ARLINGTON, Texas -- Big 12 Media Days was the conference's opportunity to officially welcome four new members. BYU, Houston, Cincinnati and UCF became the first new additions to the Power Five level since Rutgers and Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2014, and the first newcomers in the Big 12 since TCU and West Virginia in 2012.
The "Freshman Four" spent much of the past two years preparing for their moment, but reality sets in this year.
"Anytime you do something for the first time, it's a learning experience," UCF coach Gus Malzahn told CBS Sports. "The challenge we have is our schedule is a nightmare… there's nothing like going through it, you learn things as you go. I just know that you have to play quality football because there's no off-weeks in this league."
Transitioning conferences comes with complications. In TCU's two seasons prior to joining the Big 12 in 2012, the Horned Frogs went 24-2 with a Rose Bowl victory. The next two years, TCU was 11-14. West Virginia similarly went 11-14 after an Orange Bowl victory over Clemson in their final Big East campaign.
The Freshman Four are in less advantageous positions than the last two newcomers. The foursome combined for a 34-19 record in 2022, a far cry from the 21-5 of TCU and West Virginia. Every one of the new additions were picked in the bottom half of the conference. UCF was the only school to avoid the bottom four.
"This isn't going to be easy, and we know that," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "That's why as independents, I told Tom, find as many as you can that people don't want to play. I want to play them all, with the thought that, possibly, this could be the goal."
Houston's Dana Holgorsen coached in the Big 12 for 17 years between West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. He went to a school that has desperately wanted a spot in the conference since getting left out in 1996. While the excitement around campus is palpable, past experience has taught Holgorsen to keep his players' focus players more on the day to day process.
The Cougars played two Big 12 schools in 2022 – Kansas and Texas Tech. Houston lost both matchups and gave up 81 points in the process.
"I was very careful with talking too much about the Big 12 prior to January," Holgorsen said. "I think we probably made a little bit too big of a deal playing Kansas after losing to Texas Tech [in 2022]… since January, I've talked about it because that's the way it's going to be. It's going to be like that every week."
Ultimately, the first year is rarely a true indicator of long-term potential. The Horned Frogs were 7-6 in their first season, but later won a Big 12 title in 2014 and earned a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in 2022. Across the state, Texas A&M won 11 games in its initial SEC campaign, and has not replicated the mark since.
"I think it will take time, there's no question about it," said Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield, the only first-year coach in the conference. "But we're also in a world, the football world, you don't have a lot of time. You've got to be good now."
