The Big 12 extended membership invitations Friday for BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to join the Power Five conference that will be losing Oklahoma and Texas to the Southeastern Conference.
The eight continuing members of the Big 12 unanimously approved the applications of the four schools.
The moves come six weeks after the SEC invited Texas and Oklahoma to join its league in time for the 2025-26 season. There remains the possibility that could happen sooner, but the Big 12 is focused on its additions for now.
<body id="cke_pastebin" style="position: absolute; top: 65px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; left: -1000px;">“Today’s news confirms what we have said all along regarding our status as a power conference,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said. “The irony that three of our schools are being asked to take the place of the two marquee schools which are leaving the Big 12 is not lost on us. Our conference was targeted for exceeding expectations in a system that wasn’t designed to accommodate our success.”
Aresco said the ACC expected Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to “abide by the conference bylaws to ensure an amicable and orderly transition” as the league considers its options.
The Longhorns and Sooners have said they will honor their current contracts with the Big 12 and do not plan to join the SEC until 2025, when the conference’s current television rights contracts with ESPN and Fox run out. If they did stay, the Big 12 could have up to 14 members for at least a season or two.
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The eight continuing members of the Big 12 unanimously approved the applications of the four schools.
The moves come six weeks after the SEC invited Texas and Oklahoma to join its league in time for the 2025-26 season. There remains the possibility that could happen sooner, but the Big 12 is focused on its additions for now.
<body id="cke_pastebin" style="position: absolute; top: 65px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; left: -1000px;">“Today’s news confirms what we have said all along regarding our status as a power conference,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said. “The irony that three of our schools are being asked to take the place of the two marquee schools which are leaving the Big 12 is not lost on us. Our conference was targeted for exceeding expectations in a system that wasn’t designed to accommodate our success.”
Aresco said the ACC expected Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to “abide by the conference bylaws to ensure an amicable and orderly transition” as the league considers its options.
The Longhorns and Sooners have said they will honor their current contracts with the Big 12 and do not plan to join the SEC until 2025, when the conference’s current television rights contracts with ESPN and Fox run out. If they did stay, the Big 12 could have up to 14 members for at least a season or two.
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