This fall, the Big 12 will look different. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are all moving into the conference. BYU was independent, while everybody else was part of the American Athletic Conference. Here’s what you need to know about the four programs before toe hits leather in the fall.
BYU
The Cougars are led by Kalani Sitake, who enters his eighth season at his Alma Mater. BYU has always been a good program, and Sitake has kept it up by making bowl games in six of his previous seven seasons with two additional double-digit win seasons under his belt.
Sitake has almost always had a good quarterback, whether that’s Taysom Hill, Zach Wilson, or Jaren Hall, and he needs another talented one for 2023. That looks to be frequent flier Kedon Slovis, who was previously at USC and Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he won’t have 2022’s leading rusher Christopher Brooks and receiver Puka Nacua.
BYU has picked up its recruiting for the move to the Big 12. They finished fifty-sixth in 2022 and sixty-sixth in 2023, which is BYU’s highest two-year stretch since 2016 and 2017. The 2024 class, while incomplete, is at seventy-fourth nationally with eight commits, led by high three-star tight end Ryner Swanson.
2023 looks to be a down year for the Cougars, losing a lot of talented players from 2022 and a challenging schedule with games against Arkansas, TCU, Oklahoma, and Texas. However, Sitake is a good coach, and BYU has a strong fanbase who wants to win. I can easily see them being a premier program after Oklahoma and Texas leave.
https://twitter.com/HouseofBYU/status/1680013635266183169
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Cincinnati
Switching conferences is not the only change for Cincinnati, as the Bearcats are switching to Nike uniforms and, more importantly, Scott Satterfield as head coach. Satterfield crosses the Ohio River from Louisville to take over the Bearcats for 2023 and beyond. His time with Louisville was solid but slightly disappointing. He made bowls in three of four years, but he never had the Cardinals in the ACC title picture like Bobby Petrino did prior.
Satterfield will also have to rebuild the Bearcats, as almost all their talent from last year is gone. Sitting at 124th in returning production, the team looks unrecognizable from last year. There certainly isn’t a Sauce Gardner to lock top receivers like in the playoff years, but there is a man to crush the inside run. Defensive tackle Dontay Corleone is one of the best in the country and should be the next Bearcat first-round pick when the time comes.
Cincinnati hasn’t just played like the best Group of 5, they’ve recruited like it too. Luke Fickell led fifty classes from 2020-2022, and Satterfield is picking up where he left off in 2024. Led by four-star quarterback Samaj Jones, Cincinnati has the thirty-eight best class, which is second in the Big 12.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1563580544146763777
There are doubts on whether Cincinnati can continue dominance in a tougher conference for good reason. I think 2022 will be rough for Cincinnati with so many changes, but the Bearcats have shown how to be a good program with multiple head coaches. The Bearcats should be fine.
https://twitter.com/GoBearcatsFB/status/1679961361466507266
Houston
Dana Holgorsen enters his 5th year with the Cougars. The Cougars are coming off an inconsistent eight-win season, capping off the year with an Independence Bowl victory against Louisiana. Coach Holgorsen has achieved a bowl game appearance in three of the last four seasons. In 2012 the Cougars moved from the C-USA to the American Conference, where they proved to be a power with eight seasons above .500 seasons in ten years.
Like seemingly everybody else, Houston is losing important players. Quarterback Clayton Tune and Wide Receiver Tank Dell are the most noticeable. Houston will replace them with Texas Tech transfer Donovan Smith and sophomore Matthew Golden. Smith, like Tune, is a solid runner, which fits Holgorsen’s scheme. As a true freshman, Golden was third in yards (584) and second in touchdowns (7) for Houston.
The Cougars 2024 class is lagging at the bottom of the Big 12 sitting at eighty-first nationally. This class marks the worst of the Cougars’ last five classes. They do have local four-star Maurice Williams Jr and a great recruiting location. While there’s tons of competition, Houston will get some great players.
Holgorsen has the most Big 12 experience among the new coaches which will certainly help Houston. But, they relied on Tune and Dell to make big plays in the clutch which isn’t an option this year. Recruiting will have to be a strength for Houston and Hologren will have to be an offensive genius to keep the Cougars moving in a new conference.
https://twitter.com/FolksTalkSports/status/1569477283534241792
UCF
Led by Gus Malzahn, UCF continues to have great coaching. Unlike Scott Frost and Josh Heupel, who left for two premier programs, Malzahn was fired from Auburn and is a great fit in Orlando. Combined, the three coaches have fifty-three wins in the last five non-covid years which is incredibly impressive.
UCF also keeps more of its roster than the previously mentioned teams. They are third in the Big 12 by returning 66% of last season’s production, helping the Knights’ chances. While running back Isaiah Bowser is off to the NFL, quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and runningbacks R.J. Harvey and Johnny Richardson will continue the Knights’ excellent ground game.
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsNet/status/1571298928225669121
Recruiting in the heart of Florida gives UCF an edge. There is less talent in the Sunshine State compared to Texas, but still tons of great players and fewer fish in the water. Currently, UCF has the fifth-best Big 12 class and forty-third nationally, led by five four stars, including athlete Kylan Fox. No team in the conference has more four stars than the Knights, and only TCU is tied with them.
UCF seems primed for success in the Big 12. In the short term, the increased competition will be tricky for UCF, but with time, they will only thrive against their new opponents. If you mix an experienced head coach with increased talent in an already solid program, great things will come.
https://twitter.com/CFBRep/status/1678961683006357506
