CHARLOTTE — It was Day two of American Conference Media Days in Charlotte Friday… and Big XII talk broke out.

Expansion again, the hot topic especially with Media Days coming just days after the University of Memphis made a $200-million dollar swing to join the Big XII… a swing and miss.

But here’s the thing. Despite trying to make a move, another move to leave the American for the greener pastures of the Power Four, very little blowback from conference commissioner Tim Pernetti. As a matter of fact, Pernetti knew about the moves being made by Memphis.

“We’ve had very transparent conversations for a year about what’s happening. I understand Memphis’s ambition. I think other schools have that ambition. I admire their ambition,” Pernetti said. “I was an athletic director years ago when I took Rutgers into the Big Ten. Your job is to do what you think is best for your school. I also give them credit for having the guts to go after it.”

Pernetti is not the only one proud to see the Tigers make a big move, even if it didn’t turn out how Memphis had hoped.

“People in Memphis, the administration, our leadership, I give them a lot of credit and I’m appreciative and proud of the fact that they were willing to swing and swing big. That shows what we’re all about,” said Tigers coach Ryan Silverfield. “That’s what Memphis is all about, the willingness to take chances and to bet on themselves. I think I speak for the entire city, that’s what we’re all about.”

The Big XII swing and miss was not the only hot button issue involving Memphis at Media Days.

The Tigers having to answer to an On3 report that showed text messages from former Tiger defensive back Tajh Ra-El that appeared to show Ra-El, after leaving the Memphis program, sharing defensive intel with his high school teammate, UT- San Antonio quarterback Owen McCown in the days leading up to the Roadrunners 44-36 win over Memphis last November. A loss the knocked the Tigers out of College Football Playoff contention.

Everyone involved in the story played down the optics.

Ra-El, now at Purdue, even released a statement through his management team acknowledging ‘errors in judgement.’

“What I can tell you is there’s really not much to this story. I think a lot of it has been, sensationalized and some of it, I think, quite frankly, is clickbait,” Pernetti added. “The integrity of this thing means something to people in this league. So naturally, anything that flirts with the line we’re going to take seriously. But in this case, I think this is much ado about nothing.”