Big 12 Football: 4 more expansion candidates worth considering

The conversation of Big 12 football conference expansion took center stage last year when the news dropped that the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners would be bolting to the SEC in the not-too-distant future. At the moment, it looks like Texas and Oklahoma could be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025 at the latest.

This move could happen for the Longhorns and Sooners to officially join the SEC as soon as 2023. But it seems more realistic that the move officially happens for Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 in 2024 or 2025. Leaving in 2023 just feels too soon for that to actually happen at this point.

Moreover, the Big 12 responded quickly last year to the news that the Longhorns and Sooners would be leaving for the greener pastures of the SEC. Big 12 commissioner (at least at the time) Bob Bowlsby and the conference’s administration were able to add four teams to the Big 12 in response to the news of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC.

What could be next for Big 12 football in another hypothetical round of expansion in 2022?

The four teams that the Big 12 added to replace Texas and Oklahoma as soon as 2023 include the Houston Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats, UCF Knights, and BYU Cougars. These four additions make sense for the Big 12, as each of these schools was already in the conversation to be added to the conference prior to the actual need for expansion surfacing last year.

But the conversation is still continuing on regarding the Big 12 potentially adding another couple of schools along with the four they agreed to bring aboard in 2021. With that in mind, here’s a look at an updated list of four more conference expansion candidates that the Big 12 could consider in 2022 and beyond.