Memphis Needs to Move to the Big East

When the Great Conference Raid of the early part of the decade was going on, the Big East stocked up on Conference USA schools to fill their mega-conference. To keep a football league going (only Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia and Pitt remained), the Big East added C-USA's Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida to the mix (they also sped up UConn's participation).

The Big East also took in non-football schools Marquette and DePaul. But not Memphis. Why?

Whatever the reasoning was, I think both Memphis and the Big East would benefit if they partnered up. Adding Memphis would boost the football conference to nine members (perfect size for football) and bring in yet another dominant hoops program into the fold. Memphis is already a rival to Louisville and Cincinnati. It makes sense.

*Of course, I think 16-teams in the Big East is ridiculous so a 17-team league is insane! I would love to drop a school from the current membership, but no one fits the bill. St. John's has to stay since they bring in New York; Seton Hall does the same. You cannot get rid of any of the football schools even if you wanted to (looking at you, South Florida). The only team I feel that could be dumped is DePaul, but that closes up the Chicago market.

For Memphis, this would put them in the big, big time. They are already one of the better programs in the nation. However, their membership in the soft Conference USA has made them a sort-of UNLV of the 21st century. This big program that dominates its inferior league and then tries to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

There is nothing wrong with that, but it is tough to keep things going on the fringe. If Memphis was in the Big East, I don't think John Calipari would think about going anywhere else. He'd still get the same great recruits, he will see his program on television a whole lot more and his team would be more battle tested than it is right now. Sure, he'll lose more games in the Big East, but his teams will be better off when the tournament comes around.

At Kentucky, Calipari will get those things. He'll have the huge platform to sell his program. His team will be on ESPN and CBS all the time. He'll get to play the Louisvilles, North Carolinas, Indianas and Floridas of the world on a yearly basis. At Memphis, Calipari must schedule a lot of tough non-conference games to offset the week conference schedule. At Kentucky, the schedule pretty much writes itself.

It's not Calipari's fault that he longs for these things. Memphis cannot give him that. They can give him a program with more backing than people think, a conference he can dominant and he has shown he can get anybody from anywhere to come to his school. He also answers to no one. There aren't the lofty expectations like there are at Kentucky. Memphis was just upended in the Sweet 16 this year. Still a pretty good year for the Tigers. While Kentucky would love that right now, that won't play too well for too long. Just ask Tubby Smith.

This is Memphis' golden era.

And there is the thing. If Calipari leaves, who would want to take his place? Who would want to come into a program that will be completely deflated? Who would want to follow what Calipari did? Players will pour out of the program over the next year or so and Memphis will go back to the way it was before 2000.

I know that realignment isn't the fad right now and the Big East is overweight as it is. But Memphis needs to keep plugging away and trying to get in the Big East before it is too late.

Kentucky Fans Should Ask NC State About Calipari

NC State isn't Kentucky. But the Wildcats should listen to the Wolfpack about trying to lure John Calipari away from Memphis.

Three years ago, NC State was looking for a new head coach after firing Herb Sendek (dumb move, by the way). They wanted Calipari ... but Calipari said he wasn't interested. He said he had a good thing at Memphis.

Any of this sound familiar, Kentucky?

Calipari seemed to change his mind and became interested in NC State. So much so that he flew in a private jet to Raleigh and toured the campus. Meanwhile in Memphis, the university was gearing up to give Calipari a fat raise.

Again, NC State isn't Kentucky but they should look at what happened in 2006. Maybe he is just trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of the school. After all, there was buzz the other day that the school was working on a more lucrative deal for their coach. Don't you think if he listened to what Kentucky was offering that Memphis will do what it takes to keep him?

It could be the real thing or it could be a smokescreen. With Calipari, you can never tell. But Kentucky fans shouldn't count any chickens before they hatch.

Pat Riley to Kentucky? Maybe Sean Miller?

Here in the KY, there is tons of speculation about who will be the next head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite the fact that Billy Donovan has said he isn't leaving Florida, people here still have hopes that he's on his way. But a new name has gotten some buzz: Pat Riley.

Riley is currently the team president of the Miami Heat and is in his first year of his latest retirement. Buzz is that some folks in Lexington have seen Riles around town in the last couple of days. He was a star guard for the Wildcats during the mid-1960s and was on that team that lost to Texas Western in the 1966 NCAA Championship game.

Here is the only problems. Riley turned 64 last week and it is unclear how long he would want to coach. He's been burned out before and the grind of recruiting and all of that could wear on him. Also, he's an NBA guy that hasn't dealt with the college game (except for scouting) since leaving Kentucky as a player in 1967.

I don't see this happening, despite any rumors going around. I can see Kentucky going up I-75 and checking on Xavier's Sean Miller. Miller took over a budding program and as actually elevated it. The guy Miller took over for, Thad Matta, is currently leading Ohio State into greener pastures (by the way, Matta is a guy Kentucky fans like, too). Miller is a great coach and seems to be cool enough to deal with the pressures that the Kentucky job brings.

Who In Their Right Mind Would Come to Kentucky?

I know that there are many people that would love to be the new head coach of the University of Kentucky basketball team. However, odds are that none of those people will be a major splash.

Why would any elite coach take on this job? Florida's Billy Donovan already has said no which is the smartest move he could make. When the job was open two years ago, Donovan took his time dispelling the rumors that he could be heading to Kentucky. This time, he said he wasn't interested about the exact same time that Billy Gillispie was fired.

Why would Donovan want to be at Kentucky? He was an assistant there? He's a legend at Florida right now and is that program. Kentucky fans freaked out when their team missed the NCAA Tournament this year. Donovan's Gators have missed the last two ... but you don't hear anything about it.

Donovan has a better program in the same conference (hell, same division). Sure, basketball isn't the lifeblood of Gator Nation like it is in Lexington, but that can be a good thing sometimes.

The chatter now has moved to three other major names. There is rumblings here in Kentucky that the school will see about bringing Rick Pitino back. Why would he want to come back? He already helms a legendary program in Louisville, plays in a much superior conference, can get recruits to come there and is having success. Why leave? If he went back to Kentucky, he'd be fighting against his other tenure at the school. Remember Joe Gibbs, Rick!

John Calipari? Why would that man leave Memphis for anything? Recruits flock to his program, they are guaranteed 16 wins a year since they play in Conference USA, there is a huge following of the program with none of the pressure.

Tom Izzo? I don't think so. He has an outstanding thing going at Michigan State. He has a title, been to several Final Fours (may be on his way to another) and has no problems recruiting to East Lansing. He's already at home.

I don't see any other big-time coach jumping ship either. Now you are down to the "stepping-stone" guys. Ya know, the coaches who bounce from a small school, to a lesser known BCS school, to an elite job. Kind of like what Gillispie did.

The top name on that list is Travis Ford, a former Kentucky player who is an up-and-comer at Oklahoma State. Ford is a good coach, but is he really ready to handle Kentucky? He played there, but this is something totally different. Still, Ford may be the new head man.

It could be somebody else, but whomever it is will find that this job is unlike any other.