The Big 12 may actually have 12 schools before long. According to reports circulating yesterday, the conference may soon invite Brigham Young University (BYU), Central Florida (UCF), Cincinnati, and Houston to become members. Currently, the Big 12 has only 10 schools and with the departure of Oklahoma and Texas in the next few years, will be down to eight. Hence the four new schools would bring the total back up to 12.
Adding schools in the East (particularly Cincinnati) will alleviate some of West Virginia's current travel burden, with all of the other schools being well to the west. Morgantown, WV and Cincinnati are only a one-hour flight apart (about five or six hours driving).
Here in Lubbock (and perhaps in Fort Worth and Waco, as well), adding Houston to the Big 12 has not been popular, as it introduces a competing school from a huge metropolis within the same state. Others, however, see Houston's status as the fifth-most populated metro area as a strength. UH has also built a new football stadium and renovated its basketball arena, and made last season's Final Four in men's hoops.
I always come back to geographic or historical rivalries, though. Thus, prospective match-ups such as Iowa State-UCF or BYU-WVU, regardless of which sport, don't really excite me very much.
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