UCF, Cincinnati, Houston officially accepted into Big 12 as Tulane and AAC partners regroup

Tulane and the American Athletic Conference have lost three members.

The Big 12 has accepted Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston along with football independent BYU in their conference.

The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors this morning voted to extend membership invitations to Brigham Young University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Houston to join the Conference.

Today’s actions were in accordance with Big 12 Conference Bylaw 1.5.2.b.3 requiring an affirmative vote of a supermajority of Directors, and was approved unanimously by the eight continuing members.

While the Big 12 is now aligned to fit its name once again with a dozen members once Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC, the AAC is down to just eight football playing schools including the Green Wave. Navy is a football-only member while Wichita State is a member in all other sports.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco told SI.com earlier this week that the conference will expand in the wake of the expected departures.

“The American has been Power 6 all along and will be one moving forward,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco tells Sports Illustrated in an interview Wednesday. “The Big 12 is taking our teams because of what’s happened to them. That tells you all you need to know in terms of where we are. Teams will be interested in us that have the resources to compete at the highest level in our league with an outstanding TV partner in ESPN.”

Via conference bylaws, AAC members are required to give a 27-month exit notice and pay a $10 million penalty. However, reports have the defecting schools looking to start play in the Big 12 during the 2023 football season so an exit settlement is expected.