TigersRuleAll Wrote:

Murph1 Wrote:Regarding Memphis, correct me if I'm wrong, but no BCS conference has a tier 4 university as a member, do they?

Why don't you invite Harvard to the league then.

Your're taking offense to the comment, but you've got to understand that there are schools out there that not only want a viable athletic conference, but also want to mantain a certain "academic" profile amoung it's members.

The fact of that matter is if the Big East splits in 5 years and adds Memphis (which is a possibility), then it would be the only BCS conference to have a 'Tier 4' university as one of it's members. Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

That's not exactly the kind of thing that will get Penn State begging to join the league...not they would anyway.

Quote:The fact of that matter is if the Big East splits in 5 years and adds Memphis (which is a possibility), then it would be the only BCS conference to have a 'Tier 4' university as one of it's members. Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I can see it now, the SEC petitions to have the Big East removed from the BCS because they have a "tier 4" school?

fsquid Wrote:

Murph1 Wrote:Regarding Memphis, correct me if I'm wrong, but no BCS conference has a tier 4 university as a member, do they?

Hey Murph, good to see you mate.

What the **** does academics have to do with an athletic conference. Is there a conference trivial pursuit tournament?

Whats up, Squid. Good to see you roaming thse parts. :)

Yes, there is tournament. It will be played on Xbox Live. You know my gamertag. Feel free to add me and be prepared to be academically thrashed!

I can see it now!! Memphis brings down the Big East's ranking in the Trivial Pursuit BCS. Well, at least that's one thing that Rutgers can beat us at.

How is 'percentage of class under 20' related to academics? -- Or some of the other criteria for that matter? Our admission standards are on par with Mississippi's yet they're tier 3 and we're tier 4. Sounds more like a beauty rather than an academic contest to me -

Quote:What the **** does academics have to do with an athletic conference.

The football schools are in the early stages of putting together an academic consortium similar to what the Big 10 currently has.

I personally think conferences should be aligned based on history, geography, similar athletic programs, etc. but what do I know?

nflsucks Wrote:

Quote:What the **** does academics have to do with an athletic conference.

The football schools are in the early stages of putting together an academic consortium similar to what the Big 10 currently has.

I personally think conferences should be aligned based on history, geography, similar athletic programs, etc. but what do I know?

Evidently not much because USF is on its island down south and the football coaching office were in trailers until last Nov.

First time I've been over here...just figured I'd check in. All I'm gonna say for now is at some point or another, whenever that invitation does come, I have absolutely no doubt that our university will be ready. This craphole we're buried in now is nothing more than someplace for us to bide our time while we get ready to join our long, long time brothers, Louisville and Cincinnati.

For the life of me, I will never be able to understand USF and why they got in, but what's done is done.....we'll be up there with the rest of you in 3-5 years...HOPEFULLY sooner... :wave:

Quote:Evidently not much because USF is on its island down south and the football coaching office were in trailers until last Nov.

-- Hopefully we will be solving that one way or the other in the next round of expansion

-- As for the academics...NFLsucks is correct....I think Memphis needs to jump to tier 3 or promise to make the move as soon as possible after they have been invited...that would put it on equal footing with UC, UL, WVU, USF....and it would also make sense of an academic alliance is also being formed


Jackson

Quote:-- when asked who the football schools would add...Memphis was the response

Those people clearly know what they're talking about. :D

In a similar vein to what Brick City Pirate was discussing, would anybody really be surprised to see The University of Memphis "mysteriously" jump to a Tier 3 if it happened to be included in the Big East? College academic rankings are almost as legitimate as high school recruiting rankings.

Psicosis Wrote:

Quote:-- when asked who the football schools would add...Memphis was the response

Those people clearly know what they're talking about. :D

In a similar vein to what Brick City Pirate was discussing, would anybody really be surprised to see The University of Memphis "mysteriously" jump to a Tier 3 if it happened to be included in the Big East? College academic rankings are almost as legitimate as high school recruiting rankings.

I agree

TexanMark Wrote:

Cat's_Claw Wrote:Here's a link to the tier schools for 2005:

<a href='http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier1/t1natudoc_brief.php' target='_blank'>Tier 1</a>

<a href='http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier3/t3natudoc_brief.php' target='_blank'>Tier 3</a>

<a href='http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier4/t4natudoc_brief.php' target='_blank'>Tier 4</a>

Memphis is a Tier 4 school.&nbsp; There are no Tier 4 BCS schools.&nbsp; Also interesting, UMass is also a Tier 4 program.&nbsp; East Carolina is a Tier 3 program.&nbsp; Tier 1 is the big dogs and Tier 3 is inhabited by some big guns in its own right.

Actually UMass is Tier One--look at #98. The main campus is in Amherst--you confused it with some of the auxilliary campuses.

You're right, my mistake.

