Report says Big 12 is targeting four schools for expansion. This Florida school is among them
The Big 12’s status as a Power 5 conference was threatened after it was announced in July that Oklahoma and Texas were leaving the league to join the SEC no later than 2025.
But the conference has four programs in mind when it comes to replacing the Sooners and Longhorns in an effort to expand, according to a report by The Athletic.
Those four schools include UCF as well as its American Athletic Conference brethren, Cincinnati and Houston, and independent BYU.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby met with the athletic directors of the conference’s eight remaining members this week to discuss the future of the conference, The Athletic reported.
“The eight ADs remain committed to furthering the Big 12 as one of the nation’s premier athletic conferences, and look forward to working with our presidents and chancellors to strengthen the league,” Bowlsby said in a statement Wednesday to The Athletic. “Future exploration by the group will continue to center on options that best position the long-term strength of the Conference.”
UCF’s addition, should it happen, would bring the 17th largest market in the nation to the Big 12 audience. According to the latest Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA), Orlando is one spot higher than Miami and ranks as the highest ranked market without an NFL team.
“We are now in position, based on what we’re doing with our staff, the capacity of our stadium, the vision of our program, like Coach (Gus Malzahn) says, it’s not a marketing campaign,” UCF AD Terry Mohajir said in late August, according to The Orlando Sentinel. “It’s what we believe. We feel it. It’s authentic. We are the future of college athletics, especially college football. The eyeballs that we have. We’re excited.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 5:39 PM.
