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Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida reached an agreement with the American Athletic Conference to exit the league next season and will join the Big 12 in 2023, the conferences announced Friday.
The three schools will no longer be a part of the AAC on July 1, 2023 and will pay $18 million each to leave, with payments spread out through 2036 starting in 2025.
The additions come after Oklahoma and Texas announced in 2021 they were departing for the SEC, leaving the Big 12 furious and scrambling to find new members.
If Oklahoma and Texas don’t leave before 2025, the Big 12 will have 14 teams for at least two seasons. BYU will also join the Big 12 next season after spending the last 11 seasons as an independent in football.
PAYMENT PLAN: UC reaches agreement with AAC, will join Big 12 early. Here’s how much they’ll pay.
The AAC has an exit fee of $10 million and requires its members to give a 27-month notice of departure. If a school leaves before 27 months, the exit fee increases to a negotiated amount. Sources tell The Cincinnati Enquirer that the Bearcats will pay a buyout of $18 million over a 14-year span to depart early.
“I would like to thank UCF President Alexander Cartwright, Cincinnati President Neville Pinto and Houston President Renu Khator – as well as Tulane President Michael Fitts, who is chair of our Board of Directors – for their efforts and leadership to arrive at a sensible resolution to the three schools’ departure from the conference,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said in a statement.
The AAC added new schools and looked to Conference USA to fill those slots. North Texas, UAB, FAU, Charlotte, UTSA and Rice will each join the league in 2023.
Cincinnati – along with UCF and Houston and independent Brigham Young University – announced in September 2021 that it had accepted an invitation to join the Big 12.
Cincinnati had been scheduled to join the Big 12 no earlier than July 1, 2024.
“Today is another milestone in our journey towards participation in the Big 12,” Cincinnati Director of Athletics John Cunningham said. “We welcome this accelerated timeline and are thrilled that a majority of our current student-athletes will be able to prove themselves at the ‘Next Level.’ It’s imperative that our whole athletic department and our entire fanbase embrace this challenge together. As I said before, our goal is to compete for championships on the first day we enter the Big 12. Now that we have that date, it’s time to ensure we position ourselves at the head of the table.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big 12: Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to join conference in 2023
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