Reports: UCF Has Applied for Membership in the Big 12, Vote Scheduled for Friday

It’s happening.

The University of Central Florida has formally applied for membership in the Big 12 Conference, as first reported by Brandon Helwig of UCFSports.com and confirmed to Eric Lopez:

UCF joins Houston and Cincinnati as having officially applied for membership in the conference.

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports, The Big 12 Conference has scheduled a meeting of its presidents to hold a formal vote on adding UCF, along with BYU, Cincinnati and Houston. Thamel characterized this vote as a “formality”:

Brett McMurphy confirmed Thamel’s report and added that BYU has also submitted its paperwork, and that a news conference is scheduled for Friday, though that has not been made public.

It is expected that once Friday’s vote takes place, the schools will be formally introduced as the newest members of the Big 12, likely formally for the 2024 season, to accommodate The American’s 27-month exit notice. However, multiple media reports expect the final date of UCF’s entry to the Big 12 to be July 1, 2023, once the situation with Oklahoma and Texas exiting is rectified, and also considering The American let UConn out of the league early with a larger exit fee.

So, like we said, this is happening. The UCF Knights could now be just 36 hours away from joining college football’s elite club once and for all.

Stay with us on Twitter for updates throughout the week.