Among the knocks this summer against Big 12 expansion has been that bringing in a school from outside the traditional Power 5 would just dilute the league on the field.Which would seem to make sense.After all, one program that is outside the Big 12, for example, has won just six games in the past three seasons. It hasnt finished a season ranked since 2003 and has enjoyed a double-digit winning season just once, well, ever.That particular profile, however, doesnt square up with that of Big 12 expansion hopefuls BYU or Houston. Nor does it match Central or South Florida.In fact, it doesnt even fit Tulane.The school in question is Purdue, obviously not an expansion candidate, but a member of the Big Ten since before Teddy Roosevelt became president. And on football reputation alone, the Boilermakers dont stack up against many of the candidates the Big 12 is considering for expansion.Several points do, however, hold up when arguing against Big 12 expansion.Proximity and logistics, for one. Cincinnati; Orlando, Florida; and Provo, Utah, are all a thousand-plus miles from the Big 12 offices in Dallas. Such a marriage would create travel and scheduling complications for the conference.Specific candidates have their distinct downsides off the field, as well. Memphis doesnt boast a strong academic reputation. Connecticut struggles to draw fans to its stadium. BYU doesnt compete on Sundays and now has LGBT groups protesting its candidacy over the schools honor code.But the premise that expansion would absolutely dilute the Big 12 product on the field doesnt hold much water.Look no further than last weeks Associated Press all-time college football rankings. Instead of simply falling back on conventional perceptions, the AP relied solely on statistics and used poll appearances, No. 1 rankings and AP championships to compile its list.As a result, BYU came in at No. 34 on the AP ranking, which placed the Cougars ahead of 32 Power 5 programs. At 49th, Houston was slotted ahead of 19 Power 5 schools.As the AP poll underscored, BYU and Houston, especially, have thrived on the field, both in the past and in the present -- including relative to many of their Power 5 cohorts.Since 1980, only Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida State, Florida and Miami have won more games than BYU, and the Buckeyes (first), Sooners (second), Cornhuskers (sixth), Seminoles (ninth), Gators (10th) and Hurricanes (13th) all placed in the top 15 of the APs all-time ranking. BYU also captured the national championship in 1984 -- something just 29 other schools have ever accomplished in the history of the sport.But even as college football autonomy has produced a wider gap between the Power 5 and everyone else financially in recent years, BYU has remained stout. Over the past decade, the Cougars have collected wins over Oregon, Utah, TCU, Arizona, UCLA, Washington, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Ole Miss, Washington State, Georgia Tech, Texas, Virginia, Cal and Nebraska.By comparison, the Boilermakers have only two wins over ranked opponents in that span. Fellow Big Ten member Illinois claims just four. Minnesota has three. Indiana has two. And Maryland and Rutgers have yet to record such a victory since joining the Big Ten.Conversely, Houston has four top-25 victories in 2015 alone, capped with a 38-24 romp over ninth-ranked Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in December.Thats not the only area the Big 12 expansion candidates stack up well.During the past decade, Houston, South Florida, Central Florida, BYU, Cincinnati and Boise State have all been ranked in the top 10 of the polls at least once.Neither Duke, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Wake Forest nor Virginia can claim such a distinction from the ACC. The same goes for Washington, Washington State and Colorado in the Pac-12.Shortly after the Big 12 announced it would explore expansion last month and that it had authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to begin negotiating with prospective candidates, Oklahoma president and Big 12 board chairman David Boren listed five core criteria through which the league would gauge candidates: competitiveness of the athletic programs, academic standards, fan bases, access to media markets and overall reputations.Through that prism, every expansion candidate exudes glaring negatives, which is why all of them remain available despite several previous rounds of conference realignments that could have placed them in the Power 5. Ultimately, this is why the Big 12 has endured such a difficult time agreeing to expand. And why agreeing on candidates could prove to be even more challenging.But simply based on competitiveness, the Big 12 need not fret. Expansion candidates wont necessarily dilute the conference on the field.At least no more than Colorado has the Pac-12.Or NC State, the ACC.Or the Boilermakers, for the majority of a century now, the Big Ten. China Jerseys Online . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Authentic College Jerseys 2018 . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. http://www.chinanflcheapjerseys.com/ . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. Wholesale Jerseys USA . