New Big 12 Members Bring New Big 12 Storylines: 59 Days Until Kansas Football
The Big 12 got a brand new look right before Big 12 Media Days as the addition of the BYU Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, Houston Cougars and UCF Knights became official on July 1st. With each new school comes new traditions and new ways to celebrate, such as Cincinnati fans shotgunning cans of Skyline Chili or BYU celebrating New Year's Eve style, complete with a fire knife dancer.
Each program and their fans have a unique story about what brought them to the conference. And the big storyline for each school will be very different, even if they all share the same theme: Respect. It's a theme that a lot of Big 12 schools share, including the Kansas Jayhawks.
So let's run through what that looks like for each of the new schools. Note that the following storyline are a combination of things told to me directly by fans of those schools (where possible) and my own experience with the fan bases and programs.
BYU Cougars
When BYU went independent in football back in 2011, they did it to combat the economic realities of life in the Mountain West. As the financial gap between the Power 5 and Group of 5 schools continued to increase, the move was allowed the Cougars to nearly double their revenue from the end of their time in the Mountain West.
But while the move helped raise the floor of the financial revenues that the department saw, the early expectations that BYU could settle into a program standing similar to Notre Dame never materialized. The thinking was that BYU's international fanbase could uniquely draw viewers in a way that most independents couldn't. But the Mountain West time zone, combined with the concentration of opponents in the western part of the country, limited their exposure nationwide, even though nearly every game was on national television.
So the move to the Big 12 gets them two things. First, a highly rated schedule in one of the most balanced Power Five conferences around. Second, a large number of games in Midwest and Eastern timezones. And of course it doesn't hurt that they will have a conference championship and multiple significant bowl tie-ins to play for during the season.
Cincinnati Bearcats
Just a couple years ago, the Bearcats did what no one thought was possible in the College Football Playoff era: making the semifinals from a Group of Five conference. That they ultimately fell soundly in the actual game almost didn't matter. Add in the move to the Big 12 and everything seemed to be working out perfectly.
The dip in 2022 wasn't entirely unexpected, as multiple key contributors moved on. But what was unexpected was Luke Fickell deciding to leave for the open Wisconsin job.
The rumblings that the Bearcats were only successful because of their coach has already started. New head coach Scott Satterfield will not only need to navigate installing his own system, but he'll need to help the program adjust to their new life in the Big 12. It may be extra unfair, but this season could go a long way to determining the kind of respect Cincinnati will getin the future Big 12.
Houston Cougars
For as long as I can remember, Houston has been a team that has felt disrespected. While a good portion of that has been deserved, given the way they were originally left out of the Big 12, it can feel extremely over the top to an outsider.
They have had quite a bit of recent success, but there has been a nagging question about whether that is due to the financial advantages they have had over other members of their conference. See, Houston has a mega donor on Tilman Fertitta who isn't afraid to singlehandedly use his money to make sure that Houston has a budget well in excess of the average team in the American.
And he used that money to lure Dana Holgerson back to Houston from West Virginia. The same Holgerson that talked about feeling disrespected at West Virginia came to the school that is fighting for respect in the college sports world. It seemed like a match made in heaven.
But the recent struggles have created a difficult situation. Last year's team performed well under expectations, and that wasn't the first year his team has struggled. There is a very real possibility that Holgerson could get the Cougars into the Power Five and then be forced out.
UCF Knights
The Knights are the new kid on the block, being the youngest school in the Power Five after moving to the Big 12. And they have a history of punching above their expectations.
The dismissal of the undefeated 2017 season by pretty much everyone in the College Football world has only served to galvanize the program, as they have continued to have success since then. That culminated with the invite the Big 12.
From my time living in Florida and near UCF fans, I noticed that a large contingent think that the invite WAS the prize, and the respect they deserve is right around the corner. But the respect that they are seeking nationally is going to have to come with multiple successful seasons.
Those that want to dismiss the Knights will point to a lot of questions, including the large step up in competition, late year road trips to places like Ames and the ability to recruit at a Big 12 level are open questions that will take multiple years to resolve. But a poor showing in year 1 could extend that timeline even further.
There is no doubt that all four new schools to the conference have earned some measure of respect just receiving the invite. And the newly-signed media rights agreement would back up the value of these schools. But to really get the respect they crave, a lot will have to happen in Year 1.
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