Coming soon to a conference near you - the Big 12(14)!

The offer the AAC couldn’t refuse has been made, and UCF, Cincinnati and Houston — along with independent BYU — will join forces with the current Big 12 teams in the summer of 2023!

Barring OUt changing course and opting to leave early for their new homes in the SEC, the Big 12 will officially be 14 schools for AY2023-24 and AY2024-25, then return to 12 with the departures of OUt summer 2025.

AAC deal lets UCF, Cincinnati, Houston join Big 12 in ‘23
By Ralph Russo, Associated Press

Interesting commentary from the JayhawkSlant football board…

Hawkfan said:
I'm definitely interested in seeing the new teams coming in and glad it's sooner rather than later. Do we think Texas/OU are leaving early? Or are they going to ride out this contract so we can be the Big 14 a couple of years? I've seen some rumors that UT wants to buy out but OU doesn't have the money.

Jolebo said:
UT/OU, along with ESPN, hoped that the ACC and Big 10 would pick off another Big 12 team to get the conference to dissolve. That didn't happen, which means that a buyout would need to happen. UT has enough money in their coffers to pay off the early exit, but OU does not. On top of that, UT is making more revenue money than the SEC schools and OU is making around the same amount. No need to give away that much money and work on bolstering their programs for their move to the SEC.

Get ready for a 14 team league for two years.

In reading through the stuff being posted elsewhere today, I also did a search here for discussion on Big 12 revenue, talk about OUt leaving and the potential death of the Big 12.

Here is a link to refresh our memories of what was written in the big thread on the topic started back in July 2021. OUt announced they would not be renewing the Grant of Rights when it expired in 2025, and then came the actual announcement of them leaving for the SEC and the ensuing discussion on the future of the Big 12.

RCB July 2021: Joint OU/tu statement

I still would like to eventually see KU end up in the B1G, for both athletic and academic reasons, but for now the Big 12 boat is not sinking (yet). While the future athletic$ without OUt is almost assuredly going to be less per school, it is hard to say right now how this new version of the Big 12, with KANSAS as a very likely “Face of the Conference” if things work out, will help or hinder KU in the future.

Sharing some more interesting commentary from the JayhawkSlant Memorial Stadium forum on the current situation — new members, replacing Bowlsby as commissioner and KU’s position as a, if not the major conference influencer in the future… all from one thread on this year’s record Big 12 revenues…

ArlingtonHawk said:
Girod is one of three leading the search committee for Bowlsby's replacement.

As much as I want KU to go to another conference, I guess I have to be honest and ask myself, if that is even a possibility, why would Girod be leading the charge to hire the new guy?

Jolebo said:
KU is one of the returning schools and has the potential of being the conference's top influencer. In addition, this is the first time the rest of the associated schools are able to impact the conference, not named UT or Nebraska. You best believe just having that opportunity is intriging, no matter what.

If KU is able to leave the Big 12 in the future, Girod has some more experience with the athletics perspective. If KU stays in the Big 12, Girod is laying the foundation for how this conference evolves, which is equally and perhaps more impactful.

TexasJayhawk87 said:
In the meantime, I’m thinking the redone Big 12 can be an exciting conference. And if the recent results from some of the football teams can continue there’s no reason it’s not a highly desirable TV package to the right bidders. Nope, won’t match what we get now per U but hopefully close. Texas is still covered and we’re adding Mormons from around the world, Fla, and Cinci/Ohio. Be happy with what you got and then if B1G happens be happier.

JohnDouglas1 said:
While I want to go to the B1G yesterday, with the new schools we can tell the networks with a straight face, that the reach and potential viewership of the conference might not be significantly reduced without UT and OU. We are adding two KC-sized media markets in Cincinnati and Orlando (Orlando is probs bigger than that now) and a national/worldwide brand in BYU.

TonyJJHawk said:
Orlando 2.5 million
CINCINNATI 2.2 million
Kansas City 2.1 million

XpertDesperad0 said:
We're the "bell cow" of the conference in regards to revenue and clout/brand. I think we're 27th overall in valuation as of 2019 or 2020. If we get the football program to a level of consistent bowling and basketball continues to do well I could see us approaching top 15-20. Viewership is down on us now but that could quickly turn around and we could have very high viewership pretty quickly and be the highest in the conference (judging this completely on basketball viewership numbers).