSU, which is not ideal for any conference.
Ultimately Colorado State has been doing everything in their power to increase their ammunition in what has become an arms race for resources in college football. Improvements in facilities and consistent athletic success over the last five years have put Fort Collins on the national radar and could eventually lead to greener pastures for the ol’ Aggies. Here is a look at why CSU is a valid candidate if the Big-12 does decide expand upon their current 10-team format.
Money Talks:
More important than winning or really any other factor involved with expansion is if the school can help increase the conference’s revenue in-take. Denver is a top-20 TV market nationally and would be assumingly be desirable to the Big-12, which has strong ties to the region already. Although CSU has historically played second fiddle to CU in the Denver market, a jump to the Big-12 would certainly catch the attention of Denver-metro football fans.
Colorado is home to a large amount of midwest imports, which would help with ticket sales for road opponents and TV viewership around the state. Week Two against Minnesota in 2015 was a perfect example of this. CSU has done a nice job getting games nationally televised under tough circumstances, being in a mid-major conference and with not a lot of attention coming from either coasts. Being a member of the Big-12 would get CSU nationally televised and viewable on basic channels like FOX and ESPN, compared to CBS Sports, which generally is only available on upgraded TV packages. Fans would be able to see an in-state program on channels that come with basic cable packages, making CSU more accessible to fans around the state.
Where CSU holds the advantage in TV markets is the fact that there is not a lot of other competition collegiately for attention. The only school CSU has to compete with for attention is CU. Competing candidates for the Big-12, like Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and even Memphis all have to compete with much larger universities in their state and do not bring a whole lot to the table to increase the Big-12’s TV revenue. CSU would give the Big-12 back the Denver market, helping them secure more of the western region of the country, while giving them one of the top schools in the state. The only other rumored candidates that can say that are BYU, which is complicated because they have their own network, and UCONN, which does not bring much to the table as far as football goes, but would be yet another dominant basketball program for the Big-12.
On-campus Stadium:
What will be the foundation of the Colorado State football program for years to come, might also help CSU get into a power conference. Ram fans will forever remember Hughes Stadium, but the new stadium is a game changer, especially with the overall perception of the program. Along with increased attention for the unveiling of a shiny new on-campus stadium, the school projects the stadium to both increase attendance and overall revenue for a CSU football program that is currently trying to make a bowl game for the fourth straight season.
Winning, Duh!
Although, maybe not as large of a factor as some would expect, winning always plays a role in expansion talk. When Utah left the Mountain West for the PAC-12, they had made nine-straight bowl appearances and competed not just within the conference, but with the “big boys” as well. When TCU bolted for the Big-12, they were fresh off a pair of BCS Bowl appearances and also competed on the national level.
The Rams are on the right track when it comes to athletic success in football, and many of the other varsity athletic programs are seeing consistent success as well. For the purpose of this article, we are mainly discussing football, so that is where we will really dive in.
Bowl appearances are huge for raising the national profile of a mid-major program and the Rams will have to continue to make bowl games on a yearly basis if they want to keep trending upwards. Along with bowl games, CSU needs to dominate the rest of the conference and compete for titles if they really want to make a name for themselves. Bowl games are great, but the Rams watched in-state rivals Air Force in the MW Championship game last year. If CSU wants to be considered the most ideal program out of the Mountain West, they need to prove they are in fact the best in the conference.
So, are they in?
Obviously this is a simplified look at Big-12 expansion and there a million potential factors we could discuss. If the conference looks to expand sooner than later, CSU might not have as great of a chance. Ultimately this is a program still trying rebrand their image after nearly a decade of shortcomings in the mid-2000s.
Academically, Colorado State is arguably the most impressive of the possible candidates and would raise the conference’s academic profile, which is something to be considered. CSU AD Joe Parker’s connections to Texas Tech and the conference have already shown to be strong in short time at CSU, and Parker could certainly be instrumental to making a jump to the Power 5 happen.
A new deal with Under Armour, the fancy on-campus stadium and athletic success across the board also gives CSU reasons to brag, but the school needs to continue to increase the “Ram brand” across America. Improved resources, scheduling and more than anything — winning — will do that for CSU.
Ultimately, my guess is as good as yours when it comes to Big-12 expansion, but considering the factors above, the Rams might just be a fine, new addition to the Big-12. If the conference does look to expand, Ram fans should rest easy knowing that the school is doing everything they can to put their name in the conversation.
