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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Buckaineer" data-source="post: 129510194" data-attributes="member: 1428007">Interesting SB Nation write up:Excerpt:Is the Big 12 making the Louisville mistake again with Cincinnati?....Is the Big 12 going to make another near Louisville-sized mistake in saying "no thanks" to Cincinnati?The Big 12 has found itself in a situation somewhat similar to 2013, where expansion talk seemed to be bubbling up, and a handful of schools were rumored to be interested in joining the conference. Of course, in 2013, the leader in the clubhouse to join the Big 12 ranks was Louisville, and the Big 12 kindly said "we're good."That, in my opinion, was a gigantic mistake. Louisville had just won the Sugar Bowl over Florida, and their basketball team had just won a National Championship. The Cardinals' stock was at an all-time high, and could have delivered a big jolt to the league from a competition standpoint.Not to mention, Louisville was (and still is) a Top 50 TV market in the US (comparable to Austin), their alumni base was (and still is) 134,000+ strong, and their athletic budget was around $77 million, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/sports/at-louisville-an-athletic-boom-made-for-and-by-tv.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">according to the New York Times</a>.Cincinnati's TV market is currently the 34th largest market in the country, three spots behind Kansas City and 11 spots ahead of Oklahoma City. The <a href="https://www.alumni.uc.edu/">Bearcats' alumni website</a> claims that there are over 285,000 living alumni. While Cincinnati isn't where Louisville was athletically in 2013, five consecutive bowl appearances and three conference championships since 2011 (never finishing worse than third) isn't something to scoff at.<a href="http://www.frogsowar.com/2016/2/15/10999356/is-the-big-12-conferencemaking-the-louisville-mistake-again-with-cincinnati">http://www.frogsowar.com/2016/2/15/10999356/is-the-big-12-conferencemaking-the-louisville-mistake-again-with-cincinnati</a></blockquote>

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