Big 12 Expansion Bracket: West Region Opening Round

Today the Big 12 Expansion Bracket starts with the West region getting under way. It features Colorado State vs SMU and Boise State vs Tulane. Voting will end at midnight on the day the article Is posted for the first round. Each matchup will include the schools' student enrollment, endowment, and TV market. I'll be pulling all this information for the trusty ol' Wikipedia. I'll also include a brief write up on each school. You have to remember, this is about more than just football and wins/losses. With that said, let's get this party started!

(4) Colorado State vs (5) SMU

Colorado State

Enrollment: 32,236

Endowment: $284.4 Million

TV Market: Greater Denver area, 2.8 million population

Colorado St would be an interesting addition to the Big 12. The Rams currently compete in the Mountain West conference and would open the Big 12 up for the Rocky Mountains region. Colorado is the big dog of the area but with if Colorado St joined the Big 12 you have to assume that some of those bandwagon Buff fans would maybe switch their allegiance over to the Rams.

SMU

Enrollment: 11,643

Endowment: $1.505 Billion

TV Market: Dallas-Ft Worth, 7.1 million population

There's no doubt that SMU would bring in the big bucks to the Big 12, but does the Big 12 need another private school? Also, the Dallas-Ft Worth TV market is pretty much already dominated by the Big 12. SMU is a great academic school but outside of that and the money, I don't see SMU bringing much to the table.

(3) Boise State vs (6) Tulane

Boise State

Enrollment: 22,259

Endowment: $89.57 Million

TV Market: Boise-Nampa area, 665,000 population

If it was all about football and nothing else mattered, Boise St would be a very nice addition. The Broncos are 113-19 since 2006, easy to see why if it was just a football issue that'd be a great fit. Outside of its on the field success, Boise State doesn't make much sense though. The school is located in a small town, the TV market is small and their endowment isn't very high.

Tulane

Enrollment: 13,449

Endowment: $1.220 Billion

TV Market: Metro New Orleans area, 1.2 million population

Tulane would open the Big 12 to a brand new market that is currently dominated by the SEC. Like SMU, Tulane is a private school that brings a lot of money to the table. Do we really want another private school though? To me, Tulane is more appealing than SMU because it opens up New Orleans to the Big 12 but other than that I don't see them being a legitimate contender to be added.