Big 12 Adds Four; Looks to Honor Past, Present and Future in Lone 14-Team Season

Arlington, Texas-- The Big 12 has never been bigger. This season, there will be 14 teams in the Big 12 before Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said that this season will be one of celebration for the past, present and future: "We plan to use this season to celebrate the incredible strength we have going forward with our eight continuing members, our four incoming members, and also to celebrate the impact that Texas and Oklahoma have had on this conference since day one."

And the expectations are sky high for the four newcomers to have an instant impact on the conference.

Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and Central Florida all join the storied Big 12 conference for the 2023 season. Geographically, that is three new states--Utah, Florida and Ohio-- added to the Big 12's footprint to make a total of eight states they are in with a reach to about 75 million people. For the first time since, the league last had the North and South Divisions in 2010 teams will not play a round robin schedule.

Historically, each team brings something different to the table as the continuous melting pot that is college football gets stirred again in this most recent era of conference realignment.

After moving from the WAC to Mountain West, BYU declared their independence for the 2011 football season and have been so ever since. The Cougars boast some storied quarterbacks as well as the 1984 national championship. Now they can boast being in a Power 5 league--something head coach Kalani Sitake says has been 50 years in making.

Sitake was excited and grateful during his time at the podium saying, "this is something that we've been dreaming of for a while, speaking as a fan. Now that we've been given this platform I'm excited for the opportunities that we have."

Houston, Cincinnati and UCF all come to the Big 12 from the American Conference, which was sometimes referred to as the Power 6 league. All three have experienced tremendous success in the CFP era with both Houston and UCF pulling off Peach Bowl upsets over Florida State and Auburn respectively. That caused the Knights to claim an unofficial national championship in 2017 and throw a parade that Walt Disney would be proud of.

While the Bearcats do not have a New Year's Six victory, they do have something that no other Group of 5 school has: qualifying for the CFP semifinals. And interestingly enough, UCF lays claim to the biggest BCS upset ever--and lone American BCS victory-- when they beat Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl as 16.5-point underdogs.

UCF coach Gus Malzahn claimed the Big 12 as "one of the best football conferences in college football, and probably the deepest from top to bottom."

Yormark said that it is a big moment for UCF, but that "they're ready for this moment" to be the flagship Florida school for the Big 12. In addition, Yormark expressed his excitement on welcoming Houston to the league and described a top 10 city that is "vibrant and young" with a "great heritage and legacy."

Cincinnati Coach Scott Satterfield said, "We're very excited at Cincinnati to be joining what's such a great conference" while Houston's coach Dana Holgorsen--who returns to the league--offered some perspective: "being in the American Conference, and it really makes you appreciate a conference like the Big 12 by now being back" and that Houston has been looking forward to this day "for a long, long time."