What they're saying around the Big 12 about BYU, other new members

ARLINGTON, Texas — Before both coaches stepped up to the mic at Big 12 media days, Texas' Steve Sarkisian met up with BYU coach Kalani Sitake in the halls underneath AT&T Stadium and shared a moment and a brief chat.

In other words, just two Cougs being Cougs.

The former BYU quarterback has long been excited for over a year to welcome his former fullback teammate under legendary coach LaVell Edwards to BYU's new conference home, even as the Longhorns — who are currently the preseason pick to win the league — are on their way to the Southeastern Conference in 2024.

"To me, BYU has been a national brand for decades, and going back to coach Edwards and what he was able to do and some of the great teams and great programs and now to be in a Power Five situation in the Big 12, I'm happy for them," Sarkisian said. "I'm happy for BYU. I'm happy for their alumni and those players. I think it's a great opportunity.

"Then we get a chance to play them. I'm glad we don't have to go to Provo. We get them in Austin. So that'll be fun."

Much of that has to do with the man in charge, a former BYU teammate then known as Kalani Fifita when the signal caller known as "Sark" was leading the Cougars to the Cotton Bowl in 1996.

"I'm really proud of him," Sarkisian said of Sitake. "He's always been a great coach, a guy that he's had a chance to compete against in his days when he was a coordinator before becoming a head coach. He's earned a great opportunity. He's done a great job leading BYU to this point, and we do stay connected and stay close that way."

Around the conference, enthusiasm was similarly high as BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF debuted in a Big 12 that stretches across three time zones — and hopes to include a fourth, according to commissioner Brett Yormark. But for now, the 14-team league that will play without divisions is content to play at 12, should no viable expansion candidate emerge in the coming years.

"We love BYU. Excited about them coming into the conference," Yormark said.

Many expect BYU to be well-prepared for the rigors of Power Five football after the Cougars regularly scheduled 5-6 games against P5 teams during their dozen years of independence. But UCF has been predicted by most to fare the best in the newcomers' first season in the one-off, 14-team Big 12.

The Knights were picked to finish eighth in the annual Big 12 preseason media poll, with BYU (11th), Houston (12th) and Cincinnati (13th) projected to finish near the bottom of the league.

All four new schools bring something to the new Big 12, be it in brand power, national exposure, football success, fast rising stature — or a little bit of everything. And they even bringing something extra to the continuing eight schools, as well.

"I feel like it brings more competition, different kids from different areas getting recruited at the same time," Kansas State safety Kobe Savage said. "It's not just the Midwest playing the Midwest; we're playing in Florida, Texas, Utah. It's a bunch of different people playing a bunch of different people. I feel like it brings a competitive edge to it."

Traveling to the new cities and states has the continuing school coaches excited, too.

"It's a tough conference," said Texas Tech coach Joey Maguire, who wore a jacket that paid tribute to the late BYU rugby alum Mike Leach, the Red Raiders' all-time winningest football coach. "It's a more competitive conference in every single sport, and I think you're going to see some great games throughout the year and some great new venues."

In some ways, playing at Provo or Cincinnati is a pinch-me scenario for these coaches. Just ask Matt Campbell, the Ohio native who took Iowa State to new heights after playing at Pitt and Mount Union and raising his profile at Toledo.

"As a young kid, I always dreamed of playing against BYU, and that Provo area is something that I grew up watching those games late at night on ESPN," said Campbell, whose team travels to BYU on Nov. 11, "and really look forward to the opportunity to go compete there."

A week after the Cyclones depart, BYU will host Oklahoma in the only meeting between the two as conference mates and first meeting between the schools since 2009.

"It's going to be a wonderful atmosphere. Late November, it'll probably be about 80 degrees in Provo," OU coach Brett Venables joked. "No, it's going to be a wonderful atmosphere. Again, incredible fan base. There's not going to be an empty seat in the house.

"It'll be a mature football team, like many of the BYU teams are," he added. "Coach Sitake and his staff have done an amazing job to establish a program of culture and toughness, and you're going to have to go earn victory. They're not going to give you anything."

Several of the newcomers have experience in the league, like Houston, which was in the same old Southwestern Conference as nearly half the league before remnants of the SWC merged with the former Big 8 in 1996.

The Cougars also come from the same former league — the American Athletic Conference — as Cincinnati and UCF. Houston also recently completed a home-and-home scheduling agreement with BYU as recently as 2020, and played a classic double-overtime game with Texas Tech just a year ago that will help rekindle one of several rivalries with the new league.

"We've got history with BYU," Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said. "We've got history with Cincinnati, Central Florida recently, and then, obviously, my familiarity with West Virginia. ... I think it'll happen a little bit quicker. That's great for college football. That's great for the Big 12. Certainly that's great for the University of Houston and our fan base."

And after the reunion of 14 teams, both coming and going, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the hope is it will be great for the league.

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