This seems to be merely a 2 year plan.
In 2025 UT and OU are gone. We then have 11 possible opponents.
To maximize ticket sales The Big 12 will create logical regional rivalries. WVU- Cincinnati is a no-brainer for example.
BYU sells tickets so would not mind playing them annually. UCF has no opponent close by so UH wins by default.
BYU, UCF, Baylor, TCU, Tx Tech,Cincinnati, and Okie St. work for me. The other 4 schools we play on some type of rotating basis.
I think you inevitably get awkward pairings when you run out of teams with natural dance partners. See the A&M vs South Carolina bit in the SEC. So I can understand when youâre left with BYU, Iowa State, Houston, and UCF, why you go this route. We came in together, both are space cities, and both metro schools with large student bodies.
But to me that demonstrates the limitations of the âone rivalâ concept for this conference, and that it needs to be approached differently. (Which, maybe it will.)
I think what concerns me is that I see this as an insight to their thinking. Specifically that we are going to be treated more like an eastern school than a Texas school.
I am totally cool with a 7-2 setup, but I think best case itâll be 3-6 with three regular matchups and the rest rotating. Iâm okay with that if the three are Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and UCF (for example) but less than enthused if the three are WVU, Cincinnati, and UCF. which I think is a distinct possibility.
One thing I do think we have going for us is that however-much they may not respect us generally, Texas Tech has a lot of fans in the Houston area that like being able to attend games, and Houston-Baylor and Houston-TCU games will be easier to market than Houston-WVU games (well except the Dana angle â but you get what I mean).
Yeah, thereâs a part of me that feels like UCF and Cincy should be our XII rivals â UH, Cincy, and UCF have pretty similar institutional profiles as large urban research universities. Proximity aside, weâre a lot more similar to UCF and Cincy than we are to Baylor and TCU.
I for one am just happy to be playing a B12 schedule. No more Temple or Tulsas. Even if we arenât any good early on, the overall CFB atmosphere will be much better. Canât wait!
With over 70K students in 2022 and 71% full time, in a town the size of Orlando there is no way to house all the students on campus.
Who caresâŠreally?
So, we play UCF every year and STILL play a healthy rotating schedule of the other 10 Big 12 schools.
We will still have plenty of home and road series vs the other 3 Texas schools (TT, TCU & Baylor).
UCF-UH is the most logical pairing. Get over it!
Exactly!
I am actually pretty sympathetic to this. Iâve said in the past that I would be roughly as comfortable in an eastern urban conference (UH-TCU-Cincy-Louisville-Pitt-UCF-Miami-BC-etc) as in the Big 12 but my perspective changes somewhat when we actually join a Texas-heavy conference but get placed like weâre in Birmingham.
Pairing us with UCF tells me we will be in the EAST
It is actually the best move for the conference, gets more exposure into Texas (the largest state in the Conference.
East
West Virginia
Cincinnati
UCF
Iowa State
Houston
Baylor
West
TCU
Texas Tech
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
BYU
I donât think theyâre going to do divisions at all. If they do, I donât think thatâs how theyâll be arranged. That splits up some important rivalries (ISU-KSU, TCU-Baylor) and potential rivalries (Baylor-BYU, UH-TT)
I think if you want to split Texas up I think they should with:
Dr Pepper Division: BYU-Baylor-TCU-KSU-Kansas-ISU
Coca-Cola Division: Houston-TT-oSu-UCF-Cincinnati-WVU
Whether they would or not I donât know. Probably a moot point since I donât think there will be divisions at all.
I donât think the New Big 12 goes with divisions, but if they do, I think itâs more likely that they go North/South and put UCF in the South than it is that they put UH in the East. That splits way too many rivalries. I think weâd be more likely to get
| North | South |
|---|---|
| BYU | Baylor |
| Cincinnati | Houston |
| Kansas | TCU |
| Kansas State | Texas Tech |
| WVU | UCF |
| Iowa State | Oklahoma State |
That would still suck since it sends BYU to the East and an Eastern team to BYU every year.
IFâŠand big IF they go with divisions, im thinking they split the 4 Texas schools.
Its the best move for the conference, maybe not us, but it is the best move for the Big 12.
I would swap BYU and UCF there⊠No reason to adhere to geography if it splits UCF from its two closest schools and puts BYU in with schools two time zones away. Also something something Florida recruiting.
I think that would make more sense, but if the conference is committed to making BYU-ISU and UH-UCF happen, moving BYU to the South canât really happen.
I think the desire to make those rivalries happen is specific to a model where every team gets One True Rival. Which is part of my complaint. If you set things up so that the E3 play each other every year, you donât need to worry too much about whether UCF will get a rival. I think theyâll have two before you know it with a lot less effort.
Fun thing about Cinci, this will be Houstonâs 4th conference with Cinci.
MVC (1957-1960)
CUSA (1996- 2005)
AAC (2013-2023)
Big XII (2023 - )
UCF is at 3 (CUSA-AAC and Big XII). SWC trio and Okie Light will be 2nd time with them. So Those two do make the most sense as we have seen them the most.
Cinci vs Houston should be called the âBrewery Ballâ given that both cities have a lot of craft breweries.
Cincy already does the âKeg of Nailsâ with Louisville, the UC/UH trophy could be a Brewery Crate.
Cincy is literally our longest term rival in The Big 12, going back to the 1950âs.
However the schedule shakes out it will be enormously better than our AAC schedule.
We cannot lose.
I feel like UCF, Tech, and BYU would be a good possibility. Guessing BYU would like games in Houston since they have a large following there. Only issue with Tech is that they should for sure be linked with TCU and have both OK St/Baylor too. But they may prefer UH over Baylor.
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