Cincinnati makes major announcement about conference re-alignment

The University of Cincinnati has officially submitted its application to join the Big 12 Conference, according to two university sources, as first reported by the Enquirer on Wednesday afternoon.

Cincinnati provides further clarity in the Big-12 alignment plan

With a 2025 departure for Texas and Oklahoma, the plans began to take shape last week.

The eight remaining member schools of the Big 12 have met multiple times with commissioner Bob Bowlsby in the past week to discuss how the conference should proceed following the departure of Texas and Oklahoma.

Big 12 presidents will reportedly vote later this week, likely Friday, on whether to approve applications of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF for conference expansion, according to Pete Thamel. It was first reported last Thursday that the schools wanted to join the league.

“We’re heading toward adding four teams in the next short period of time,” one conference official said.

The teams are still expected to join the conference by 2023, two years before Oklahoma and Texas are slated to depart for the SEC. That means the Big 12 could potentially be a 14-team conference for two seasons.

The Longhorns and Sooners announced in June they would leave the Big 12 to join the SEC. For a while, many weren’t sure what this meant for the future of the conference. Now it appears the remaining teams are committed to staying together.

The Big 12 bylaws state member institutions must give 18 months notice of its departure, while also paying a fee of two years of revenue distribution. Should the schools choose to join the SEC in the summer of 2023, they must inform the Big 12 by the end of December, while also forfeiting roughly $80 million each.

As for UCF, Cincinnati and Houston — the penalties inscribed in the American Athletic Conference’s bylaws are far less harsh. Although the schools have to give 27 months’ notice of their departure, the $10 million flat-fee penalty per school may provide more wiggle room.

BYU, on the other hand, is currently operating as an independent FBS school. Its other varsity athletic sports compete in the West Coast Conference. Should it choose to join the Big 12, it can be brought in as a football-only member as soon as the 2022 season.

The teams went a combined 3-1 in the opening week of college football. Houston, the only team that lost, fell to a Big 12 opponent: Texas Tech.