Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, Adrian Peterson and Billy Sims were some of the greatest running backs in the history of Texas and Oklahoma football. But all four of those great players needed big bruising offensive linemen to open massive holes that led to big plays. Well, the Longhorns and Sooners opened another big hole and this time UCF took the handoff and ran through the line racing to the entrance of the Big XII.
There is no formula in college football where a team can play their way into a bigger league but UCF may have done just that. Ask South Florida what UCF's four year football run has meant. On November 24, 2017 the Knights and Bulls played as ranked teams in what many believe was the game of the year in college football. The 49-42 win propelled UCF into the conference championship against Memphis and then a Peach Bowl win over Gus Malzahn's Auburn Tigers and a perfect season.
From 2017 to today, UCF has gone 42-8. Since Mike Hughes had a "reservation for six" South Florida has gone 12-23. While UCF has played in three major bowl games in the last eight seasons and has won multiple conference titles. The Bulls won back-to-back Birmingham Bowls a few years back and have never played for a conference title.
But the fact is if Texas and Oklahoma didn't look around a few years back wonder about their future, UCF is likely not entering the Big XII. We went down this path a few years back. The dynamic duo saw the SEC and Big Ten revenues skyrocket and saw media deals for those leagues on the horizon and realized they would be falling further behind when it comes to the most important thing in college athletics: MONEY.
Maybe Big XII leadership and its members should have seen it and felt the room. Maybe they could've offered a greater piece of the pie to make the biggest brands in the league feel better. Or maybe there was nothing they could do. In the end, the faucet of cash in the SEC was too good to pass up and the Longhorns and Sooners took their ball and history and left.
That move made UCF, an attractive candidate a few years back when the Big XII declined to expand, a more attractive candidate today. What changed? UCF was then, and today, is one of the largest schools in the country in one of the biggest media markets in the country with one of the largest and youngest alumni bases in the country. What changed was Oklahoma and Texas left and the Big XII had to change their view. But don't kid yourself. Despite the data showing UCF's strengths off the playing field, their success on the football field is why we are here.
Cincinnati was 4-8 in 2016 and 2017. If the Big XII expanded after 2017, would the Bearcats be getting in? I'm not so sure. But they have gone 32-6 in the last three-plus seasons and therefore look much prettier on the stage of beauty pageant contestants.
UCF and Cincinnati won big in recent years. But those wins brought no guarantee of moving into a bigger league that offers more money. It needed a major move by two of the biggest brands in the game. So what? Who cares? It happened.
There are some mocking the move saying UCF, Cincinnati and Houston are not joining one of the "really big conference" like the SEC or Big Ten. Correct, they are not. And while some may say the Big XII might be the fifth among the P5 leagues, it will sit significantly ahead of a newly configured AAC and the revenue gap will remain wide. And there is no reason to believe that given equal resources to the remaining eight schools in the Big XII that UCF, Cincinnati, Houston and BYU won't be able to compete in time.
Even before this move for UCF they have become one of the most polarizing brands in college football. Media and fans either love them or hate them but they know of them. If UCF is successful on the field this season and next, and should they enter the Big XII for the 2023 season, they would likely be one of the more disliked teams and fan bases in the league. I'm not sure UCF fans would mind that view.
I have said for years that UCF and South Florida would be a powerful duo for any league that wanted to expand and come into the talent rich and heavily populated state. But only UCF is headed to the Big XII now. As the Bulls broke ground a new planned football facility I read where some in the Tampa based media and fans said that eventually the Big XII will expand again in a few years. Even disappointed Memphis fans believe the same theory about more expansion. Maybe, but hoping for an expansion happening before your eyes that you wanted to be a part of is not the same as actually being one of the chosen ones,
If the Big XII get a new media deal in place with its new 12-team makeup, I am not sure another round of expansion is happening any time soon. What remains to be seen is if the Big XII keeps its place a P5 league and its autonomy as the NCAA redoes its bylaws. Most people whose opinions matter think the Big XII will remain a power league and if that is true then a new media deal and an expanded playoff would mean another big wave of cash. UCF stands to get a significant jump in revenue while its rival to the west will be challenged to keep its current pace of income.
But there is much work to be done. Buyouts to be negotiated and media deals need to be reconfigured. But that was expected and those plans are underway. When all the lawyers and accountants are done, UCF will be looking at least doubling and likely tripling its yearly league money. Then add a projected increase in playoff money and the Knights may be looking at making more than $25M within the next 4-5 years.
For UCF fans, start projecting divisions and look up the best restaurants in Waco, Lubbock, Stillwater and Ames. BYU is about to become a conference game and nine conference games is likely part of the new scheduling world.
But as this new journey for UCF begins take a moment and thank Oklahoma and Texas. Their departure opened the door for the next big step. Perhaps things settle down now for the next few years or maybe even a decade...you know...until the SEC decides to go to 24 teams!