The college football world has been wondering what the Big 12 was going to do in the wake of the pending departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. it was reported late last week that BYU, Central Florida, Houston, and Cincinnati were garnering interest from the league as it explored expansion.
As Big 12 leadership met today, they voted to officially invite the aforementioned schools to join the Power Five conference. In the Big 12’s official statement, the vote to invite the four Group of Five schools was unanimous.
The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors this morning voted to extend membership invitations to Brigham Young University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Houston to join the Conference.
Today’s actions were in accordance with Big 12 Conference Bylaw 1.5.2.b.3 requiring an affirmative vote of a supermajority of Directors, and was approved unanimously by the eight continuing members.
Central Florida, BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati have each been a part of the national conversation over the last two decades and will join a Big 12 looking to rejuvenate its brand after losing its two premiere members.
Though it’s not yet known when the four schools will join the Big 12 as much of it will depend on the details in their media rights deals.
After losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, this was about as strong a move as could be expected by the Big 12. They were unlikely to draw from another Power Five conference. However, bringing in Cincinnati (which was a part of the old Big East), BYU (who is a strong independent second only to Notre Dame), Houston (who was a part of the last round of negotiations on conference expansion), and UCF (who thrust themselves into the national title race a few years back with an undefeated season), the Big 12 provided the strongest possible to answer the conference realignment question.
The conference may not have the same powerhouses as it did with Texas and Oklahoma, but the addition of these four schools just created more competition and more excitement.
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