Houston faces much shorter trips for its Texas-based foes. West Virginia still will average about 1,100 miles each way on the road, but the Mountaineers at least picked up a relatively short trip with Cincinnati from Morgantown. Once settled in the Big 12, the Knights and Cougars will both face average trips of around 1,300 miles each way for conference games. There are more than 2,300 miles between the Central Florida campus in Orlando and BYU in Provo, Utah. With the additions, the Big 12 will be spread across eight states and three time zones. "We'll drop back to 12, and as there are targets of opportunity or as there are situations that dictate that we would change composition, we'll be prepared to do those things." "We are were living in a very fast-changing athletic environment and we will be at 14 for a while," Bowlsby said. If they stay, the Big 12 could have up to 14 members for at least a season or two. 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. Cougars athletic director Tom Holmoe said that failed attempt to get into the Big 12 turned out to be a "launching point." He also said the league could someday be open to further expansion.īYU President Kevin Worthen said the Big 12's expansion study five years ago made the process much faster and easier this time. The four schools were among 11 interviewed by the league in 2016 when it considered expansion before staying at 10 teams.īowlsby described that process five years ago as "a voyage of exploration," but said the decision by Texas and Oklahoma to leave prompted renewed consideration of available options. Our conference was targeted for exceeding expectations in a system that wasn't designed to accommodate our success."Īfter identifying its primary expansion targets last week, the Big 12 moved quickly to make it happen. "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. "Today's news confirms what we have said all along regarding our status as a power conference," Aresco said. The AAC requires members to give 27 months' notice if they plan to leave the league, though there could be negotiations between the schools and that league to reduce that time.ĪAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said the league expected Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to "abide by the conference bylaws to ensure an amicable and orderly transition" as the league considers its options. A source within the league said the Big 12 is most likely going to stick with its current nine-game conference schedule.When and Where Is the Next World Baseball Classic After 2023? Beginning in 2023, the Big 12 would have to go with its old format of division winners meeting for the conference title. The conference reinstated its championship game in 2017. After realignment, the league shrunk to 10 teams. In 2015, the NCAA allowed leagues with less than 12 teams to conduct championship games.įrom 1996 to 2010, the Big 12 played a football title game. Presently, the top two ranked teams play in the Big 12 Championship Game. The conference has operated as a 10-team league without divisions since 2017. NCAA rules state that any league with more than 12 teams must split into divisions for football according to Big 12 senior associate commissioner Ed Stewart. "Conference office, staff, ADs, sports administrators and coaches involved on a sport-by-sport basis, they're all doing the same thing." "We've got subcommittees in several sports that are talking about structure," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports. The Big 12 would then shrink to 12 teams in football, playing in six-team divisions beginning in 2025. If not, both schools would be subject to what have been projected as nine-figure early exit fees for breaking the Big 12 grant of rights that bind schools' TV inventory to the conference.Īssuming BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join ahead of the 2023-24 athletic year, the league would be at 14 teams for two seasons in 20. The current Big 12 television contract with Fox and ESPN ends in 2025. The Big 12 is operating under the assumption that both the Longhorns and Sooners will stay in the league four more years. The Big 12 is engaged in plans to split into two seven-team divisions in football beginning in 2023 to temporarily restructure as a 14-team league as the realignment process unfolds, league sources tell CBS Sports.īig 12 athletic directors - including those from conference newcomers BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF - met last month in Las Vegas to begin deciding how the league will look for two seasons (2023-24) ahead of Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC.
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