The Big 12 officially welcomed four new members earlier in July with BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF joining its lineup and the conference will go the extra mile in making those four schools feel celebrated this football season. The Big 12 announced Monday the launch of "Big 12 Homecoming" tour that will debut this fall with stops at the league's newcomers, followed by visits to the eight other continuing members in the ensuing years.
The tour, described by the Big 12 as a "conference-wide celebration of the Big 12 brand," will feature a three-day visit per institution, each running from Thursday through Saturday of a home football game week. The Thursday of each visit will focus on women's sports at that respective school before the attention shifts to charity work involving a local elementary school Friday and an enhanced pregame environment -- live entertainment, giveaways, and an armed forces flyover included -- on Saturday.
"We are thrilled to launch Big 12 Homecoming and debut this celebration of our Conference on the campuses of our four newest members," Big 12 Chief Marketing Officer Tyrel Kirkham said in a statement. "Each of these four programs have waited years for this moment, and as a Conference, we want to ensure their arrival is memorialized and celebrated. These events will bring a new level of entertainment and excitement to Big 12 campuses."
The schedule for stops at the four Big 12 newcomers during the 2023 college football season as is follows. The tour's debut season starts at Houston in mid-September and concludes at BYU in mid-October. Stops for other schools in future seasons will be released at a later date.
- Houston: Sept. 14-16 (vs. TCU)
- Cincinnati: Sept. 21-23 (vs. Oklahoma)
- UCF: Sept. 28-30 (vs. Baylor)
- BYU: Oct. 19-21 (vs. Texas Tech)
The Big 12's four newcomers will get their first taste of life in the Big 12 Wednesday and Thursday when the conference descends on Arlington, Texas, for the annual Big 12 Media Days. Their first year of membership in the Big 12 will be the last for flagships Oklahoma and Texas, who depart for the SEC in summer 2024.
