Big 12 Basketball: 3 more programs the conference could consider poaching

Memphis Tigers

The Memphis Tigers have long been an important brand in college basketball, perhaps peaking when John Calipari was on the sidelines and Derrick Rose was dropping dimes. It's time to give them some major conference exposure.

For the past decade, Memphis has been one of the upper echelon teams in the American Athletic Conference. Not a bad league, but not a major one, either. Before that, it was Conference USA - same deal.

Similar to Dayton, the perception of Memphis doesn't always match the results. The number of times the Tigers have won the AAC's regular season title since the league's inception? Zero. They finished second last year for the first time.

But the Tigers brand is undeniable. In times both good and bad - and there's been plenty of the latter, at least in terms of controversy - Memphis is a program people pay attention to. Penny Hardaway's tenure has been nothing to this point if not interesting.

Memphis didn't face any Big 12 opponents last year, but acquitted itself quite well against major conference foes. They lost to Villanova and Ole Miss, but beat Missouri on the road, Michigan and a ranked Arkansas squad in the Bahamas, Texas A&M on the road, and Clemson and Virginia at home, the latter being a 23-point blowout.

It's time for Memphis to leap up to where former conference foes such as Houston and Cincinnati have gone before.