On Monday Afternoon, Ross Dellenger revealed that the Memphis Tigers made a massive push to join the Big 12 offering up $200 Million in financial support to join the league. The offer was taken seriously enough that the league presidents met on Monday to discuss the offer but, it doesn't have the necessary support. While the Big 12 has every right to turn the Tigers offer down the move will be looked back at as a massive mistake.
In the most lucrative membership proposal in college sports history, Memphis has made a $200 million offer to enter the Big 12, sources tell @YahooSports.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 21, 2025
For now, it does not have enough support but potentially sets a standard for all future expansion.https://t.co/MefkD9du7B
The offer that Memphis is giving the Big 12 is truly a risk free deal which makes it stunning that the Conference would turn the deal down. Over 5 years, the Conference would receive a total of $200 million thanks to sponsorships brought in by Memphis. In addition, the Tigers wouldn't take any distribution from the Big 12's current media rights deal meaning every program can count on the same number of revenue. The biggest kicker of the entire deal is that if the Big 12 doesn't feel Memphis is adding value by 2030, they can expel the Tigers from the league.
On the surface alone you look at 2030 and figure the league can cash in on the $200 million and rid themselves of the Tigers if they truly just don't want Memphis. In this current era of College sports, having extra revenue will be crucial due to revenue sharing and finding a way to earn the league and it's programs extra money and turning it down is a mistake in itself.
The utter refusal of the Memphis program on the football side is extremely laughable when you look at the numbers. The Tigers have been bowl eligible over the last 11 seasons, finishing in the AP Top 25 4 times, and in the College Football Playoff rankings 4 times as well. Memphis' football resume beats countless Big 12 schools including Kansas, Kansas State, UCF, Houston, Colorado, and more.
On the Basketball side of the equation, the Big 12 would be getting a yearly NCAA Tournament team as Penny Hardaway has built the program back into a winning product.
The Year 2030 is also significant for the Big 12 as it is the season that Clemson and Florida State can exit the ACC. If the Big 12 doesn't want to get swallowed up by the two true powers in the SEC and the Big Ten, they'll need to make a serious splash if the ACC eventually breaks apart. Having the extra revenue on hand would help with paying buyout fees and help the programs when they may need to take a lesser percentage of the TV revenue.
Where the Memphis program goes from this point forward is a massive question as they've been one of the topics of the offseason. As the Big 12 declines the Tigers, they could revisit the offer the Pac 12 made them to join the league but, it appears clear that they want to join one of the Power conferences.