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Calkins: If the Big 12 couldn’t see what’s changed at Memphis, they weren’t looking very hard

By , Daily Memphian Updated: July 22, 2025 6:02 AM CT | Published: July 21, 2025 6:09 PM CT
Geoff Calkins
Daily Memphian

Geoff Calkins

Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.

Buried in the story about the latest disappointment for the University of Memphis — the latest rejection at the hands of a power conference — there was a particularly revealing quote.

It came from an anonymous “Big 12 administrator” and was meant to explain why Memphis’ latest lucrative attempt to join that conference had been rebuffed.

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University of Memphis Big 12 Bill Hardgrave Subscriber Only

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