These are pretty heady times for University of Memphis athletics.
Charles Huff’s football team already is bowl eligible and remains in the hunt for a spot in the American Conference championship game. Penny Hardaway’s basketball team is expected to contend for an NCAA Tournament bid. And across the board, Dr. Ed Scott’s athletic department seems to have plenty going for it.
That matters because Memphis believes something bigger could be coming.
When the inevitable next round of conference expansion arrives, the Tigers want to be ready.
In an exclusive interview on USA TODAY Sports’ "College Football Unfiltered" podcast, Scott explained why Memphis believes it has positioned
itself as well as just about anyone for that opportunity.
“Winning is a snapshot of a moment in time,” Scott said, echoing an old Nick Saban mantra. “And what we're trying to do at Memphis is always be prepared for opportunities that present themselves.
“So, to answer you directly, I think we're as well prepared as anybody. I think one of the things that's unique about Memphis is what I call impact on community. There are three pillars of the city of Memphis: St. Jude (Children’s Hospital), FedEx and the university.”
And Memphis athletics, Scott argues, is the university’s front porch.
For a school of more than 16,000 students, the roaring Memphis Tiger athletics logo has become the universal symbol for the university. There isn’t one graphic for academics and another for athletics.
It’s all Memphis.
And Scott believes the Tigers have the results, brand and scheduling power to back up their ambitions.
“We finished in the top 25 in football and men's basketball, the only Group of Six program to do that during that period,” said Scott, a former standout-baseball player at Albany who served as a top assistant AD at Virginia before landing at Memphis. “Despite Penny’s slip-up last year in wins and losses, the pedigree of our basketball program is as strong as anyone in the country.
“We have a six-year home-and-home with Louisville (basketball). We have a four-year home-and-home with Baylor. We have a home-and-home with Texas and basketball home-and-home with Vanderbilt.”
Football scheduling? That’s a different story.
Good luck finding teams eager to put Memphis on the schedule. Arkansas and Florida State are among the Power Four programs in recent years to have felt that pain.
Scott views that as a compliment.
“Nobody wants to play us in football, which is the best compliment that we can get, right?,” Scott said. “And, so, when I look at the totality of what we're doing and obviously I'm biased, right? I'm the AD But, there is part of the reason I took the job at Memphis. I thought Memphis was the most well-positioned Group of Six to be able to get into a P-4, or at least position itself if there's another round of conference realignment. I think we've done all the things we need to.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Memphis wants a Power Four invite. Why AD says Tigers are ready
