Big 12 formally invites BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Big 12 Board of Directors voted on Friday morning to invite Brigham Young University, along with American Conference schools Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston, to join the conference.

The vote was approved unanimously by the Big 12′s eight continuing members, including Kansas and Kansas State.

If the invitations are accepted, the Big 12 would have 12 members for the first time since Colorado and Nebraska left the conference in 2011. It is expected that all four schools will officially join the Big 12 by 2023, though BYU could join as soon as 2022.

The invitations come on the heels of Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma accepting membership into the Southeastern Conference. They deplete the American Conference, for which Wichita State left the Missouri Valley Conference in July 2017.