99Tiger Wrote:

Cat's_Claw Wrote:And perception is reality, and I'm betting that a lot of these universities look at a large circulation like U.S. News and take great pride in that.

Perception is reality huh?!? I know enough to debunk a few perceptions/realities of some schools...but that's a pissing contest I'm not interested in. Anyway...the funny thing about the recent change in approach by the U of M is that it has not sat well with many of the alumni. They think the university should maintain its focus on education (not the college of, but the act of teaching and preparing students) and focus less on research.

The move to focus on research is real, but I don't know if much can be done between now and a hypothetical then to change our image in the stodgy eyes of academia.

USFBullSpit...do you really expect me to say that the outlook is any less than optimistic? Seriously, we're starting to really compete with some of the local SEC schools for recruits...we have a coach that has a pair and can actually lead a team...our local support is like nothing I've experienced around here...things really are on the rise in Memphis.

Williams is probably the best player in the history of Memphis football. Some would say easily, but we have a pair of RBs behind him that were equally as prized coming out of high school. It'll be interesting to see what changes are made to the defense, Dunn experimented a little last year (after much pressure) but he's not known for having a versatile system. If our QB prospect develop quickly (having an awesome RB helps), we should be much worse than we have been over the past couple of years.

You're arguing with the wrong person. I actually agree with you. Unfortunately, perception is reality. When it comes to the media perception: Cincinnati is a horrible academic program basketball wise. Reality among media: Cincinnati is a horrible academic program basketball wise. The real reality, the one you're arguing, that Memphis is a good academic university and I agree, the real reality in basketball, nearly 70% of UC basketball players have graduated under Bob Huggins. It's perception vs reality being distorted into an unreal reality, if you catch my drift.

fsquid Wrote:I can see it now, the SEC petitions to have the Big East removed from the BCS because they have a "tier 4" school?

You're missing the point. These conferences don't just communicate with each other through athletic they do it through academics and research centers. Like it or not it would be hard for the Big East to work with the Big Ten if the Big Ten thumbs their nose down at some universities in the Big East because of academics. That being said, I have no doubt that Memphis will slip into the 3rd Tier. I find it interesting that Memphis AD RC Johnson has been talking to our AD Bob Goin constantly since expansion. Bob Goin is a master at preparing a program for a jump to a "major" Big Six conference having worked his magic at two programs (Florida State, Cincinnati). He'll give RC a few pointers and he'll take care of the rest and have Memphis properly prepared, I believe.

how they come up with this "tier" stuff?

I don't really know the criteria for the tiers, but I do know that there is not like a set standard for tier 1, tier 2, etc. It's like the top 50 schools are tier 1, 51-100 would be tier 2, on down. If you move up, it is at somebody elses expense. If Pitt is 50th and WVU is 51st, and WVU improves standards to be 50th, Pitt becomes tier 2, despite remaining the same in academic standards or graduation rates or whatever the heck they look at.

At least I think that's how it works. Don't know if that helped any...

I'm just curious, I've never really researched this. I just went to the college that best suited me (sadly, wasn't Memphis, I wanted to get out of town!). I need to get a job on the "ranking college academics" stuff. No one can really argue if no one knows how they come up with this stuff!

fsquid Wrote:I'm just curious, I've never really researched this. I just went to the college that best suited me (sadly, wasn't Memphis, I wanted to get out of town!). I need to get a job on the "ranking college academics" stuff. No one can really argue if no one knows how they come up with this stuff!

See? Just like recruiting rankings! :laugh:

Let's not go overboard on this in regard to Memphis being Tier 4.

When we invited Louisville to be part of the BE in 2003, they were a Tier 4 institution. They've moved up since then, but there was no guarantee of that at the time we invited them.

Personally, I'm against further expansion at this time, but if the BE does expand I don't think it should eliminate Memphis solely on the basis they are a Tier 4 institution.

Cheers,
Neil

Jackson1011 Wrote:

Quote:Evidently not much because USF is on its island down south and the football coaching office were in trailers until last Nov.

-- Hopefully we will be solving that one way or the other in the next round of expansion

-- As for the academics...NFLsucks is correct....I think Memphis needs to jump to tier 3 or promise to make the move as soon as possible after they have been invited...that would put it on equal footing with UC, UL, WVU, USF....and it would also make sense of an academic alliance is also being formed


Jackson

Jackson: don't believe it will/would be a problem for Memphis to guarantee academics needed. The University is already committed to becoming a major urban research institution. FedEx built a beautiful technical center on campus that has drawn rave reviews and is getting results. I believe Memphis has the same goals as the BE concerning academics. Think about this, being a member of the BE and its associates would help/benefit Memphis' push for academic excellence. We will never be a Cal Berkeley etc. because our goal is different. We are a major urban state school and our student body reflects a cross section of the entire community.