UCF could play in division with Texas

ADs discuss how to break up Big 12 for the two seasons before Texas, Oklahoma depart for SEC

UCF’s first-ever opponent in the Bounce House, the University of Texas, may soon be a divisional opponent in the Big 12 Conference starting in 2023, according to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports.

In December, UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir met with ADs from the Big 12, including other league newcomers Cincinnati, Houston, and BYU, in Las Vegas, a university source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.

In those meetings, the Big 12 ADs began deciding how the league will look for two seasons (2023-24) ahead of Texas and Oklahoma departing for the SEC, according to Dodd.

With 14 teams in the conference for two years, the Big 12 is planning on splitting into two seven-team divisions in football beginning in 2023 to temporarily restructure as the realignment process unfolds, league sources told CBS Sports.

The Big 12 is working under the assumption that Texas and Oklahoma will remain in the conference for the next four years, two more than initially expected, in large part due to the high-cost exit fees. The current Big 12 television contract with Fox and ESPN ends in 2025.

If both schools wanted to leave earlier, they would be subject to what has been projected as nine-figure early exit fees for breaking the Big 12 grant of rights that bind schools’ TV inventory to the conference, the report said.

According to CBS Sports, here is one projection of how the Big 12 could organize its seven-team divisions in 2023:

Big 12 North: Cincinnati, BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State.

Big 12 South: UCF, Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia

While the projections include “North” and “South,” a decision has not been made whether to separate the divisions competitively or geographically, Big 12 senior associate commissioner Ed Stewart told CBS Sports.

If the projection is accurate, UCF would have a history with four of the other six teams in its division excluding TCU and Texas Tech, two teams the Knights have never faced in football.

It’s likely Texas and Oklahoma will be in different divisions as one person involved in the process said it would be “easier if we don’t reshuffle the deck” in 2026, according to the report. By keeping the Longhorns and Sooners in separate divisions, the Big 12 would simply keep the divisions at 6 teams once the two schools depart for the SEC.

Football isn’t the only sport undergoing these types of discussions, according to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby.

“We’ve got subcommittees in several sports that are talking about structure,” Bowlsby told CBS Sports. “Conference office, staff, ADs, sports administrators and coaches involved on a sport-by-sport basis, they’re all doing the same thing.”

As for departing from the American Athletic Conference, Mohajir has previously told the Sentinel that UCF has been working with the conference to negotiate an amicable exit by 2023.

“We’re still talking with [AAC commissioner] Mike Aresco and the conference office about that,” Mohajir said last month. “We’re working through it and hopefully, we can get this thing figured out and no later than 2024. Hopefully, the conference office will work [with us]. After all, they need to know because they have a lot of plans.”