Report: Big 12 Finalizing Two-Year Divisionless Football Format

CINCINNATI — Reports are surfacing on how the Big 12 is scheduling its football seasons in 2023 and 2024. Texas and Oklahoma are still in the plans for the conference.

According to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, the league's leaders have landed on a "targeted format" featuring nine-conference games and no divisions.

"In the targeted format," Dellenger wrote. "Conference members will continue to play nine league games in a divisionless model, with the top two teams advancing to a championship game. The two-year format is set up for each team to play all others at least once. Historic rivalries are expected to be preserved on an annual basis with teams having permanent opponents. Those matchups are not yet official, but are likely to include games such as Oklahoma-Texas, Oklahoma State-Oklahoma, Kansas-Kansas State, TCU-Baylor, and West Virginia-Cincinnati, the latter a natural regional matchup."

The Mountaineers are the new entrenched Big 12 rival for UC on the hardwood and gridiron. They are the clear big brothers to UC right now, holding a 12-3 record against the Bearcats since they first played in 1969. These teams met nine times as Big East members from 2002-11, with UC going 3-6 in that span.

This model means the Bearcats will play either Texas or Oklahoma at least once in Nippert Stadium before the teams depart for the SEC.

The plan comes as Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark gets into deeper television contract negotiations with ESPN and FOX.

Cincinnati, BYU, Houston, and UCF enter the conference on July 1, 2023. Read more in Dellenger's piece.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You May Also Like:

Three-Star Edge Rusher Brian 'Mook' Simms III Commits to UC

UC Football Hangs Onto Top-25 Status in Latest Recruiting Rankings

Report: UC to Face Bob Huggins, West Virginia Multiple Times Per Season in Big 12

UC Football First-Half Grades

AAC Coaches Project UC as Top-Three Team; David Dejulius Named Preseason All-AAC

UC Football First-Half Turning Points

Ivan Pace Jr. PFF's Highest Graded Player at Season Midpoint