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Might Pakistan have seen their best chance of achieving the No. 1 Test ranking slip through their grasp?They have never been rated the best Test team. Not officially, anyway. There was a couple of months in 1988 when they would have been had the ratings been in existence, but since they were introduced in 2003, Pakistan have never reached the pinnacle.They have been within sight of it here. For a while, as Australia capitulated in Galle, and Pakistan inched towards a first innings lead, the top of the mountain was clear above them. But, by the close of play the clouds had obscured the view once more. There is no guarantee they will part.Pakistan had been, remember, 257 for 2 with moments to go before stumps on the second day. They were just 40 runs behind England and they had eight wickets in hand. With James Anderson having twice been warned for running on the pitch, Steven Finn battling for rhythm, Stuart Broad unable to coax much pace or movement from this surface and Moeen Ali conceding more than four-and-a-half an over, Pakistans batsmen had an outstanding opportunity to bat England out of the game. There are no horrors for them in this low, slow wicket. England have taken no home advantage.But it was not to be. Azhar Ali, understandably weary after more than six hours of batting, was drawn into poking at one away from his body and edged to slip at the end of day two and Pakistans middle-order was unable to fully capitalise on the foundations that he had built.A first innings lead of 103 wasnt bad. Not by any means. But it wasnt the vice-like grip Pakistan could have taken on this match. It was an advantage, certainly, but it wasnt definitive. It was, in truth, something of a missed opportunity.It would be unfair to state that Pakistan squandered their chance with the bat. Unfair on Pakistan and England, who battled hard, bowled with impressive control and then batted particularly well when they started their second innings on Friday.Asad Shafiq, perhaps undone by Broad going wide on the crease, missed a straight one, Younis Khan was caught down the leg side as he fell over towards the off and once Misbah played on, there was nobody to stay with Sarfraz Ahmed and extend the lead.There were some familiar faults. The Pakistan tail, with Yasir Shah (a man with a Test batting average of 11.75) at No. 8, has more than a hint of the Diplodocus about it and here mustered just 18 between four men from No. 8 to No. 11. Since January 2014, they are worst performing lower-order in the world.As Mickey Arthur, the coach, put it afterwards: we lack an allrounder; we lack a Chris Woakes. Weve got to pick our best six batsmen and our best bowing attack. To win Tests, you have to take 20 wickets.And then Pakistans four-man attack was shown-up once more. Its not that there is anything wrong with any of the bowlers - far from it - but that it leaves no margin for error. Sohail Khan, so impressive in the first innings, looked stiff and tired - not injured as much as not fit enough to bowl the amount of spells required at this level in a four-man unit - while Rahat Ali delivered too many loose ddeliveries.ddddddddddddThat left too great a burden on Mohammad Amir, who is bowling considerably better than his figures suggest in this series, and Yasir, who is clearly a fine bowler operating on a surface offering him little. Pakistan were unable to build pressure and Englands openers were able to record their first century partnership with one another. A day that started with Pakistan well in front ended with England ahead by a nose.Arthur described the second innings bowling as poor. I was just really disappointed, the Pakistan coach said. Everything weve spoken about, everything weve done... We talk about lengths all the time, we talk about bowling one side of the wicket, we talk about bowling plans and controlling the rate. We didnt do one of those in the last session, so that was particularly disappointing.Sohail is a real concern. Hes got to back up. I thought he bowled exceptionally well in the first innings but youve got to do it both innings, youve got to do it spell after spell. Thats something well continue to work with Sohail Khan on.I love Rahat. I think he has something special. If we can get Rahats action repeatable, hes going to be very, very good.But theyll bowl five fantastic balls with the new ball and then theres the one dragged down or theres the one on leg stump which is the four-ball and thats been giving the England openers a bit of a start. Weve got a lot of work to do technically with our bowlers.None of this means that Pakistan have lost their opportunity to reach No. 1. It might still happen. This game remains in the balance - wonderfully so in the grand scheme of things - and Pakistan will be the favourites when West Indies arrive in the UAE for a Test tour in a few months.But this game, the next seven days of the series, do present a great opportunity. Some of the key players in the Pakistan side are surely coming to the end - Younis, with a highest score of 33 in the series, seems to be in decline and even Misbah, now aged 42, might eventually have to accept he cant win his fight with Time - and, within a few weeks, other teams (notably India) will have opportunities to pick-up ranking points. Not long after the West Indies series, Pakistan face testing trips to New Zealand and Australia. It may be a long time before Pakistan go this close to the summit.Were Pakistan to reach the No. 1 ranking, it would surely have to be recognised as one of the great achievements in the sport. From the position this side were in when Misbah took over - with four squad members eventually banned for corruption and, before long, his leading spinner squeezed out of the game due to concerns over his bowling action - and to have come this close despite not playing a single Test at home is beyond admirable. It is almost miraculous.Whatever happens next, this Pakistan teams achievements demand respect. But they may never have a better chance to go all the way and they may come to reflect on day three at Edgbaston as the day it slipped away. Cheap NFL T-shirts Discount Jerseys Wholesale NFL Gear Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping China Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic ' ' '