Big 12 Conference Board of Directors Officially Invite BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston
The Big 12 Conference officially extended invitations to four programs, with BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston all set to join the league.
The Conference put out the following statement and press release:
“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.
As necessary, institutional Boards will be in session today to act on Big 12 Conference membership. Videoconference announcements with Big 12 Board of Directors Chairman and Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, and campus representatives are scheduled today at the following times:
Houston – 11:00 a.m. CT
BYU – 11:30 a.m. CT
UCF – 2:45 p.m. CT
Cincinnati – 3:30 p.m. CT“
The four schools still have to accept the invitation, but that remains a formality.
The news comes just weeks after Oklahoma and Texas were officially invited to join the SEC, in a move that shocked the college football world.
The Bearcats are members of the American Athletic Conference right now. UCF and Houston are also in the AAC, while BYU is an independent. Right now, the Bearcats are the best football program of the bunch, as they’re ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 this week. UCF is receiving votes in the Top 25.
The vote paves the way for those schools to join the conference as early as 2023. That would overlap with the departure of Oklahoma and Texas, meaning the Big 12 could have as many as 14 teams, if that sort of scenario comes to fruition.
