A 14-team Big 12? It’s looking more likely league’s new members will compete in 2023
Expansion of the Big 12 Conference was announced last year. Now, the league and new members could be closing in on a starting time.
Cincinnati, Houston, Central Florida and Brigham Young could be joining their new league home for the 2023-24 school year, according to CBSSports.com college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein.
That could mean 14 members for the Big 12 for two years of competition, and that this upcoming school year will be final year of a 10-team league.
Last September, the Big 12 announced the four schools would become members “no later than 2024-25.” But BYU announced it would be joining the Big 12 in 2023. Now, all four appear poised to make the switch following the 2022-23 school year.
Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati are members of the American Athletic Conference.
The Big 12 added the new schools in reaction to Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the Southeastern Conference. The departing schools have not indicated an intention to leave before the end of the league’s current television contracts, which expire after the 2024-25 school year.
If that happens, Big 12 membership won’t stand at 12 until 2025-26.
Outgoing Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has said the league would return to division scheduling for football and not play a complete round robin in basketball when the four new schools arrive. The conference would be even more expanded with 14 teams.
Since realigning into a 10-team conference a decade ago, the Big 12 has played without divisions in football and a full home-and-away schedule for men’s and women’s basketball.
An earlier report by CBS Sports offered a division projection for a 14-team league:
In one division: Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, BYU and Cincinnati.
In the other division: Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas, West Virginia, Houston and Central Florida
In that scenario, the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry would continue as crossover opponents.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 1:36 PM.